Lifeguarding
 

Hi, first time posting here :)
After looking up two pages worth of threads related to lifeguard missions, I couldn't quite find a satisfactory answer to my problem.

I'm on my career's 7th war patrol starting on 10th of July '42, and my first task was to head off to the Solomon Islands (actual marker is ~20nm south of Choiseul) for a lifeguard duty. I was told to arrive there no later than 8th of December though... :hmmm:

Well, I arrived to the scene in clear weather and daylight, saw absolutely nothing (I was ~100 yards from the marker). I've been now patrolling the area for five days gradually increasing my patrol circle to up to some 30nm and I've seen no planes, survivors or smokes of any kind. Does this actually mean nothing will happen here until 8th of December (like 5 months from now?) or am I doing something wrong? Should I just ignore this task and ask for a new one?

In case it matters, I'm using TMO 2.5 with game version 1.5

Thanks a bunch for any answers in advance! :up:

Did you by chance use Time Compression (TC) on the way to the scene? I've had similar to what you describe happen to me, and I missed a change in my "assignment" when I started to get frustrated with all the "radio traffic" that was coming across, and interrupting my TC settings, so I started to ignore things and kept hitting the "plus" key, but buried in all that was a change in orders... You could look in your logbook and see if maybe that happened to you.

btw, welcome to the forum! I'm a long-time lurker here, and just started posting not too long ago myself.

Welcome aboard!
 

I checked my logbook several times and didn't notice anything. In fact I didn't get any radio traffic whatsoever aside from a single combat report on my way from Brisbane to the mission area and the five days I patrolled the area. I stopped using TC at more than 36x speed when I was about 10 miles away from the marker on the map, looking at the skies for any planes and sea for any signs of smoke, but nothing... I patrolled the area for yet another extra 5 days in vain.

I even restarted the whole patrol just to make sure, but still nothing happens or is in sight when I get to the marker. I went in zig-zag within about 25 mile radius just in case the current had taken the pilot off somewhere but still no luck.

At least restarting the patrol fixed my radar operator who refused to give surface contact reports, so at least that's one problem out of the way :sunny: but as things are, COMSUBPAC just tells me to carry on with my mission for weeks on without me seeing any planes or pilots whatsoever.

How is the lifesaving mission supposed to trigger in normal conditions? You just get to the marker and look for a pinkish smoke or plane falling down, or is it within a certain radius from the marker like patrol missions (50nm was it)?


And thanks for the warm welcome!

Never done a lifesaving mission - but welcome to SUBSIM

go out there and sink something :up:

Welcome to the Subsim Forums, dsryr30. Happy to have you with us. :salute:

Check the SHIV Guide below my sig, scroll down the page abit and you'll find some instructions on how to perform Lifeguard Duty. :yep:

A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > dsryr30
Subsim <> How To Donate <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community

Thanks for the welcome :salute:

I already read your guide before posting here. The problem is, the mission symbol on the map is identical to the symbol shown in your guide but as I arrive to the scene, nobody is to be seen. I went directly to the scene and stopped, and also looked around at a radius of ~25nm to account for the current but saw no planes, smoke or survivors.
Also I'm quite sure I haven't missed the survivors because of TC because I was scanning the area with binoculars 10 miles before arriving to the scene with low TC speed.

So in the meanwhile until I find a solution, I decided to wreak a havoc and had a blast at Truk :arrgh!:

From past experience I know that depending on how long it takes you to reach the area the pilots may have drifted away on the current. I've had this happen, kinda the same situation you mention.

It took me 3½ days to arrive from Brisbane (I arrived on July 14th '42) and I can't be expected to be much faster than that, though I was told to arrive by December 8th. I did try to take into account the current, which is why I circled around the area zig-zagging for a while in roughly 25nm radius. If that doesn't help, is there actually any way to complete this mission? Or am I seriously supposed to wait until December 8th?

I can just go off sinking merchants on my own elsewhere but it is kind of annoying if I have to fail my patrol because I can't complete this mission and I can't get a new one to replace it either.

Sounds like a bad mission, no you shouldn't be expected to wait all those months until Dec - that''s weird.

Go sink some shipping and return to your home port (tilted anchor) it may have moved.

Happy Hunting!

Thanks! That is exactly what I did and the story of that can be read in the stories & patrol logs thread :salute:

Re: Lifeguarding...
 

I'm new to subsim world and the Subsim forum as well. So my reply is probably worthless. But what jumped out at me was your date of orders and the arrival date. By my way of thinking that is where your problem lies. My suggestion is sit dead in the water and increase TC as high as it goes until you reach Dec 8. Then see what happens.

Welcome to SubSim dsryr and Gringo :salute:

Lifeguard duty.
 

I always end up doing this in an S-Boat. It sends you out there way too early. Dec 8-9 there is a big air battle. until then i just patrol around and refit at the tender in the Gilbert's? idk im not looking at my map right now. I play TMO and there's resupply points near enough to stay out on patrol.:arrgh!: