Rundhorchen

[Elmer Kosterman]

I've been trying to figure out how to cover the greatest area with the hydrophone. But between the speed of my boat, the effective range of the hydrophone, and the speeds of possible targets, there's no obvious formula for minimizing the probability of ships slipping past me out of visual range. Please tell me:

How often do you fellas submerge to listen for sound contacts?

I've been working with the assumption that the hydrophone works as well at periscope depth as any other depth, even if it's not realistic. Does anyone have experience that leads them to think that greater depth improves hydrophone performance?

Thank you.

[Sailor Steve]

The game only knows surfaced and submerged.

I'd like to say I dive every four hours for a sound check, but the truth is I forget, and never do it.:oops:

[the.terrabyte.pirate]

I tend to stay submerged for the majority of the time I'm patrolling. I only surface to recharge the batteries or chase down a contact. It takes longer to get about, but you end up with more contacts to make it interesting, and plenty of fuel.

I normally aim to spend the entire daylight hours submerged. After nightfall I'll surface and recharge. While I'm doing that, I'll drop down to 25 meters every 2 hours or so for a half hour sweep of the hydrophones. By daybreak the batteries are full, and back down deep I go. :know:

[Blacklight]

It takes forever to get to my patrol area, but in areas that I know are trafficed, I'm usually submerged all the time, only surfacing at night to recharge the batteries. Staying submerged most of the time will really slow down the trip but will cut down your chances of missing nearby targets.

If I run into a single ship, I have no problem taking it out in daylight. When I find a convoy, I usually shadow it and wait for night to make my attack.

There's no real formula. You just do what works for you.