sending Contact reports

[Littlealx]

hey everyone, quick question

it seems that SHIV has a feature whereby if you report enemy convoys and/or shipping there's a possibility that friendly planes will attack at some point in the near future.

Problem is, i can't report anything...

I have made both Radar contact, and visual contact (on convoys) and clicked the "send contact report" button and nothing happens. :dead: What am i doing wrong? thanks very much.

[nfitzsimmons]

Not sure why you can't report contacts, but I no longer bother. Last patrol I ran across a small task force of escorts and a pair of escort carries traveling at 22 kts. I was way out of position to be able to make an attack and had no chance of intercepting them, so I surfaced and sent a contact report. Shortly thereafter I got a message from ComSubPac ordering me to engage the task force!

[Rockin Robbins]

Contact reports must be sent while on the surface (duh!:88)) in visual sight of a convoy of enemy ships. You get renown points for making the repoft but I don't know now many.

[Capn_Sinky]

I have found that if you can get a visual and lock on to a target and then hit send contact report clicko n the little note pad icon while still in the periscope or TBT they will usually send me a message saying the contact will be forwarded to other resources. They ususly tell me to continue with my mission, never had one turn around an tell me to attack the same convoy.
Tough luck nfit, espically with a top surf speed of 20knts with a typhoon at your back side not much you can do there.

[wetwarev7]

I've had both.

I report every enemy contact unless doing so would alert the enemy to my presence. Which in the game, does not. :lol:

What if you did not report it and you sank, and the enemy was able to sneak into port and wreak havoc? You would be responsible for all those lives lost. :nope:

Anyways, sometimes I get orders to attack, sometimes I get orders that other resources will take care of them.

And since I got the addon, I send in progress reports every two hours like a good captain....:arrgh!:

[DavyJonesFootlocker]

Don't bet on any planes coming. I never saw any allied assets attacking a contact and I've followed a few for miles.

[nfitzsimmons]

I have found that if you can get a visual and lock on to a target and then hit send contact report clicko n the little note pad icon while still in the periscope or TBT they will usually send me a message saying the contact will be forwarded to other resources. They ususly tell me to continue with my mission, never had one turn around an tell me to attack the same convoy.
Tough luck nfit, espically with a top surf speed of 20knts with a typhoon at your back side not much you can do there.

The really frustrating part was that now I had a mission objective (engage the task force) that I couldn't complete. So I stooged up to Garapan at Saipan where there was one DD patroling outside the anchorage. He somehow detected me (with me at silent running, 1 kt speed, and a 200 ft depth) and came out after me. On an impulse I came to periscope depth and found him broadside to me at about 600 yds. I fired 2 Mk 14's at him and got two solid hits, which sank him immediately.

I then cruised into the anchorage at periscope depth and proceeded to sink nine anchored merchants. Could have taken out an auxiliary gunboat as well, but I was completely out of fish. On the other hand the action seems to have given me credit for my engage the task force assignment. Go figure!

[Dignan]

Don't bet on any planes coming. I never saw any allied assets attacking a contact and I've followed a few for miles.

Do any of the major mods fix this? By "fix" I mean, do any of the major mods allow for the opportunity for allied air or sea assets to attack convoys you report?

[DavyJonesFootlocker]

Not that I know of Dignan.

[Littlealx]

thanks guys,

yeah, what i was doing wrong was not locking onto any ships whilst trying to send the report.

kind of stupid. i think. if your ON THE SURFACE in visual range they most likely can see you too.

story goes like this:

American captain: "command, i've found a battle---"

Japaneese captain "OH-O-SPAGGETI-OOH!!!"

IMHO if i've got a gigantic blotch on my radar screen thats full of tankers, merchants, DD's or whatever, that should be justification enough to at least report there is something there. and blow it up.

