HM. Medico’s Harbor Raiding Guide

[HM.Medico]

For all those who are interested, this is my recommendation for raiding harbors in SHIII Vanilla, don’t know about GWX as I don’t have it


About 10 knots out from the harbor rig ship for silent and approach slowly but surely. Early on in the war this only avoids detection, but later, when nets have been put up it allows you to only tap them when you approach doing little to no damage.
If there are no warships in the harbor then go to work with the deck gun for small ships (below C2 and T2) such as costal merchants, small merchants and small tankers and the likes.
If a warship is present, sink it with torpedoes first then sink other ships with your deck gun
For medium to large ships, don’t be afraid to use a torpedo
When a DD comes into the harbor seeking revenge, just go into one of the mooring points like where you start in Willhelmshaven or the likes, dive to below her keel level and put your nose as close to the wall as possible without a self inflicted crash. Doing this means you won’t be rammed and the DD’s ass won’t be able to get close enough to you to DC you. If it attempts to it will crash and sink itself. Reverse emergency so she doesn’t fall on top of you
If you come across an anti-sub net there are two ways to deal with it.


If there are no warships in the harbor, surface and go over it
If there ARE warships in the harbor then head right to the edge and inch around it
If something small like an Elco comes into port, remember this. The Flak Gun is your friend. The heavy machine gun rounds are enough to blow the bugger to bits.

Most times harbors are lightly defended. I’ve played up until ’43 and survived, raided Scapa Flow twice and all British harbors at least once. One of my favorites is the port of Hartlepool, lightly defended and normally it has at least one T2 in it as well.

So, rig ship for silent, vent main ballast and good hunting!

[GoldenRivet]

this works perfectly for people who are using the external camera option, i might add that the only way for these tactics to work if you are NOT using the external camera IE 100% realism is to use the observation scope to look underwater.

also i should mention that all of the GWX harbours IIRC (maybe it was most of them) are guarded by shore guns.

surface to do any damage to docked ships in GWX and if the shore guns dont get you the dozens of planes that show up will. this is historically accurate since the word would spread quickly that a sub had surfaced in hartlepool and was blasting everything, most of the royal air force would have been on the scene in minutes im sure.

happy hunting

[HM.Medico]

Okay, well in the event that you have the ability to distinguish between 3 and 4 blade screws (warship or merchant for all ye naval noobs) on your hyrdrophone you should be okay (in Vanilla)

[TarJak]

I put this one together a while back and have found that the principles still apply in GWX although there are some harbours that are almost impossible to escape from later in the war due to the quality of the DD's there.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=96843

[Sailor Steve]

this works perfectly for people who are using the external camera option, i might add that the only way for these tactics to work if you are NOT using the external camera IE 100% realism is to use the observation scope to look underwater.
On the other hand, if you're like me and have the water set realistically murky, the periscopes can't see anything underwater either.

On the other other hand, except for Prien's Scapa Flow raid, which was a result of weeks of prior planning by Doenitz himself, no one ever raided another harbor. At all. Period.:dead:

[Crazy Ian]

Don't forget the patented Crazy Ian tactic... if you find a minefield, keep it between you and the escort, surface... make sure he sees you and dives... the AI for some reason decides it's a good idea to charge through the minefield....:D

[Hondo314]

Kaleuns:

Has anyone perfected the art of sinking tankers in port with one fish? I have enjoyed raiding ports in my IID becasue I only have time to do a patrol in a single evening. Past discussion in other threads has focused on how to sink tankers with the fewest number of fish. I have never encountered a tanker in deep water yet, so I cannot comment on the probability of sinking a tanker with one fish to the engine room over deep water, but it doesn't work in port because the stern hits bottom. Using magnetic pistols under the aft edge of the forward superstructure (where the back breaks) results in a 30% sink probability (broken back), and a second fish to the engine room with a contact pistol results in a 60% sink probability (if the back didn't break). Past posts describing one-fish techniques do not specify keel depth, and having tried them I assume their effectiveness is restricted to deep water. The port I raid most often is Hartlepool, and I am currently exploring whether the same is true in other ports. Barring a variation in keel depth, I don't anticipate any difference.

[HM.Medico]

The best way to sink a tanker with a single tinfish is to aim right at the stern keel. If you're lucky it might immobalize it, if you're really lucky it'll crack a hole where she'll take on so much water she'll have no chance of recovery. That's how I took down the revenge class BB. One torpedo, incredibly lucky shot :arrgh!:

[Hondo314]

The best way to sink a tanker with a single tinfish is to aim right at the stern keel. If you're lucky it might immobalize it, if you're really lucky it'll crack a hole where she'll take on so much water she'll have no chance of recovery. That's how I took down the revenge class BB. One torpedo, incredibly lucky shot :arrgh!:

Please define "stern" in terms of structural features (flagpoles, masts, etc.) Also are you using magnetic or contact trigger and what is your torp depth?

[HM.Medico]

Well, I got her just in front of the screws and I don't know what's behind it.

Torp depth was about 7 meters I think and yes, magnetic pistol.

I don't think I could do it again. It was about a 1:20,000 shot. She was stationary as well. Scapa flow does that too them. I ran her at top speed too.