The Hunt...Listening

[VIICDriver]

OK guys been doing this for some time now but I'm still a rookie. I have read the manuals including the community manual and the Stickies here but I want some of you veterans technique on this:

What is the best way too listen for merchants? I usually get down to 30-40 meters water depth permitting and go to 256X for an hour or 2. Then jump on the hydrophones myself and listen then back to 256X for a couple more hours. If still nothing then I'll slow ahead for a lil while but usually this practice does NOT work! LOL

I know there is not ships just everywhere but sometime I can patrol back and forth on convoy routes for days using this technique with no sign of a C3 or even a Coastal for that matter.

I know everyone does it differently but would like some tips on listening for these guys. I know sometimes I can hear faint props on the phones but turn it back over to the sonarman and he reports nothing.

BTW in my current career I'm now in a IX. (Jury is still out on this elephant boat). It does not hold periscope depth at times and ends up with the tower sticking out of the water as a perfect target for that Destroyer. But I can say it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. My last few patrols are proof of that!

Just need a lil input from you hunter killers out there.

Thanks,
Chuck

[Incubus]

Remember that the hydrophones only have so much range; I think it is something like 20 km. Also, depending on what model hydrophone you have, your coverage could vary. Just sitting in the open ocean listening isn't gonna find anything.

The way I use my hydrophone to hunt down escorts is like this:

If I get a contact report, I plot its estimated course. 'Slow' means its traveling about 6-7 kts, medium, 8-10 kts, fast, 11-30 kts. I estimate the fastest speed. So a contact traveling slow, I will trace its bearing and estimate it going 7 kts, that means 3 hours later it will be 21 nautical miles away. Using this, I can get a 'lane' that I can retrace backwards.

In good weather, and if my plotting is accurate, my watch officer will spot the ship. However, if I'm off, or weather's bad/dark, by retracing this 'lane' I'm close enough to the ship's actual position to pick it up on hydrophone. The better your crew is, the easier it is to pick up ships on the hydrophone.

Once you get sonar, things get even easier since you can 'ping' the ship to find its exact distance from you. This makes it much easier to intercept, and a single ping isn't as noticible to merchant traffic as having radar on (I think).

[Herr Russ]

I take hydrophone readings at dusk, dawn and whenever I happen to be submerged (warship or aircraft spotted). If the weather is bad (like the current patrol), I run submerged and slow since I'll have better luck finding contacts that way than with the watches.. Once you find an active shipping lane, I just patrol that back and forth. Last patrol I had sunk 12 cargo/merchants in one grid. I'm back there now, but weather is terrible. I couldn't see the merchant 600 yards away :down:

Good Luck!!

[mookiemookie]

I submerge to 20-25 meters, order all stop and manually spin the dial a couple times myself (use shortcut key "H" to man the station yourself) on 1x TC. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll go out for a smoke or something and leave it on 1x and let my operator listen.

In open seas, I submerge at dawn and dusk. In areas of heavy traffic (off the coast of a port, or in a shipping lane) I'll submerge at dawn, noon, dusk and midnight.

Also, radio/sonar qualification is the first one I give out after my first patrol, as I usually have at least 1 watch qualified officer to start with anyways. Always pays to have good eyes and ears.

[VIICDriver]

Thanks for the replies guys! I guess there is no "correct" answer to that question.

BTW I do have qualified sonar guys and I do not understand why sitting dead stopped you will not find anything. I think the enemy is easier to pick up while your engines are off than when running and if you stopped at 25m in a convoy lane then supposedly something will come to you.

Kinda like an old gator laying back in a hole just underwater on the river bank! Totally silent but watching and listening for the right thing to come along within range!

Maybe a bad analogy...lol.

Will report back, last couple of patrols have been very fruitful, I guess you can just expect a bad one or 2 now and again.

Now if I can get this type IX to stay underwater!! I think the crew gets tired and just lets the ship do what it wants! When its trimmed properly at 25m guys you can quit moving those bowplanes back and forth!

Chuck

[Jusa_Finn]

Don't forget to turn the 'ambient volume' knob to maximum when you are using th hydrophones. :up:

[AVGWarhawk]

Early years I stay surfaced because there are not as many threats to worry about. I put the best watch on the conning tower. Later on when it gets ugly I use the hydrophones all day and surface at night. As far as 256 TC I cannot really say using 256 TC has helped my find more ships either surfaced or submerged.

[mookiemookie]

As far as 256 TC I cannot really say using 256 TC has helped my find more ships either surfaced or submerged.

Nor will it. As TC goes up, the probability of your watch spotting a ship that they otherwise would have goes down.

[Razman23]

I rarely run TC over 128x. I run mostly at 64x since to me, it gives my crew the best chance of spoting ships from topsides and my crew does not tire out.

Every boat I have running has the same crew on top. One watch officer, one watch warrant officer, and two crewmen. The officer is needed because of air attacks or if I need to man the deck gun and such.

On a clear day with smooth seas, my crew can spot a ship allot sooner than my sonar man can hear them.

I usually run on the surface at TC 64x until my watch crew spots a ship or I get a report on the map of a ship or convoy. I then set up an intercept course.

During stormy weather or heavy fog, I then just sit at 40-50m below and just listen.

[q65]

I like to submerge every 12 hrs to about 50 meters and take a listen. Dont usually stay down long depends on the weather.
I have learned to enjoy a TC of 64. Anything higher I seem to die by mysterious causes. Some night I will leave it on a TC of 1 grab my book and read with the volumn high. Cant forget my generous tot of rum by my side. Confiscated from a British Merchant before I sent it to the bottom. I cant wait till I get a trip to the islands. I hear there is lots of rum there.

[AVGWarhawk]

As far as 256 TC I cannot really say using 256 TC has helped my find more ships either surfaced or submerged.
Nor will it. As TC goes up, the probability of your watch spotting a ship that they otherwise would have goes down.

Well, I think this is the point of the discussion on this thread. So what is the best TC with exception of 1 as normal time that gives you the most balance of spotting ships/planes or picking up ships with hydrophones?

I do remember once in a fog bank and storm giving to use the hydrophone. I heard screws off in the distance. I made my best speed and as the noise had grown loader, I popped up the scope to see a liberty ship coming out of the fog. It was really cool using the tools to get the job done.