New to sub-simulations.

[SgtRWMartin]

Just curious, Im sitting outside a nice port just outside Toyohama. It would seem that if I submerged and stay silent I would be able to catch some of those fat merchants as they exited ports with limited ability to manuever... Ive sat submerged at 250ft below with no contacts for a few days now......

Is this a good assumption or not? This is my first Subsim or sim of any kind other than a flight sim, I love it, minus a few quircks, but just cant figure out why when I am tasked to patrol Honshu for mechants I can pick a few up as they exit port..... Id also like to find a nice carrier for a hit and run, but cant seem to find any battle groups with them...

Many thanks for any help.

[LZ_Baker]

In the stock game, no ship will leave port (it sucks, I know). You can go into the port and kill the ones at the docks if you wish. As for the task forces, they are all random. Task forces are hard to hit because they travel at very fast speeds (20 kt+). The only way to realy get one is to be lucky enough to already be in their path when you find one.

Anyways, welcome to Subsim, by far the most friendly and knowledgeable forum I've ever encountered for its size. Don't be afraided to ask questions, we're all here to help.

[Puster Bill]

we're all here to help.

I'm not. :D

Welcome SgtRWMartin! You'll find that subsim is full of the nicest and most knowledgeable scallywags to ever scrape the Ocean floor:arrgh!:

[bookworm_020]

Welcome aboard!

If you keep trak of contact reports, you can get an idea on where the nearest shipping lanes to you are. You just have to place yourself across one and you will get some targets in the end. Same goes for task forces, but small task forces are mostly a couple of destroyers with a liner of two.:up:

[FIREWALL]

Welcome and have fun.:D

[McBeck]

Welcome!

Ask questions - were here to help :D....and drink beer :smug:

[DavyJonesFootlocker]

As the Americans would say- Welkommen!:rotfl:

Dude, why sit and wait outside when you can sneak into the said harbour and sink to your liver's delight? I do that until it felt like cheating. Just stay submerged up to periscope depth.:yep:

[howler93]

Also, don't be afraid to go to radar depth (around 36ft) so that you can use your SJ-surface search radar. This will help get you more contacts :up:

And welcome aboard!
Good Hunting,
Howler :arrgh!:

[Rockin Robbins]

The more square miles you can search per unit time the more of Togo's toys you can sink. This means radar and staying on the surface at cruise speed (9 kt) every possible moment. Don't duke it out with airplanes. Dive before they ever see you because they will call in their buddies to pin you down and keep you from your surface patrol. Sink 'em all!:arrgh!:

[seafarer]

Actually, in the stock game (shortly after I first got SHIV), I sat submerged and still off to the west of Osaka harbor and watched a convoy form up and sail out. The merchants were all at anchor or dock when we arrived at night, but during the day, the escorts steamed in from the southwest and the whole mass milled about a bit and then sailed off.

And no, I did not attack any of them as I was on a photo-recon mission. In my own attempts at realism, I always play the recon missions as pure stealth missions - need to get in and out undetected to make the intel valid and valuable to the ONI guys back in Pearl. Plus there were several DDs and sub-chasers making up the escort, so I'm sure we'd have been dead meat in the shallows if we'd tried anything.