Best port to raid?

[Red October1984]

I just hit Scapa Flow pretty hard. Getting in was the hard part. I like hitting Dover and the Frence port right across on the map. Which one in the game is the easiest to get into and will yield tonnage? In GWX3.

[RustySubmarine]

Give The Firth Of Forth a try, but keep to mid channel to avoid nets. I entered during dark on a surface run and managed to sink all the ships in the Forth Harbour. I then decided to make a run for it but got severly damged coming out, as you have to pass close the Rosyth Naval Dockyard, where several destroyers will chase you and a Fast Patrol Boat. I went to Periscope depth and laid low for several hours, whilst I ordered the damage contol team to repair the internal damage and stop flooding. With still enough darkness, I managed to surface to clear the nets and then left the estuary at flank speed.

It was Dec 1939 during my career based at Kiel. I used a start at sea patrol which started me just inside the docks at the entrance to the Kiel Canal. I was given a Null Patrol, so decided to try and enter one of the British ports, to see if I could cause any damage. I sunk a Modern Tanker, two tramp steamers a V&W Destroyer, an Armed Trawler and caused damage to a small freighter. I managed to limp home to base with 25% hull vunerability and was awarded the Knights Cross. I duly awarded my crew with a few medals and qualifications through SH3 Commander, after exiting. I am about to start my 5th War Patrol. My last (4thPatrol) was the closest to being destroyed so far. I think as the war progresses, I will stay clear of British ports, as once the radar comes into play, I might not be so lucky. But it was worth taking the chance at this stage in the war.

Once dead though, I will start a new career. My aim is to survive the whole war through one career, if I can!

[Red October1984]

I like hitting Dover. I just got a bunch of tonnage in Blyth. I might give firth a try. It's already the end of 1940. My luck is gonna run out sometime.

[Jimbuna]

Scapa is definitely one of the best as is Gibraltar.

[CurtisSlade]

Is there an easier way to get into Scapa? I try and have found its just so damn shallow I have to surface... :-?

[Sailor Steve]

So did Gunther Prien, the man who did it in real life.

Oh, and WELCOME ABOARD! :sunny:

[u35_captain]

The easiest ports, for me, are Hartlepool (easy entrance and exit, nearly 30,000 tons at anchor some times) and light destroyer opposition - and sometimes they accidentally ram the breakwater trying to hunt you and take care of themselves) and Curacao.

I've yet to see a single defender there (this is base game, but still) and there are usually two T2 tankers there, plus a light tanker and a small merchant.

[RustySubmarine]

Regarding Scapa Flow. If you are running the stock game SH3, you will have to enter through the main or southern channel, which is usually patroled by at least two to three destroyers. If you are running with GWX 3 installed, you have the northern channel you can enter by (this is landfilled in the stock game). The north channel is the best to enter by, because the destroyers won't find you until you enter the main approch to the anchorages. Don't enter submerged though, as there are several sunken blockade wrecks at the north end of this channel. The best option is to enter on the surface just after dark, which will give you time to get near enough to the anchored ships, strike and get out before dawn. But if you get contacted by a destroyer, you will find it more difficult to get away without sustaining some damage or worse still, getting destroyed.
The later in the war you enter Scapa, the more difficult it is to get in and make a kill. Practice during Oct to Dec 1939 to get used to the oppositions tactics, so that you know how to avoid a later period entry.

[CurtisSlade]

thanks Steve!

and I appreciate it RustySubmarine.. I'm running GWX 3, so I'll definitely try that when I get home (unless my girlfriend has other plans for me)

[RustySubmarine]

I think I might have a dabble at Portsmouth & Plymouth, these are the two major dockyards in Brittain, so there should be some pretty interesting finds, but I bet they are heavily defended.

[CurtisSlade]

I checked out Plymouth last night and was really disappointed with what I found (a destroyer and some coastal merchants). Granted, it was early in the war, but it didn't seem worth the effort.. Hopefully your excursion will turn out better.

[Red October1984]

Scapa is a son of a $&@%# to get in for me. I'm running GWX3 at 45% realism. The one time I did, I got in thru the northern approach. I got out with 12K tons. Then I ran out of torps. It's 1941 in my career and I just tried the main channel. I couldn't do it. And i'm a decent captain. I know my way around

[Gargamel]

The historical route into Scapa is fairly easy if you study the history a bit.

[Missing Name]

Gibraltar is a nice one to hit. Just don't surface past, oh, 1941.

Norfolk too. There are a whole bunch of parked DD and DDE you have to take out first, but enjoy sinking large merchants, tankers, liberty ships, an LST... and an escort carrier. Again, surfacing is suicidal.

[Red October1984]

Gibraltar is a nice one to hit. Just don't surface past, oh, 1941.


Wish I'd read that post earlier. I was running on the surface at night going about 4 knots and then 2 ASW Trawlers and an Elco opened up on my sub. Maybe 10000 meters from the docks. One lucky shot knocked out my watch crew and deck gunners. Then I had terrible flooding and couldn't dive. The amount of flooding I had wouldve killed me at 20 meters. I managed to disable a trawler's weapons and destroy the Elco before my sub fell permanantly silent.

[Jimbuna]

The daddy of them all...Halifax

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4035/27181830.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/854/27181830.jpg/)

Just a little to the north west...the convoy formation area

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/1028/90997656.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/848/90997656.jpg/)

[Missing Name]

I dunno... for some reason, I find it much harder to raid Halifax than Gibraltar. Although there is PLENTY to be found...

[Wigabee]

Wow! Halifax looks nice. Blyth is my personal favorite but Loch Ewe is also pretty easy to get into. Go in at night and surface when you are about halfway past the little island right before the harbor. Once you're clear of the island, dive and pick some off. There is usually a nice selection of cargo ships and tankers to choose from just don't forget that sub net on the way out! Also, has anyone tried that little channel just north of the island on the way into the harbor? That might be a good way to get in also. Happy hunting!:ping: