Advice for harbour raids

[Wreford-Brown]

What harbours have you raided, when did you raid them and what advice can you offer to fellow Kaleuns who wish to follow in your footsteps?

If you enjoy harbour raiding then please give others the benefit of your hard won experience. What route did you take, what ships were anchored, what ships defended the harbour?

I've raided Gibraltar in April 1941. It is possible to get almost to the Rock of Gibraltar under the layer (160m or deeper) then creep into the harbour area. HMS Nelson (33k tons) and a small depot ship (6500 tons) were on the north western side and three Southampton/London class (10-13k tons each) were on the north eastern side along with a couple of static destroyers. In the harbour itself there's another Southampton class plus a troop transporter, modern tanker, large and medium cargo and a few other smaller ships. Watch out for torpedo nets on the northern side of the harbour - I took a lot of damage when I hit one net and broke the surface for a few seconds as those capital ships have a shedload of firepower (but can't traverse very quickly). Torpedo nets in general seem to finish about 2 submarine widths from the harbour walls in any port, so I sneak in by running very close to harbour walls.
The only things protecting Gib are the static surface ship's guns and 2 or 3 ASW trawlers and Isles class, all of which seem to be either blind and deaf or just plain stupid in early 1941.

Edit 02-08-2008 09:10 PM: Just completed the patrol (had to break away to reload externals) and finished up with just over 150k tons and over 4800 renown. Not bad for a couple of days work!

[Oberon]

Portsmouth has a sub net at the narrowest point of the channel in, and also a rather shallow section you'll have to surface to get over. So therefore, do it in very low vis otherwise your conning tower will get peppered by the shore defences. Scapa Flow...well...it's a nest of zerstorers so watch your step, but the northern section of the eastern approach has a subnet and a gun/searchlight combo which can cover the north and south section so, once again, do it in low vis and watch out for the zerstorers when you've hit your target.

[PavelKirilovich]

Loch Ewes in late 1941 requires a close-to-the-coast approach at ahead one third. You can get to the mouth of the bay surfaced, then dive to periscope depth in a calm sea (otherwise your tower will broach) and creep in at ahead slow.

Escort carrier, four destroyers, T3 tanker, and sometimes a Dido-class. Haven't tried penetrating the harbour in mid-1942 (two raids only, late '41 and early '42) so I don't know when they move on to a better harbour or when Scapa Flow decides to relocate down to Ewes, increasing the ASW presence there hugely.

There's a small island on one side of the bay and a narrow band of water on the landward side of it. You can run in there and it'll narrow the angles that destroyers can come after you, but be aware of the gun emplacements. I found my least stressful operations in that area involved staying out of that small segment and simply creeping ahead to within 500m of my target before launching a torpedo at magazines / engine spaces and going silent for a creep away towards the next target.

Remember: If you can break contact, why not break contact towards your next objective? Don't let those ASWs drive you off if they're herding you in towards the ship next on your "To Sink" list.

[Fenris_Wolf]

what advice can you offer to fellow Kaleuns who wish to follow in your footsteps?

Sink them all:up:

Oh, and go in playing the bagpipes tune! lol

[gordonmull]

My advice...

Don't follow in my footsteps! Every time I sail into an enemy harbour I die a slow death on the shallow bottom :oops:

[Marriott]

I've raided Loch Ewe in 1939, in GWX 2.0 it was easy to get in, with only a few ASW trawlers patrolling and maybe one destroyer. Because it was so early in the war there were a number of neutrals but i still managed to sink 5 enemy ships (4 merchants, 1 ASW trawler) I have also raided the port in the Faroe Islands but other then a few docked warships and a couple of puny fishing trawlers not much there. I raided that port in late 1940.

[Myszkin]

Southend (november 1939) - some merchants and...large troop ship (ex ocean liner) - ca. 25 000 BRT. Be aware of sub net and many escort vessels!

Hartlepool (january 1940) - only four vessels (small and medium merchants) + armed trawler and destroyer as a harbour guards.

[Blacklight]

Lock Ewe and Scapa Flow are a cakewalk in 1939 if the weather is good and you stay slow and submerged. I never harbor raid from 1940 on. WAY too dangerous.:arrgh!:

[Kaptain Hans Wolf]

loch ewe is great, in late 39 i managed to sink the battleship nelson for 33,000 tons. how ever in the later years, its nearly suicidal trying to get into ports.

[Wreford-Brown]

Valetta, Dec 1941 and Oct 1942.

Hug the shore of the southern side of the island and the southern side of the harbour wall and you'll miss the sub nets. To find the southern side of the sub net, draw a line 2.9km long from the northern tip of the eastern breakwater directly due east. From this point, draw a second line 2.2km due south. If you stay between this point and the shore you'll get in behind the net and if you hug the eastern breakwater you'll get straight into the harbour.

Inside the harbour were a Small tanker, Small merchant, LST, Tribal class and 2 x V&W class.
If you return in Oct 1942 there's a T class submarine there as well.
Neutrals was a single Tramp Steamer.

Defending the harbour were at least 8 ASW ships - A&B class, C&D class, V&W class, Tribal class, Flower class. You name it, it's there.

Overall, hard work for little gain.

[GoldenRivet]

I have been harbor raiding in the Schnell Boot all weekend :rock:

great fun!

left lorient in my Schnell Boot and proceeded to hit 2 southern port cities... only problem is you only get 4 torps!

I rumbled in at low speed and fired a spred of two at a docked large tanker from about 800 meters range and made an ahead flank U-turn, they had no idea i was even there until the torpedoes hit the target and sent a massive fireball into the sky.

those two Mercedes-Benz engines sounded sweet turning high RPM as shells and tracers passed overhead. One destroyer gave chase but couldnt keep up.

the next day i stumbled across a large convoy. when the destroyer broke off i rushed in at 39 knots with my boat occasionally jumping out of the water, and fired a spread at a large merchant ship and made a slight turn to parallel the convoy in the opposite direction. When the torpedoes hit the sky filled once again with tracers and shells but i thanks again to the loud rumble of those Mercedes Benz engines I escaped undamaged. :rock:

some of those shells splashed awfully close to me though! :huh:

if you havnt at least tried the schnell boot mod - its worth looking into. but beware... always leave yourself an escape route, because if those destroyers get your cornered all hell will break loose!

[TarJak]

I have been harbor raiding in the Schnell Boot all weekend :rock:

great fun!Not quite the Silent Hunter eh GR?:lol:

[sturmer]

in 1 of Scapa Flow's alleys there is a kind of barrier made from shipwrecks, in the other alleys u have to watch out for destroyers.

Dunkirk has a small subnet about 1500 m of shore.

Reykjavik is not a smart idea to go into, lots of targets but allot of dc's too lol.

its better to stay out of the harbors :D

sturmer

[deepboat]

Loch Ewe Oct 1939, I didn't do it! Bernard!!http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh266/deepboat/SH3Img10-1-2008_211826_781.jpg

[Steiner88]

i love to get in the harbor.is not easy.But sometimes is the only way to sink ships of more than 10,000 tonnes beyond that entering or leaving is also a challenge.;)

[Keelbuster]

I tend to avoid harbour raiding - when you sink a ship in port, i assume they'll raise her eventually and either repair her or use her for scrap. I'd rather sink shipping where it can never be retrieved - i.e., in >1000m of water.

[NealT]

Harbors are fun...

My advice is...

Do it slow...
Do it at night...
Save before you go in...
Do not relax when you leave...
Practice, Practice, Practice...

And be thankful it is only a game...cause in real life DiD.

[JAKE]

I've sneaked into a few Harbors and most the time it hardly seams worth the effort unless you get into portsmouth but for that you need bad weather and a lot of time.

[wojasos]

Dover - few merchants and Southampton class ;).

[Wreford-Brown]

New York, January 1942.

A submarine net covers the southern end of the entrance and there's no way around it so you need to infiltrate at night or in poor weather (preferably both).
The only defenders were two Elco torpedo boats so as long as you remain submerged there's no reason to get damaged.
Inside the harbour was a dream:
Large Troop Ship 24k tons
Ceramic Type Ocean Liner 15k
Modern Tanker 12k
Large Merchant 12k
Large Tanker 11k
2 x Liberty Ships 7k
3 x Medium Cargo 5k
3 x Tramp Steamer 1k
Static Clemson Destroyer 1k
2 x Tugboats 1k

You can either reload at the northern end of the northern leg of the harbour or extract to the open ocean. Despite being in a IXc, ran out of torpedoes before running out of targets!

[Wreford-Brown]

Tobruk, April 1942.

On the northern side of the harbour is a headland. Rule a line 2.8km from the furthest eastern side of this headland along the map line and you'll get the extent of a sub net. This net is very shallow and you will not be able to surface to get over it. You need to either surface next to the headland and use the shallow water there or go around the net to the east. No mines were seen.

Inside the harbour was a Troop Transporter, Medium cargo, 2 x Small tankers, Tramp steamer, LST, V&W Class, Tugboat and Small trawler (total around 25k tons).

Defending the harbour were a Tribal class and 2 x ASW Trawlers.

Overall, little risk but little gain.

[Wreford-Brown]

Port Said, May 1942.

The route I took was through the gap in the breakwater on the western side of the harbour. No mines and no sub nets seen.

