Fuel and range issues!

[drakkhen20]

ok fellow shipmates. this is a problem ive always wondered about and it really is i huge 100% reason why i never play the Fleet side of SH4. i find very hard to believe in reality that American submarines set out to sea knowing they couldnt make it across the pacific to there patrol zones because a lack of fuel. because this is what i experience everytime i start my first patrol on the Fleet side. From Pearl Harbor to 130 E/ 26 N at STD speed i ran out of fuel and had to exit to desktop. am i missing something here? did we really have that short of ranges? do you just stop at every dock and resupply to make across the Pacific? there has to be a mod to fix this? all im running as mods are these:

RFB_2.0
RSRDC_RFB_V575
RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1


regards,
drakkhen20

[messageboy101]

are you running at a head flank because that eats away fuel

[drakkhen20]

no as stated above im running at STD = Standard speed. ive had the same problem with all the major mods also. i dont know if im doing something wrong or this is just an issue thats been addressed and i dont have the mod for it being that there is a mod for it.

[messageboy101]

what mods do you use, so i can try it out myself
in what year do you start in?
which boat class?
and which mods do you use?

cheers

[drakkhen20]

RFB_2.0
RSRDC_RFB_V575
RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1

thats it. start off in 12/7/41 and the sub was a Gar Class.

[Hylander_1314]

I think in RFB, 8 to knots is the cruise speed you have to use.

If you go into the individual boat sim files, you adjust the range and speed to whatever you like.

As an example, one of the mega mods has the Gato surface range in sim file as:

miles=14138
speed=15.19 knots.

That way you can run across the Pacific at better than harbor speed, but you can adjust your speed on patrol while in the combat zone to get better fuel economy.

Just watch how much diesel is used travelling, and if you are out from Pearl, and it looks like you may run short, you can always stop in at Midway and top up the tanks before the trip home.

You can do the same if you prefer leaving out of Pearl too. Stop at Midway (like the boats did) before heading to the swimming hole.

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by drakkhen20

ok fellow shipmates. this is a problem ive always wondered about and it really is i huge 100% reason why i never play the Fleet side of SH4. i find very hard to believe in reality that American submarines set out to sea knowing they couldnt make it across the pacific to there patrol zones because a lack of fuel.

Since this matter comes up now and then, I did a little math to check my opinion. Usually, people have trouble when they try to circumnavigate the Pacific, or use fuel needlessly cruising 24 hours a day.



First, some quick math. (Your figures may vary.)

route....................real life distance..............game distance

Pearl to 29N, 130E....... 3,890 nm................ 4,344 nm

Midway to same.......... 2,896 nm................ 3,302 nm

Note that the game distances are somewhat higher than the actual distances, but the difference is not that large. This is due to the "flat earth" model of the game, and not to the mod.

Most of the fleetboats should give you an endurance of about 10,000 nm @ 10 kts. If you go straight from Pearl you will need 8,700 nm endurance and this does not leave much for contigencies, but if you stop at Midway to top off your tanks, you would have 10,000 - 6,600 = 3,400 , and this would allow much more for patrol/persuit.

I would also point out that you do not have to cruise 24-7 once you reach your patrol area. Excessive zig-zagging, speed boating, unnecessary battery charging all waste fuel and should be avoided if fuel is a consideration. You should periodically check your fuel situation by having your navigator give you your range at current speed. Do this when you start to make sure you can get the 10,000 or 11,000 nm you should have.

Really, if you are reasonably prudent, you should be able to make these long distance patrols ok. This does not mean it is easy or that fuel is not a consideration, though.

[Sailor Steve]

Yep. In real life all ranges are given at 10 knots. Once in your patrol zone it's best to cruise at the lowest setting.

[drakkhen20]

thanks guys, defintly helping out. im still on my first patrol, had 4 patrol areas already and still have alittle over 50% of my deisel.

[messageboy101]

i tested it and the guys above are right, 10 knots are lower is best
are you could still use the gar and dont sail from pearl but from an other port

[drakkhen20]

did some research and found these numbers. as stated before these are all at 10 knots surface speed:
nm / knots
S-Class: 5000/ 10
Salmon:10000/ 10
Sargo:10000/ 10
Tambor:12000/ 10
Gar:12000/ 10
Gato:11800/ 10
Balao:11800/ 10
Tench:12000/ 10
P-Class( Porpoise):12000/ 10
Narwhal:18000/ 10

im going to try to impliment these numbers into TMO to best reflect the actual Range and authinticity. the only other thing i probably need help with is compinsating for the flat world range.

[drakkhen20]

ok so in S3D the knots is what the miles are based off of? so i would put 10000 miles at 10 knots to be correct minus the flat world stuff? just an example. so it would look like this:

miles = 10000
knots = 10.00

???