A tale of 54 destroyers

[Torvald Von Mansee]

So, here I am, on my second patrol w/the Grayback (RIP to the real crew) out of Pearl, and I hear a what I think is a convoy which is due to pass through my approximate location on a sunny March 21, 1942.

Fortunately, unlike my first patrol on 100% realism, this time I had external camera equipped. Well, it was NOT the expected convoy, but something else..and here's how close it got to me:




You better believe I was well below the thermal layer and on silent running!!!

How unusual is this sort of task force in stock SH4?

[depthtok33l]

Originally Posted by Torvald Von Mansee

You better believe I was well below the thermal layer and on silent running!!!

I'd stop breathing.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by depthtok33l

I'd stop breathing.

I have actually pondered attacking and see how many I could take down and maybe get away.

[Sniper297]

I've never seen a destroyer armada in stock SH4, but I am at 1.4 so have no idea what's in 1.5 besides U-boats. Did you actually count 54 destroyers? Did the IJN ever actually have that many in service?

[Admiral Halsey]

That has to be a glitch of some sort. I've never seen anything with more the maybe 15 ships in the largest TF's and convoys in the stock game.

[HertogJan]

This looks a lot like the 'Convoy' I encountered in the South China Sea, North of Borneo at the mouth of the Balabac strait.

I did attack but the game crashed soon after they turned towards me... must have been 10 to 15 of them.

I blamed the Mod setup as I was trying out a new Mod soup with stock 1.5 but now it makes me wonder.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by Sniper297

I've never seen a destroyer armada in stock SH4, but I am at 1.4 so have no idea what's in 1.5 besides U-boats. Did you actually count 54 destroyers? Did the IJN ever actually have that many in service?

Apparently, they had 169. So, this formation would be a shade under a third of all Japanese destroyers of WW2.

The strange thing is I counted them when they were further away, and there were 29. Then 31. Then 54. More appeared to be spawning.

Here's a front view of the formation:



You can't actually ever see the entire thing in one shot.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

That has to be a glitch of some sort. I've never seen anything with more the maybe 15 ships in the largest TF's and convoys in the stock game.

I once saw a monster armada which had both the Yamato and Musashi, numerous lesser BBs, like 6-8 fleet carriers, and a vast number of heavy/light cruisers and destroyers.

I should have got some screenshots of that, to prove I saw it if nothing else, but when I found this TF I had no torps left and was depressed. I didn't want to be reminded of my shame

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

That has to be a glitch of some sort. I've never seen anything with more the maybe 15 ships in the largest TF's and convoys in the stock game.

Agreed on the glitch part. Also, 54 destroyers in one place is an incredibly inefficient concentration of resources.

[HertogJan]

Originally Posted by Torvald Von Mansee

Apparently, they had 169. So, this formation would be a shade under a third of all Japanese destroyers of WW2.

The strange thing is I counted them when they were further away, and there were 29. Then 31. Then 54. More appeared to be spawning.

Here's a front view of the formation:


You can't actually ever see the entire thing in one shot.

I think the reason is because you can't see the smoke in stock that well... try adding TMO smoke Mod to it.. you'll see a big difference.
As far as I know and tested, it doesn't mess anything up in stock or with GFO and a bunch of other 1.5 mods.

[merc4ulfate]

I have seen this happen before. A sour mod soup normally causes it. I remember a TMO glitch that caused a massive convoy to appear and crashed the game every time. Once I did a clean install of both the game and mod it went away.

In any case I would have attacked them without mercy.

[Spraug]

Originally Posted by Torvald Von Mansee

The strange thing is I counted them when they were further away, and there were 29. Then 31. Then 54. More appeared to be spawning.

That explains it. It's like the big makerel swarms (schools?): once per year they gather to mate. Destroyers just seem to be growing very quick after a very brief pregnancy.

[Flying_Ducthman]

Had this happen per what others have said with a bad mod soup. Also had a weird glitch maybe where a "normal" convoy of surface ships was ahead of the merchant ships it was escorting through the Lombok Strait early in the war with my S-boat heading back to Perth. Maybe had 1 or 2 torps left , fired them then blew ballast and went full ahead once surfaced began blasting with the deck gun all while zig-zagging between the merchants until the destroyers stated closing in and as promptly as a S-boat can dive headed for crush depth and went silent. Think I ended up getting maybe 3-5 merchants and headed home once the destroyers where out of sight.