Officers -> Radioman

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by Redbear

I give at least two petty officers the radioman qualification, and rotate them in the radioroom (as they tire), filling the other position with an 'unqualified' crewman.

I do the same, but when I go to battle stations I put both of my qual'd POs in the Radio/Sound shacks.

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by LGN1

Hi,

Having an officer with the helmsman qualification in the command room multiplies the efficiency of the whole compartment by a factor of 1.5 or 2, IIRC. Thus, it decreases the repair times. This can be quite important because the main pump is in the command room and it can play a crucial role for recovering from flooding.

But won't having Repair qualified officers in the control room work just as well or better?

As far as I can tell, "qualified" officers increase control room efficiency, but as the "helmsman" and "radioman" qualifications are operationally useless in the control room and elsewhere, why bother to give those quals out?

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Tessa

It's interesting reading through other threads about how people prefer to play historically but then disregard the helmsman/radiomen qualifications because they don't get any advantage out of them. I always give the naviagor the helmsman qualification as his top one to help keep track of him, and that it a major part of his profession.

But they are historically inaccurate, as far as I can tell.

On all U-boats/merchants/warships, there is, at any time, a "watch officer" or "officer of the deck" , a line officer who is responsible for the vessel's navigation, course keeping, weapons control, etc. Basically, the captain's stand-in. You can't be a line officer without knowing every aspect of the boat (except engineering, though even there a line officer knows a lot, just as an engineering officer knows a lot about topside work).

So I assume all of my officers, having made it out of the naval academy, can navigate. And so "navigator" is a role that a qualified officer plays.

I do divide my officers into the "line" track and the "engineering" track. Line officers can pick up Watch, Guns, Flak, Torps, and Repair, while engineering officers can pick up Machinery, Torps, and Repair.

As for helming... that's a petty officer's role. That's just moving the rudder, increasing speed and whatnot.

And radioman... again, you don't have a radio "officer". It's a petty officer specialty.

I use the following.
Engineering Officer: Machinist Qual (Probably should be Repair Qual).
Chief Quartermaster: Helm Qual (Navigator is actualy enlisted).
1. and 2. Watch Officers: Watch Qual.

No secondary qualifications for officers. They are either Engineering, or Line Officers.
No promotion or secondary qualifications for the Navigator , either. As a Chief Quartermaster, he's already maxed out his rank.

My officers are restricted to the Control Room and Bridge only.
The Torpedo, Engine, and Damage Control sections are all under the supervision of Petty Officers.

[Draka]

I also have Line Officers -
I WO Erster Wachoffizier
II WO Zweiter Wachoffizier

These can and will eventually have in order:
1) Watch
2) Gunner
3) Flak/Repair

Engineering -
Leitender Ingenieur

Gets:
1) Machinist
2) Torpedoman
3) Repair

In game terms, Torpedoman is the mechanic who maintains them - most boats had several enlisted/PO under the LI. From the crew listings I get that the Mechaniker ranks were these. The Maschinist ranks were the engine room types - the majority of the crew.

The Obersteuermann and his assistant get the helm - a PO in my boat. As has been mentioned several times, the actual navigator in uboots was this individual - who also was the III WO.

The IV WO was the Oberbootsmann (Bosun) - I generally give him the Repair and station him as the main PO in Damage Control.

This is a bit of overkill - but here is the U 45 as of her loss in late '39:

Not overkill. Cool.

[LGN1]

Originally Posted by desirableroasted

But won't having Repair qualified officers in the control room work just as well or better?

As far as I can tell, "qualified" officers increase control room efficiency, but as the "helmsman" and "radioman" qualifications are operationally useless in the control room and elsewhere, why bother to give those quals out?

Repairs are done by the crew in the compartment and by the damage repair team (if ordered to do so). How fast the crew in the compartment repairs the damage is determined by the efficiency. Thus, if you have a higher efficiency by having an officer with helmsman qualification, repairs will be faster (if efficiency is not yet 100%). The repair qualification only helps in the repair team slot. Putting an officer with repair qualification in a damaged compartment does not help more than putting an officer without a qualification.

Cheers, LGN1

[Jimbuna]

Nice one Draka

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by LGN1

Repairs are done by the crew in the compartment and by the damage repair team (if ordered to do so). How fast the crew in the compartment repairs the damage is determined by the efficiency. Thus, if you have a higher efficiency by having an officer with helmsman qualification, repairs will be faster (if efficiency is not yet 100%). The repair qualification only helps in the repair team slot. Putting an officer with repair qualification in a damaged compartment does not help more than putting an officer without a qualification.

Cheers, LGN1

So, you are saying a "helmsman" qualified officer increases compartment efficiency under repairs? That would imply that sticking a helmsman in a damaged engine compartment would be preferable to sending a machinist there or a machinist/repair officer there. Doesn't make much sense to me.

And I can find nothing in all the documentation, nor on this forum, suggestion that a helmsman has that "power."

I feel -- I have never tested it, but i will at first opportunity ---that repair qualified officers in a damaged compartment effect repairs faster than an officer not qualified in repair.

But I am probably misreading you.

[Draka]

Basically any Officer or Petty Officer with either the Repair Qual OR the Qual with the same symbol for that compartment speeds repairs - so a Signals PO in the Radio/Sonar compartment is more efficient (green bar more full) and performs ALL functions including repair better. In addition, assigning Damage Control to that compartment adds to the efficientcy if it is not already at max. Again, having Damage Control teams with Quals of either Repair or the same as the compartment.

Note: I believe this is for the equipment listed in that compartment - general flooding etc may or may not act like this - I DO know that having the Damage Control party with appropriate Repair Quals helps with flooding when assigned to that compartment.

Make a tad more sense?

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Draka

Basically any Officer or Petty Officer with either the Repair Qual OR the Qual with the same symbol for that compartment speeds repairs

As I thought.

So, still no need to have helmsman qualified officer. Since all of my officers take "repair" as their second or third merit badge, we are pretty much covered.

And we have pretty much established that having a "sparky" qualified officer is useless.

[LGN1]

Sorry, if my post was not clear. Putting an officer with helmsman qualification into the repair team slot is useless. You are right. But having an officer in the command room with helmsman qualification is not useless.

Repairs are also done by the crew in the compartment even without any damage team (just forget the repair team for a second). The repair time in this case is determined by the efficiency in the damage compartment and in case of the command room, the helmsman qualification increases the efficiency by a factor of 1.5 or 2 depending on the rank and thus, the helmsman qualification reduces the repair time.

If you do not believe it, download the longer repair time mod, run the Flak training mission, get some damage in the command room and look how the repair times are changed when you drag an officer with and without helmsman qualification in the command room. But as I said earlier, in stock and GWX the efficiency in the command room is practically always at max., so you will not see an effect.

Basically, a certain qualification has an effect only if the officer is put into the compartment with the same symbol. So, repair qual. helps only if the officer is put into the repair team slot, torpedo qual. only if the officer is put in the torpedo room (bow or stern),... at least that's my observation.

Cheers, LGN1

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by LGN1

The repair time in this case is determined by the efficiency in the damage compartment and in case of the command room, the helmsman qualification increases the efficiency by a factor of 1.5 or 2 depending on the rank and thus, the helmsman qualification reduces the repair time.

If you do not believe it...

It's not that I don't believe you, I have just never noted it. I give my officers one new qualification per 2nd cruise (The Ober.z.S start with 2 and the Leu.z.S start with 1), so by my 10-12th cruise, I have well-qualified wardroom. If I put any three of them in the control room, the efficiency meter maxes out.

Originally Posted by LGN1

download the longer repair time mod,

I shall do so.

Thank you for the guidance!