Boat runs with one Crewmember??

[Capt Jack Russell]

I was messing around with crew configurations and discovered that the boat will run with just one 3rd class seaman (mechanical-34, no experience) in the engine room!!!! Can this be right?? I can run at any speed, dive, surface, turn, reload guns, raise the periscope, fire torpedoes, etc … all with just one guy in the engine room. What are the other 50+ men for??? I find this very disappointing. I wish I never found it.

[John W. Hamm]

I have not looked into this myself, I will try it later though. and now for my 2 cents on it, Now I have never served on a sub hell I wasn't even in the Navy, I was a Marine. Aside from this game, as close as I have ever been to serving on A sub was touring the USS Batfish, with all that in mind LOL I submit that I could in theory plot a course turn the wheel, go back turn on the engines, and periodicaly check on them and continue to steer the ship, now in rough seas or combat no I don't think it would be possible but I think for the short term, and in good conditions according to what I have read and what little I have learned that it could logically be possible. I think :hmm: , but then again what do I know :doh:

[AVGWarhawk]

During real operations there was just two men per engine room. I guess one crewman could run the engines while the other is in the head. :hmm: Yep, according to Tim Calvert (friend of mine who served on the diesels and a engineman)....two men per engine room. Being as the game does not recognize 4 engines, just a set of two, then it is logical that one man could run the engines. In the engine room, the switches and leavers are across from each other on each individual engine. It is entirely possible for one man to handle both. In fact, if I stretch out my arms in the USS Torsk from engine to engine, I can touch all buttons and leavers to work the two engines.

[Capt Jack Russell]

Yeah, I figured that as well … in a stretch the engines could be run and they do. However, firing torpedoes, turning, diving, etc. with no one in the controlling compartments is disturbing. In my opinion the sim should require you to at least place someone in the appropriate compartment before the task can be completed. Doesn’t seem likely all this could be done from the engine room ????? What do I know … I was a truck driver in the US Army.

[Rockin Robbins]

Whatchu got there, a German sub or something? Japanese? Sure don't sound like one of ours. Ours only have two engines when they were sold as having four. Even when we have an engine room crammed with people, sometimes when the battery is fully charged, two of the engines continue to charge batteries and use up all our fuel while we lose speed.:oops:

And when we have a fuel leak, our engineer doesn't tell us. We just run out of fuel.:yep:

So you see, our submarines don't work very well at all. Doesn't seem right that yours works too good. You have one of those Manitowac subs? Never trust anything that came out of fresh water!:shifty:

Yeah, I'd say your sub is defective: works too good. You better turn that puppy in pronto and get yourself a REAL submarine. You want to live to buy an Edsel don't you?:up:

[AVGWarhawk]

Yeah, I figured that as well … in a stretch the engines could be run and they do. However, firing torpedoes, turning, diving, etc. with no one in the controlling compartments is disturbing. In my opinion the sim should require you to at least place someone in the appropriate compartment before the task can be completed. Doesn’t seem likely all this could be done from the engine room ????? What do I know … I was a truck driver in the US Army.
Here is the problem, it really never was sold as a simulation. Load it up and play vanilla version, you will find it is a bang bang shoot'em type game. With that in mind, developing manuvering rooms and separate engine rooms was not on the list of things to add. I would agree that in SH3 if the men got worn out, that room would not function up to par or not function at all. With SH4 they attempted to implement rotating crew (as it was) so the player was not micro managing. This begs the question, why are you only putting in one crewman in the engine room? These rooms were manned at all times. Realistically, you should be putting in a full crew. Realistically, the entire crew was never on deck in a war zone sunbathing.

Nothing wrong with driving a truck!!!!! It is what moves America and the Army:up:

[AVGWarhawk]

Whatchu got there, a German sub or something? Japanese? Sure don't sound like one of ours. Ours only have two engines when they were sold as having four. Even when we have an engine room crammed with people, sometimes when the battery is fully charged, two of the engines continue to charge batteries and use up all our fuel while we lose speed.:oops:

And when we have a fuel leak, our engineer doesn't tell us. We just run out of fuel.:yep:

So you see, our submarines don't work very well at all. Doesn't seem right that yours works too good. You have one of those Manitowac subs? Never trust anything that came out of fresh water!:shifty:

Yeah, I'd say your sub is defective: works too good. You better turn that puppy in pronto and get yourself a REAL submarine. You want to live to buy an Edsel don't you?:up:

I think the "Lemon Law" applies here. BTW, I will take one of those fresh water boats! Manitowac was the sub builders, builder!

[Rockin Robbins]

I think the "Lemon Law" applies here. BTW, I will take one of those fresh water boats! Manitowac was the sub builders, builder!
Hey, give me a break here! I was clutching at straws. Gotta find SOMETHING to blame!:know:

Something has to be wrong with fresh water. Even sharks won't live in it! And that Great Lakes water is damn cold.:arrgh!:

[AVGWarhawk]

I think the "Lemon Law" applies here. BTW, I will take one of those fresh water boats! Manitowac was the sub builders, builder!
Hey, give me a break here! I was clutching at straws. Gotta find SOMETHING to blame!:know:

Something has to be wrong with fresh water. Even sharks won't live in it!:arrgh!:
Ah, they do! The bull shark will go up river quite frequently. Then there are the River Sharks!

http://www.marine.csiro.au/media/03releases/17jan03.htm


Next time you are fishing for bass....watch out! The steel sharks were swimming down the Mississippi going to war!

[Capt Jack Russell]

Truth is I miss the micro management. I was hoping get a little of the sh3 "feel" so I kept decreasing crew looking for an effect on boat performance. I thought it might be interesting to be forced to move men around when casualties occurred ... you know, to solve staffing problems under stress. I also wanted to create a greater dependence on the crew's specific skills, speciality and experience. It adds emmersion for me. I realize some people could care less.

What be great if some day we could actually "train" the crew. Like practice dives leading to better dive times. etc. It may or may not be more realistic overall but it would be more interesting than "buying" the crew to me.

[AVGWarhawk]

Try this....remove all the men and replace them with men that are at the bottom of the list you can choose from. They do get better over time. You can award you medals that also make them better on the next patrol. Also, when you arrive to port, dump at least half your crew and replace them. Normally, a good percentage of the crew moved on to other subs or became a skipper in their own right. One member rolls a pair of dice to see who get cut. He also rolls the dice to see if his radar will be broken and if broken, he rolls again for the amount of hours until it is repaired. So, in game the player shuts it off and does not turn it on until the time rolled on the dice is reached. It would be nice if we had this built into the game but this seems to be a good way to make it a bit more submersive.

[-Pv-]

Where you are really missing out placing min crew in the compartment is when you find yourself damaged. That one guy will be sorely taxed trying to repair all the damaged equipment and leaking bulkhead before you become the film set of "The Deep".

Where some people fail to understand how the devs implimented the historic fleet boat engines is all four engines are "running" all the time. As you change the 1/3, 2/3, Standard, Full, and Flank settings, you are transitioning between:
1/3 = 1 eng prop (set to govenor limit) 3 engs charge (gov limit)
2/3 = 2 eng prop (gov limit) 2 eng charge (gov limit)
Standard = 3 eng prop (gov limit) 1 eng charge (gov limit)
Full = 4 eng prop (gov limit) trickle charge from aux eng (not specifically simulated as a component)
Flank = 4 eng prop (over-ride gov) trickle charge from aux

When the battery is charged, engines on prop are set to govenor, and engines not on prop are set to low throttle to maintain systems and keep battery topped off. Engines are only shut down for maintenance and repair.
-Pv-

[Zero Niner]

-Pv-
Going by your post, does in mean that IRL the best way to charge the batteries quickly is to set for 1/3 speed? If so, does the game reflect this?

[-Pv-]

Yes. Read the thread: "Determining Maximum Avilable Distance When on Battery Power (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=121996)"

-Pv-