Harbor Trouble in Rabaul

[Capt Peril]

January 22, 1944 USS Golet, Balao Class - Pacific

This urgent message is coming to you from the first officer aboard the USS Galot. Our captain has just revealed to us that he took a few years off being a sub captain and doesn't remember much about it. Further, he knocked our real captain out in a bar fight and came aboard during our last refit as "the new skipper" after stealing our real captain's uniform. I should have suspected something when I noticed the strain on his jacket buttons....

Nevertheless we are in real trouble and need your help.

We have been assigned to photograph the carrier force in Rabaul harbor. There are four patrol ships in the deep water outside the harbor and we must get past them in order to get in position to take photos. It's currently daytime in calm water.

Our plan has been to troll at max depth at 1 knot until night fall to surface decks awash and try to sneak closer. The problem is, this works well for quite a while but eventually we always get caught by the patrol vessels with the same glug glug boom boom result.

Reality is set to Hard. No mods.

1.) How can we remain undetected by the patrols until nightfall?

2.) After nightfall, is it safe to come to decks awash within a certain distance of the patrol boats?

It seems like it will be nearly impossible to sneak past all of these ships and get this mission done. Please help!

[Dread Knot]

I guess you could get on the radio and argue with your superiors why they are sending in a submarine to do a risky recon mission that Army aircraft designed for that purpose could do out of the airfield at Port Moresby, cheaper, quicker, from altitude, in the daytime light, and you have the negatives the same day.

Some of the missions scripted in the game bear no resemblance to historical reality. :-?

[Capt Peril]

While I can't argue with that, I would still like to accomplish it. That said I am having one hell of a time doing that. These four warships are in a tight patrol and even though I found a spot to hide until nightfall, I am getting caught every time during the approach and having no luck escaping from four warships in the shallows.

[Capt Peril]

I finally made it into the bay Rabaul where the carriers are but you can't get within 2000 yards to take photos unless you're on the surface which naturally = getting caught every time. What the hell is with this assignment?? I must be missing something here.

[Dread Knot]

I finally made it into the bay Rabaul where the carriers are but you can't get within 2000 yards to take photos unless you're on the surface which naturally = getting caught every time. What the hell is with this assignment?? I must be missing something here.

They should probably pin a medal on your chest for just getting in there alive.

What's funny is that looking at the historical record, I can't find any evidence that Japanese carriers ever anchored at Rabaul, let alone were based there.

[AndyJWest]

Yup - a near-suicidal mission. I seem to recall having succeeded once, but mostly by luck. I'm currently running the TMO mod (custom difficulty settings, with no external views to help) and have tried three times, with the same fatal results. My only suggestion is to make sure you save the game before sending a radio message that will give you a new mission, and if they send you to Raboul, cheat and reload the save. Thot, or ignore the mission entirely, and go look for something to sink instead.

Edit: In fact, thinking about it, I remember not only succeeding in getting the photo's one time few years ago, but deciding to do the obvious, and torpedo the stationary carriers. I can't remember whether I got out alive that time...

[Sniper297]

Simplest way to deal with patrol craft is to sink them with torpedoes. After that consider "periscope depth" as a variable - with GATO and later subs inside harbors you often run aground at 66 feet, so come up to 55 feet and use the page up/page down keys to just raise the scope above the surface. Whatever it takes, as long as the tops of the periscope shears are below the surface the only thing you need to worry about is depth charges. And the best way to avoid depth charges in shallow water is to sink everything in the area that carries depth charges.

[merc4ulfate]

I'm with Snipe ... sink them first.

OR

Run on the surface at night with no moon. They do not have radar and can not see well at night and you have a lower profile than they do.

I have been within 800 yards of an escort before ... sweating like crazy that he didn't see me during a night storm. He went right past me ... and then I sank the Cruiser that was following him. It was to shallow and I thought he would hear me anyway.

AUDENTES FORTUNA JUVAT

Fortune Favors the Bold

[Aktungbby]

Capt Peril! :Kaleun_Salute:

[TorpX]

I vote with Dread Knot. Just because the AI sub staff wants you to commit suicide, doesn't mean you have to do it.

Better yet, download RFB, RSRDC and some good mods. You will have realistic, or at least plausible missions, that make sense, and give you some sort of chance to get back home.

[Jimbuna]

^ Probably the best way forward :yep:

[aanker]

I vote with Dread Knot. Just because the AI sub staff wants you to commit suicide, doesn't mean you have to do it.

Better yet, download RFB, RSRDC and some good mods. You will have realistic, or at least plausible missions, that make sense, and give you some sort of chance to get back home.

I'll second this.

Many of the Stock Special Missions never happened. Sure, I've completed some for fun however I prefer the Campaign we used in the Pacific Thunder Campaign that has been modified into the "Guerrilla Submarines Spyron Mod"..... an off-site mod:
http://www.subsowespac.org/silent-hunter-4-mods.shtml
All Special Missions in this campaign really happened.

Most here like RSRD.

Happy Hunting!

[Webster]

decks swash in the game is no different then fully surfaced with running lights on so stay submerged the whole way on silent running is the way to do it and stop at times to let boats move out of the area so they don't get close to detect you.

if one does get close sink it and go full speed to get away from the area as fast as you can then return to slow silent running and continue your mission

[Sniper297]

If by "deck swash" you mean decks awash;

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211613

I gotta disagree - my experience with decks awash consistently reduces the range at which the enemy spots me by 2000-4000 yards. Again though, in real life if you sink patrol ships guarding the narrows there would be SOME response by the enemy, sending out more destroyers and aircraft to find out what happened and punish the culprit.

In game that doesn't happen, you sink the patrols on the way into the harbor/bay and you won't be bothered by any on the way out. The other unrealistic thing (among many) is that enemy sonar doesn't detect you at all unless you're deeper than 30 feet, so running on a dark night full speed at a keel depth of 27 feet with the spray kicking up all over and the diesels roaring you can pass withing 1000 yards of a destroyer without him seeing or hearing you. Ridiculous, but that's the way it's programmed.

[captcrane]

Hey Capt Peril I had the same recon mission. I went in at night submerged 2knots silent running. I kept track of the tin cans, stayed in the deeper water and moved into a good shooting position to get the 1st one. stayed at periscope depth for a spread of torpedoes from the stern tubes for another and and took my chances with the other 2. It was quite a battle just beware you still must be cautious there is also land artillery. Plus more warships patrolling

[merc4ulfate]

No matter which mod I use I have never achieved decks awash. Periscope depth, radar depth anything under that depth but the boys either have me lower than decks awash or surfaced never in between.

It hasn't deterred me from sinking over 300,000 tons but I think I'll play with it a bit and investigate more about it.

I prefer to run the surface until forced down.

http://archive.hnsa.org/doc/firecontrol/parth.htm

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/cutaway/gine7.jpg

http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/images/FRITILLARY/Depthcharge2.jpg

http://archive.hnsa.org/doc/firecontrol/img/parth-01.jpg

[Sniper297]

"the boys either have me lower than decks awash or surfaced never in between"

When all else fails read the instructions;

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211613

[merc4ulfate]

Yeah I have read that before ... it still applies.