Inside the harbour was a Southampton class, Troop Transport, LST and V&W class. There was also a Small tanker and Medium Cargo but both of these were neutral.

Defending the harbour were 13 ships - 7 x Destroyers, 2 x ASW Trawlers and 2 x MTBs outside the breakwater and 2 x MTBs inside.

Overall, very risky and little gain.

[Kptlt. Siegmann]

From: U-109
To: Subsim
Date: January 24th, 1941
Location: Inside Freetown

Have infiltrated Freetown without detection. Currently in the middle of port picking targets.

Large Troop Ship x1 - British
Medium Cargo x1 - British
Modern Tanker x1 - British
Small Merchant x1 - Netherlands, x1 South Africa
Small Tanker x1 - British
Tramp Steamer x1 - Austrialian, x2 Brazilian, x1 British, x4 South African


Defense
1 ASW Trawler patroling 15km NW of base
1 ASW Trawler anchored just outside of base
1 Destroyer, Unknown Class, Anchored approx. 10km NNE of base

1 Land Turret in the SE corner of base facing NE. No threat posed.
1 Land Turret 4km W of base in vegetation, facing base.

20 torpedoes remaining. Beginning attack. Will report successes, if we survive. Numerous Destroyers patrolling 40-50km NW of base along the coast.

-----

From: U-109
To: Subsim

Have sunk 6 ships bringing total patrol tonnage to approx. 62,000t. 7 Torpedoes remaining. Light damage from depth charges. 2 ASW vessels and 1 destroyer sunk due to collision with docks. Requesting new assignment.

-----
EDIT: Sorry about that, I meant Freetown. not sure why I said Portsmouth...Bernard, quit changing the location in our radio transmissions...

[d@rk51d3]

Ahhhhh, Freetown.

That's a fun raid.:yep:

[Nuoz]

Why didn't the germans do that irl? Too dangerous? really?

[Nuoz]

I mean what made it a sure to die situation? Or in other worlds, what was different?

[Kptlt. Siegmann]

Chances were, more often than not, that the port was heavily defended, and most likely not worth the risk. Shallow waters, mines, subnets, and probably a handful of tin cans. That's asking for a u-boat never to return.

In my case in-game, I almost didn't make it out of Freetown alive. An ASW Trawler dumped a can right on top of my bow quarters and wrecked havoc and pushed my boat into the sea floor some 5m below me (I was at periscope depth). I somehow didn't sustain critical damage, and made note of the fact that I shouldn't dive very deep for the duration of the patrol. Little did I know that 30 hours later, that would be the very reason that sent me to the bottom. (My boat crushed at just over 80 meters when I was pushed down by a close barrage of depth charges.)

So to sum it up. Risk vs Reward...we'll pass on harbor raids...:nope:

[d@rk51d3]

On my Freetown raid, I surfaced a little too early on my way out. It was foggy and pouring with rain, so I thought I'd pop up a little way out and head home on the surface.



WRONG!!!!!:damn: :damn: :damn:


A seachlight picked me up quickly, and I took a barrage of fire from the shore turrets and a few escorts still at dock, before I could dive again. Killed all but about 8 men, and left me with a hull integrity of about the same number. All compartments pemanently red.

With just enough men to steer the boat and drive the motors......that was a slow lonley drive home.

[ReM]

Start a career in Wilhelmshaven in 1939 and rush through the channel before hostilities break out. This should get you through the Channel just in time. Then go to Portsmouth. You can get there soon after the start of war. HMS Hood is there and if you position correctly you can sink it there and then.

The harbour itself is only mildly defended.

It was like this in GWX...don't know about GWX 2.0

[harzfeld]

I started at 2nd Flotilla in VIIB, here's ports I raided in my first patrol and what I have sunk;
I started at Southend
2 Large Troop Ships
Then moved to Dover, found a gap thru subnet and sunk a Floating Dock, Southampton Class. They also have a troop ship but I didnt bother with it.
I skipped Portsmouth cuz too narrow and shallow for me to get thru, also not much gold there, so I moved on to Portland and sunk a Large Merchant and a modern tanker.
I moved on to Plymouth and sunk a hood after found a gap thru subnet.
Moved on to Bristol, sunk Auxilary Cruiser, large tanker, Large Cargo. They have more Large cargo, troop ships, and other kinds even I didnt bother about em.
Moved on to Loch Ewe, sunk a Hood again (After Sept.15 1939, Hood Appears for short time) also sunk a floating dock and a modern tanker.
On way home, I spotted another Hood escorted by several destroyers out of Inverness, they were too far for me to go after. That's 3rd Hood in a patrol. :hmm:
Also I sunk some ships on way to patrol and back home using deck gun. So I got a bunch medals for crew, and I was pretty close to buy a IXB, but got it after my 2nd patrol, lol. I like to expliot spoilers by knowing where capital ships are, and what each ports have. I wish they included intelligent reports in game that tell us where capital ships are moored at. Germans sure did have spies in WW2, like Japan studied Pearl Harbor and reported to headquater.

[Wreford-Brown]

Alexandria, July 1942.

Approach from the northeast and follow the headland to the north of the harbour down the walls into the harbour itself.

Inside the harbour were a Large cargo, Modern tanker, Liberty cargo, Small merchant, Small freighter and a C&D class (total around 50k tons). Also in the harbour were a number of neutrals - Hospital ship, Small tanker, Small merchant and Tugboat.

Defending the harbour were 3 x V&W class, 1 x C&D class, 1 x River class and 3 x MTBs.

Overall, tricky approach but worth the effort.

[harzfeld]

I was sailing in IXB during rain & fog on way to raid Southend again while running TC 256, can't see anything beyond 700m in AN79 on May 23rd 1940. The game got laggy, so to be safe, I went under. My sonar man picked up 6 warships NW, another 6 warships NE, and another 6 warships east of me, plus 2 warships SE (assuming ASW trawler & Elco boat) around 6000-10000m surrounding me. Before I surfaced and planned on to flank SW away from them, I didn't check the weather, sudden my WO spotted warships as I went wtf and saw sky clearing up and sunny. I hurry went back under silent running SW, and only see all of them were destroyers, no capital ships. Lucky none of them saw me due to high waves. At least I got to sink two large troop ships again. :smug:

Now I am heading to Dover again to sink another two large troop ships, plus a floating dock and Southampton cruiser. I never seen a mine around those docks. Only time I got stuck by a mine and caused serious damages near Firth of Forth, so I never bother to go there again.

[Sailor Steve]

Why didn't the germans do that irl? Too dangerous? really?
What was dangerous was the unknown. The only successful harbor raid - the only one they tried, really - was Prien's attack at Scapa Flow; and he didn't just go do it. Admiral Doenitz used the latest aerial photographs and spy information to plan the attack, and he personally recruited Prien for the job.

Other harbors were probably heavily defended, especially after Scapa Flow, but the real deterrent was the lack of information.

[Myxale]

MY only advice for Harbor raids is a TypeII.:hmm:

[Wreford-Brown]

Plymouth, Sept 1939.

Straight in approach from the south with no nets or mines seen.

Inside the harbour was HMS Hood (46k tons) and 2 x Tramp steamers.
Neutrals in the harbour were 2 x Tramp steamers.

Defending the harbour were 3 x ASW Trawlers and 2 x MTBs.

Overall, little risk for huge gain.

[a2oth]

Lock Ewe and Scapa Flow are a cakewalk in 1939 if the weather is good and you stay slow and submerged. I never harbor raid from 1940 on. WAY too dangerous.:arrgh!:

Took me for ever to get into Scapa Flow, and when I did----IT WAS EMPTY.

Have gon off ports a bit since.

[Sandman_28054]

Scapa-Flow, penetrated 1939-1941, sunk three auxilary cruisers, one battlship, one carrier. (entered from the south, exited to the west)

Lock-Ewe, 1939-1941 one V&W destroyer, one Fiji light Cruiser, two T2 tankers, one battleship, many merchants. (one way in, one way out)

Bristol, 1939-1941, many merchants, many destroyers. (one way in, one way out)

Gibralter, 1940-1941, merchants and tankers. Oooo, lots of DD's!

Freeport, 1940-1942, merchants

Halifax is scary! So is Galvaston.

Other than that, haven't tried many others.

There is a good list here:

http://edseek.com/archives/2005/05/04/silent-hunter-iii-survival-guide/

That tells you what is where and when to expect it.

For example:

Entry Exit Ship Location
From:1939 0915 To:1939 1010 Auxiliary Cruiser Scapa Flow
1939 1004 1939 1014 BB Revenge Scapa Flow
1939 1101 1940 0105 BB Nelson Loch Ewe
1939 1105 1939 1205 BB Revenge Loch Ewe
1940 0301 1940 0501 Auxiliary Cruiser Scapa Flow
1940 0307 1940 0425 CV Illustrious Scapa Flow
1940 0401 1940 0601 Auxiliary Cruiser Scapa Flow
1940 0517 1945 0101 CL Fiji Light Cruiser Loch Ewe
1940 0524 1940 0630 CL Dido Light Cruiser Scapa Flow
1940 1211 1940 1231 BB King George V Scapa Flow
1941 0201 1941 0217 Auxiliary Cruiser Scapa Flow
1941 0210 1941 0320 Auxiliary Cruiser Scapa Flow
1941 0315 1945 0430 CL Fiji Light Cruiser Scapa Flow
1942 0203 1942 0228 BB King George V Scapa Flow
1942 0215 1943 0903 CV Illustrious Loch Ewe
1942 0215 1943 0903 Passenger Liner Bristol
1942 0915 1943 0903 CVE Bogue Escort Loch Ewe
1943 0903 1944 0630 CVE Bogue Escort Norfolk


Hope this helps.

God Bless

Till all are one

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

harbours: all Britania's harbours, all enemy ports in the med (including gibraltar), Penang and the harbour a little bit southeast of it on the map. all raided with my IXB :arrgh!:

(but my fav is scapa flow)

my advise:
well... just ask wich harbour and il give you the advise ;)

[Jimbuna]

Welcome aboard a2oth http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/9708/piratebf4.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[predavolk]

harbours: all Britania's harbours, all enemy ports in the med (including gibraltar), Penang and the harbour a little bit southeast of it on the map. all raided with my IXB :arrgh!:

(but my fav is scapa flow)

my advise:
well... just ask wich harbour and il give you the advise ;)

I got useless AN 34 to patrol in May 1940 (off the coast of Sweden- woohoo:roll: ), so I decided to take a detour to Scapa Flow. I came in from the West South West, and am no sitting at the bottom of the channel. I've slipped past two destroyers, but there's a third right in front of me. After that, as far as I can tell, it's smooth sailing. I realize this is generally a really stupid idea, but I'm in U-47 and figured I should give it a shot. So I'll take any advice I can get!

[Tessa]

in 1 of Scapa Flow's alleys there is a kind of barrier made from shipwrecks, in the other alleys u have to watch out for destroyers.

Dunkirk has a small subnet about 1500 m of shore.

Reykjavik is not a smart idea to go into, lots of targets but allot of dc's too lol.

its better to stay out of the harbors :D

sturmer

The Eastern route is full of sunken ships, rendering it completely closed whether you are submerged or on the surface. The South enterance has a nasty subnet and a minefield (heard others mention about it, never encountered it myself), and the West (least early in the war) is the only safe way to get into Scapa Flow. There's no sub nets and no sunken ships to block you. Just need to mind where the DD's are so you can dive when needed and proceed on silent speed till you're in range of your target. Though later on I believe that the Brittish start putting DD's in the Western chanel or at least outside to help improve their coverage.

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

harbours: all Britania's harbours, all enemy ports in the med (including gibraltar), Penang and the harbour a little bit southeast of it on the map. all raided with my IXB :arrgh!:

(but my fav is scapa flow)

my advise:
well... just ask wich harbour and il give you the advise ;)
I got useless AN 34 to patrol in May 1940 (off the coast of Sweden- woohoo:roll: ), so I decided to take a detour to Scapa Flow. I came in from the West South West, and am no sitting at the bottom of the channel. I've slipped past two destroyers, but there's a third right in front of me. After that, as far as I can tell, it's smooth sailing. I realize this is generally a really stupid idea, but I'm in U-47 and figured I should give it a shot. So I'll take any advice I can get!
alright.

get to the most north passage of the west enterance, sail past the shipwrecks and evade the trawler sailing there.
once inside head towards the harbour, you will cross 2 stationary DD's south of the harbour, shoot them with electrics or steam at night.
continue to the harbour and you will see 3 DD's southeast of the harbour, repeat the last step.
then sink everything in the harbour and head back out the same way :up:

[Danelov]

When I sail back to base(Kiel or Willhelmshaven)in the early time 1939-1940 and I have maybe a remmants one or two torpedos and fuel situation permiting , I pay a little visit to Hartlepool.There always in port something, and the ASW trawlers, mines and the antisub-net are not so a big obstacle.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

I've raided Scapa, Plymouth, Dover, Dunkirk, Hartlepool, Loch Ewe, New York, and Gibraltor. So yeah I've done it all. Seen mines,subnets, and the normal destroyers. Well lets see if raiding Scapa go North and come in from the Western Entrance, Dunkirk has mines and nets, but has a back door on the Eastern side you can follow the net in and sink some. Dover nothin' but DD's and PT's. Hartlepool is the best one to raid with a few DD's and some mines here and there. New York and Gibraltor are good targets but be very careful!!!

[NealT]

I still prefer Lock Ewe...

[predavolk]

Thanks for the advice! I was able to raid Scapa Flow. I went back and did a retest after my successful run and confirmed that time compression indeed gave my position away to the destroyer. That sucks.:down:

On the plus side, my first run was in normal time. It took almost four hours to do (this second half alone- it took me two more hours to get to this save point a few days before), but I slowly crept in. At times, the last moving destroyer passed within a few hundred meters of me, but I was dead still when it did so and made it by it unnoticed. I used a combination of 1-2kts at periscope depth and ahead 1/3 while running with the decks awash (6M). I tried 7M, but the boat kept coming back to 6M. Oh well. It was a crystal clear, calm night (3 knt winds), but I was able to get up to 3000M on the surface without being seen. Going on the surface made it much easier to get past the final active destroyer. And time compression on the surface does not appear to give your position away.


There were a host of ships stationary around the area, but I ignored them. I did torp the one destroyer sitting stationary in front of the harbor. Inside, i was robbed! NOTHING THERE! :damn: Well, there was a small 8K troop ship and a light cruiser. So I took two shots at each. My first torp hit a sub net. Second hit the troop ship. Third and fourth were set to run fast to match the troop ship shots, and they ran out of juice before hitting the cruiser! :damn: Fortunately, nothing seemed to be happening after hitting the troop ship other tham lights flashing around. So I waited, reloaded, and sent two more torps into the cruiser. Bye-bye Light Cruiser! On the way out, I torped one of the stationary ships, an auxillary cruiser- caboom! Another 10K! Unfortunately, that brought the attention of the one active destroyer, so I booted out of there. I went up to 5M, flank, and just all-out ran. It appeared he was starting to track me out! Fortunately, when he hit the wreck of the auxillary, he stopped to listen for me or rescue survivors. I didn't care which, I just got the hell out via the Western approach. On the way out I passed a cove with a stationary Minor Warship and a Destroyer or Frigate, but I kept going. Almost out into the ocean, I get a report that I'm under attack!! :o A star flare goes off, but I can't see any boats around!? Then I hear an air raid siren, and I'm totally confused. Are the brits? A shore light starts shining around. Panicked that it might spot me and reveal me to any nearby boats or planes, I man the deck gun and prepare for action! I start perhaps the first u-boat vs. ground target action of the war and land a couple of shells after sailing some high. But then a massive ground gun opens up on me, and I realize this isn't an even fight! Quickly I duck to periscope depth and run out on flank. I can hear a warship approaching from the distance, so once I'm 5km from the shore battery, I surface and run out going like a bat out of hell! Just as dawn arrives, an airplance is spotted in the distance! I crash dive without it spotting me, and after a few tense minutes, slow to ahead standard for an hour, then surface and begin working back to the North Sea. Good fun!:D

For fellow newbs, my lessons were-

1- Time Compression is your arch-enemy when you are submerged. NEVER time compress when submerged and destroyers are anywhere near you.

2- Running on the surface, even on clear calm nights, you can move at 1/3 speed when submerged at 6M and not be seen beyond 3000M. Maybe others have pushed the envelope further, but that was good enough for me.

3- Once you're inside the harbor, take your time. The enemy response was weak at best. In hindsight, I should've stuck around and sunk a few more cargo ships in the harbor, but I was just too anxious to stick around!

4- If you're thinking of raiding a harbor, read this thread to find out when big ships are in town. That was too much effort for just a silly cruiser- without the auxillary to boot I would've felt robbed! As it is, I'm still quite disappointed that I've yet to bag a big one. Oh well, something to look forward to!

5- NEVER engage a shore battery. I wasn't hit, but those shells looked (and sounded) like freight trains!

Good times! :up:

[Danelov]

In many ocassions this raids in ports dont work good, in several ocassions I have see destroyers or patrols boats destroying self ramming the docks or others structures(Specially in close harbours),others exploding with his own DCs,patrol ships running aground; hits ships in harbour sometimes are not credited, or dont sink, I have aimed a small tanker with three torpedos in his vulnerables spots, with differents depths, all with contact pistols and all three were good hits, one a little ahead of the funnel, another in the bow and another in the stern, and after three hours in the bottom to wait, the tanker was still there laughing from my torpedo hits:p ;Situation is still worse if you have the bad idea of reload a saved game inside of a enemy port.

[magicsub]

lerwik in 39..........

its a small dock for ships and subs. there is a anti subnet and that is sometimes not there.:|\\ there is a s class and a t class and an anti sub tug (yo, yo) :|\\ sink the ships then sink the cluster of fishing boats and call in the luftwaffe!!!. i did this in a iia.

in some russian port, u go under the subnets and the ships try go over but sink. there was about 10 dd buts sticking out of the water. on my way out, i saw a banana tug. its cabin was yellow and its hull was brown. some people complain there is no banana boat when there really is!!

[Wreford-Brown]

This post moved to first post.

[Tessa]

Scapa Flow always is a gamble as to what's actually in there, sometimes its full othertimes empty. Dealing with the aircraft patrols just to get into the west channel can take forever. One nice little trick I found is being able to reload your torpedo's safely while in the harbor. After you sink something large, a battleship or carrier move your sub right up to it and start reloading; haven't had any DD's even notice I'm there while reloading.

Loch Ewe is great as its easy to get into, and has those 2 floating docks-almost 60k in tonnage for just 2 torpedo's :up:

[Sandman_28054]

Sink the Nelson and the Revenge over and over again, up to 4 times.

See my post here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=134585

[Captain B]

I just sneaked into Plymouth very early in the war (12/10/39 VIIB second Patrol, GWX II). It was not that difficult.

I had been patroling between Southern Tip of Ireland and the entrance to Der Kanal, and decided to give it a go. I moved up the coast during the night, and took out 2 small coastal vessels with the deck gun on the way. I dived at about 6:30am (dusk) south of Plymouth and proceeded towards the harbour. Sonar picked up patrol craft and small merchants, no destroyers, I took a look through the periscope at aroud 6000 yards from the entrance. There were 3 merchants -could not make out the flags at that range and the Battlecruiser HOOD:up: . Sneaked into 3000 yards for another look. Still all quiet one patrol craft to the south no other traffic, only 3-4 mtrs under the keel. The harbour wall blocked a good shot at the Hood and the impact angle would have probably meant the torp would have bounced off the hull. To shallow with the draught for Magnetics (dont trust them anyway) So only one thing for it creep inside the harbour, go astern into firing posistion let go a spread of four and retreat. 48,000 tons latter I'm back in the Kanal heading out to Ireland. The escape was easy, the Patrol craft tried to get at me inside the port but rammed the harbour wall instead and sunk (Bug?) probably be dead if he managed. Took a look at the merchies on the way out but they were all nuetral.
Can't wait for my next port!!
However I have tried Scapa in a previous career - much harder lot of Naval Traffic and that was before GWX, Maybe I just got real lucky with Plymouth.
Rgds,
Captain B.

[John O]

Ahhhhh, Freetown.

That's a fun raid.:yep:

Yes, very much so. And like some others, it can be accessed through it's back or side entrance.

[John O]

Most harbors after '42 in GWX have walls/nets. The entrance can be found quite easily by going in submerged and using the F12 key, pointing the boat, and then using the End key on the number pad to submerge the view and shift/arrow to advance the view. Manipulating the arrow keys will find the entrance. A little cheating for sure but the captain is always right.

[Jimbuna]

Most harbors after '42 in GWX have walls/nets. The entrance can be found quite easily by going in submerged and using the F12 key, pointing the boat, and then using the End key on the number pad to submerge the view and shift/arrow to advance the view. Manipulating the arrow keys will find the entrance. A little cheating for sure but the captain is always right.

At least yer honest http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4030/winkbigid2zj6.gif

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

i mostly do it hard core and view trough the periscope.. and yes, i have ran on a few mines and bumped a few subnets in the progress :lol:

[Tessa]

Most harbors after '42 in GWX have walls/nets. The entrance can be found quite easily by going in submerged and using the F12 key, pointing the boat, and then using the End key on the number pad to submerge the view and shift/arrow to advance the view. Manipulating the arrow keys will find the entrance. A little cheating for sure but the captain is always right.

I've run into em as early as 40' in Scapa Flow and Gibraltor, combination of either running into em or watching the torpedo impact onto them. Best method I've found to get around em is to raise the scope up just a meter so that you're able to see what's right in front of you. Then just follow the net till the end or there's a break and move on through.

[gord96]

i have a career in a type IID that I use for harbor raids on Brit ports. Its small and can get away from DD's much easier. You only have 6 eels but its still fun to sneak in and out. This boat works only around Britain. Lots of work in the Channel and the ports. I dont even bother trying to harbour raid with a type 7 anymore. If i feel the urge I just used my trusty type II :)

[Bosje]

does the game feature the tides or something? or is it simply a matter of choice, luck or mods?

I once went into scapa 1939 but my boat was destroyed by scraping across a net

just now i went into loch ewe late 1940 and i was able to sail right across the nets. the boat cleared them with about a meter to spare under the keel. there were mines but they too were too deep to hurt me while i remain on the surface

any clues?

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

does the game feature the tides or something? or is it simply a matter of choice, luck or mods?

I once went into scapa 1939 but my boat was destroyed by scraping across a net

just now i went into loch ewe late 1940 and i was able to sail right across the nets. the boat cleared them with about a meter to spare under the keel. there were mines but they too were too deep to hurt me while i remain on the surface

any clues?
what side of scapa you used ?

[Bosje]

i dont have GWX so i messed about a couple times from the savegame just off the east (historic) path

-ran aground while taking the historic path, trying to see if the landmass was just a glitch

-made it through the western route and put 3 eels in royal oak but didnt sink it, got killed while making another run

-south path was good, made it past the DDs on the surface at full speed, 2 nets in southwest backdoor kill me, the big net with the opening in the big south entrance kills me too, i made it past the opening in that net on my 4th run, made the submerged approach in time compression and got killed by a DD that suddenly woke up

[buglepong]

dunkirk during operation dynamo May 26 - early Jun '40. over 100k tons of troop transport and merchants + aux cruiser.

hardest part is getting in, but if you go in the east entrance there's only one destoyer which you can out maneuver easily. there are no nets or mines

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk199/buglepong/ikilledthemall.jpg
i killed them all :up:

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk199/buglepong/100ktons.jpg

[Wreford-Brown]

Tessa has found an absolute gem of a target behind Halifax. Tricky to get into (and out of) but endless tonnage to sink.

[sabretwo]

dunkirk during operation dynamo May 26 - early Jun '40. over 100k tons of troop transport and merchants + aux cruiser.

hardest part is getting in, but if you go in the east entrance there's only one destoyer which you can out maneuver easily. there are no nets or mines

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk199/buglepong/ikilledthemall.jpg
i killed them all :up:

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk199/buglepong/100ktons.jpg

Congrats on your raid. That's quite a haul.

I am 75 kilometers northeast of Dunkirk right now (May 29, 1940) and planning on hitting it the next night. Any more advice on the Dunkirk defenses? Mines? Subnets?

The water looks awful shallow near there. Gotta get out quietly on this one...no way to flank it to deep water while dodging the DDs making hasty runs.

[predavolk]

WOOHOO!! I wanted some advice, and finally went ahead without it, but I'll ask now any how as I can always go back. (GWX 2.1, 100%)

What about Key West in early 1942? Are there any places with big US warships around that time?

Due to the fire here, I tossed it and went in on my own during a heavy night storm. I snuck past a 4-masted escort and two patrol boats without any serious problem. I couldn't see squat, but finally saw two 1800t destroyers. So I decided to torp one, but then I got picked up by sonar! The first escort/destroyer was at least 1km away, so I suspect it was one of the inactive ships that had someone manning its hydrophones. :down:

Anyhow, I rushed the shot and missed :oops: , as I was worried about being in water 1-4m deeper than my boat! I started getting out of there at flank, and noticed no pursuit so I slowed to slow, but by then I think the 4-master had gotten my scent. What followed was 15 minutes of dashing, turning, and twisting at flank and slow as I headed for deeper water. I didn't take any hits other than one hit that destroyed tube 6 (alread damaged due to the loading with open door bug) without doing any other damage- not even any flooding. :doh:

So I get some great luck, and he seems to lose me after I make a head-to-head pass and go to slow/silent. He keeps steaming away and I lose sight of him. So it's on the surface, blowing balast, and running away at flank. It works beautifully, until 6-7 minutes later, he comes charging out of the raining gloom with guns ablazing!?! Did he have radar or something? I take a beating, get the boat down to periscope depth with all kinds of damage (bent propeller, destoryed propeller, damaged engine, but only minor flooding). I do a little more twisting and turning, catching at least one, possibly two depth charges in the dance. My standard tactic is to try and get behind the boat, running perpendicular to him. After he passes over, I keep turning to keep his rear pointed towards me so long as I'm still heading in the basic right direction (i.e., out to deeper waters). Those extra few angles buy me extra few seconds that buy me extra hundreds of meters. Finally, he's coming at me again. He's trying to make the most dangerous pass- coming up my 180 (this gives him the longest amount of time/distance to drop depth charges on me). So I turn into him, go to flank. When we're about 45 degrees from each other, I turn hard to starboard. When he's about 400m away, I hit full reverse. At 200m, he's almost on top of me, but I'm now moving in the opposite direction he expected me to. This makes him drop the charges in front and to the right of my boat. It also lets me go flank forward and get a nice long run up his tail that gets me far away from his datum spot. I'm now at 40M+ of depth, so I go to slow, turn slightly, and creep away!;)

So I'm off the coast of Florida again, with 78K to my credit, and 4 torps left. I figure that if I play my cards right, and get some good deck-gunning weather (it's been nothing but storms and 15knt winds since I got here a week ago), I might once again break the 100K club. :up:

[rifleman13]

For me...

Every time I start a career at the start of the war...

I always devastate Hartlepool harbour.:yep:

Take out the ASW trawlers in the area and you will have a sweet time sinking ships in the harbour. Bagged two Tramp Steamers with the Deck gun and two Medium Cargo with torpedoes.:up:

It was a little funny when one of the ASW sunk astern with the bow perching up with their deck gun STILL FIRING AT ME! Had to torpedo it again!:damn:

That would rattle Tommy up!:arrgh!:

[Jimbuna]

careful you don't harm the monkey http://imgcash4.imageshack.us/img144/1561/monkeyheadbigco8.gif