View Single Post
Old 01-30-18, 12:55 AM   #3
Ichthyos
Seaman
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 38
Downloads: 4
Uploads: 0
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by chazsi View Post
May 1942 - FOTRSU Mod

Operating out of Pearl with a Tambor class boat.

There is no surface radar available. My MAIN question is WHEN CAN I GET A SURFACE RADAR?

There seems to me to be NO WAY to "get in position" with no surface radar. If the warship isn't coming directly AT YOU, there's no "catching" it or getting in position.

By the time I get good sonar distances, the enemy is within 5000 yds. I get distances from sonar of like 19815 yds. But then I'll run into a ship who happens to be SEEN at 4580 and he opens fire. ??? Explain THAT.


I have to stay submerged to avoid detection and my max speed submerged is like 8 kts. At that speed there's no outpacing anyone, even merchants, to get in position. There's often not even time to get into position even if you're in range. If you plot a course and their past your current position, you stand no chance if they're speed is a measly 8kt cause I'll never catch 'em.

UGHHHHH

I've been frustrated having to settle for lone merchants who are headed right for me.

So...When can I get a radar?
I was puzzled too that I could only get aircraft radar detection.

what I figured out, in a headesk moment, was that you aren't supposed to NEED surface radar this early in the war, as the ships are not moving that fast.

What you do instead is use your sonar passive listening station.

keep a steady heading, and as your sonar man keeps reporting the position information of the nearest ship, you can tell quite well what direction it is heading, its speed, and even the angle it is heading towards or away from you.

First, note on the tactical map (F3) where the contact information is coming from (you will get a gray or blue line being drawn towards the contact). Then just listen to the degree information your sonar info man tells you.

say he says: "contact bearing 349, moving away, slow"

then, a minute later he says"

"Contact bearing 353, moving away, slow"

from that you know several general things already:

1. the contact is moving from your left to your right
2. it is angled away from you.
3. the fact the degrees changed a decent amount between the first and second report suggests that it is moving at near right angles relative to your bow. if it was moving parallel to your course, the degree change would be less. if he said it was moving fast, then the angle would likely be much less perpendicular relative to your boat.

make sense?

the longer you let him give his reports, the clearer it will be as to where your target is, and what direction it is moving in relative to your boat.

this is very valuable for you to learn as a sub commander, given that you can't use your radar under water anyway, but your sound guy will always be there to tell you what's going on. If you want to practice the skill, I recommend doing the convoy training mission over and over again, coming at it from different speeds and angles. here you have a convoy that is always in a known position, always heading in the same direction and speed. so, you can test your ability to properly be able to figure out where it is going based on sound alone, and then check your estimates against the reality, since you really always know where it is anyway.

once you have it down, continue on with your campaign, and you will be a much more successful hunter!

cheers.


hell, in this game, if you leave off the "realistic sensors" realism feature, your sound guy will be able to give you further ranges than your radar OR visual even in daylight on a clear day!

...you DID uncheck the "realistic sensors" thing in the realism menu, yeah?
Ichthyos is offline   Reply With Quote