Hi all,
after the comments I thought again about the submerged endurance. I have reread the original manual for the VIIC and I think that I know now where the 72h come from. So, here is my theory:
The value is the max. theoretical time the sub could stay submerged with full oxygen tanks. However, the oxygen tanks were for a full patrol, i.e., depending on how long the sub had been submerged before, the max. diving duration was less.
This theory is based on the following observations:
- Meanwhile I have read an account of a patrol in which a sub had to return (among other things) because the oxygen tanks were almost empty.
- The original manual does not contradict this theory. It only says that the sub can stay submerged for 72 hours with the given amount of 'Alkalipatronen' and oxygen. Since I don't think they could produce pure oxygen during a patrol I assume the oxygen tanks got more and more empty during a patrol, limiting the submerged endurance in the course of a patrol (I am also not sure whether the 'Alkalipatronen' could be recovered during a patrol).
- The manual says the following:
Volume of sub: 400 m^3
One man needs 30l/h
Max. allowed CO2: 1.5%
Min. oxygen: 17.5%
--> With 37 men the CO2 level is reached after 5h20min. After 4h the concentration should be checked for the first time.
Oxygen tanks: 500l with 150 atü
If you use this information you can calculate that the sub can stay submerged around 72h before critical concentrations are reached.
The main questions about this theory are:
1.) Could a boat produce PURE oxygen?
2.) Could the 'Alkalipatronen' be recovered during a patrol?
Consequences for SH3 modding:
- I think a max. submerged endurance of 72h is not unrealistic, but you should not be able to stay submerged for this amount of time more than once during a patrol.
- Probably the best solution would be if an oxygen tank would be modeled that gets more and more empty if you stay submerged for more than 4-5h. In this case the total diving time (over 4-5h) during a patrol would be recorded and limit your submerged endurance (72h at the beginning and less long at the end).
However, since an oxygen tank is not modeled in SH3 I think it's very difficult to model. So, there might be two solutions:
- Keep the current model with a constant max. diving time. The time can be either the max. value 72h or an averaged ('middle of patrol').
- Try to (ab)use the CO2 gauge in SH3, i.e., changing the code in a way that CO2 is not set to 0 when you surface and increase it with a constant rate when you are submerged for more than 4-5h.
Anyway, these are my thought on this issue. As I said, the current model from h.sie is fine for me and it's anyway up to h.sie what he thinks.
Cheers, LGN1
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