[Takao]

My experience has been that you need to be on the surface, and have visual contact with at least 3 ships(IIRC, 3 merchant ships). Radar contact only won't do it, neither will visual contact on two ships and radar on one or more. This is a major failure on the devs part tha has never been corrected.

I'm trying to remember the convoy incident exactly, but failing to do so. But, it went something like this:

While on the surface, I am closing on a approaching convoy. Radar contact on a large convoy with 4 escorts. Try to send a contact report, no joy. Continue on intercept course with convoy, get visual contact on one destroyer. Try to send again, nothing. Now I get visual contact on two destroyers and one merchant. Nothing. The report would not send until I had visual contact on three merchant ships. It's possible it sent when I had visual on two merchants and two destroyer, but I doubt it. The number 3 sticks in my mind.

As this was happening I imagined to conversation going something like this.

USS Gar: USS Gar to COMSUBPAC. We have radar contact with a major Japanese convoy. We are proceeding to intercept at 4 engine speed.

COMSUBPAC: Um, negative Gar, break off contact. You're trying to sink an island.

USS Gar: Say again COMSUBPAC.

COMSUBPAC: Gar. You. Are. Trying. To. Sink. An. Island.

USS Gar: An island?

COMSUBPAC: An Island!

USS Gar: Well, the island is making 9 knots and is headed North-Northwest.

COMSUBPAC: AN ISLAND!

USS Gar: We can see it now. Your island has several smokestacks, is making 9 knots and is still headed North-Northwest.

COMSUBPAC: Well. We don't believe you! Nyah Nyah!

USS Gar: Visibility is improving. The island is being towed by a destroyer, has several smokestacks, is making 9 knots and is still headed North-Northwest.

COMSUBPAC: Not listening! Not listening!

USS Gar: Were almost there. The island has a destroyer as escort, is being towed by a destroyer, has several smokestacks, is making 9 knots and is still headed North-Northwest.

COMSUBPAC: ........

USS Gar: Got it! The island has 3 merchies docked, a destroyer as escort, is being towed by a destroyer, has several smokestacks, is making 9 knots and is still headed North-Northwest.

COMSUBPAC: OH! Why didn't you say so in the first place. That's a CONVOY! Sink the bastards.

USS Gar: :damn:

[Penta]

*dies with laughter*

[banjo]

I agree with Takao. It takes visual sightings to count. However, two visual sightings is enough (if 1.4 hasn't changed it). You get two visual sightings, send a contact report, and you will get a response most often thanking you for the contact and telling you to break off contact.

[tater]

You have to be within like 4500 yards.

Reporting contacts is frankly absurd as it is in SH4.

In RL us subs would simply not have done this for fear of being DFed. They'd only make a report if they could not get into position to attack. Even so, they'd not even think about it at the range required in SH4.

The mission triggers based on this assume that you'd make a contact report THEN be "ordered to attack" or even ordered NOT to attack. Also, simply absurd.

This needs to be fixed.

1. The range needs to be upped to the bleeding edge of visual range. (there has to be a number SOMEWHERE, please, tell me how to change it, I'll do it instantly, lol.

2. All the mission triggers based on it then need to be change so you are never ordered to attack. At most a "make best attempt to shadow and make follow up reports if possible" as orders.

This is clearly a complete misunderstanding of USN doctrine, it must be a holdover from u-boats or something. The only time US subs made contact reports like that was for our mini wolfpacks, and it used short range commo directly to the other pack members so they could try to make attacks. The few times US boats were ordered to make reports on ship sightings, they had the orders clarified at sea to make sure they ATTACKED FIRST.

tater

[Penta]

Tangentially, which was the more effective sub force, COMSUBPAC or BdU?

[aanker]

Reporting contacts is frankly absurd as it is in SH4.........
...... In RL us subs would simply not have done this for fear of being DFed.
Yup, I thought that's why SSI called it "Silent Hunter" when they made SH1. lol

Art

[Sailor Steve]

Tangentially, which was the more effective sub force, COMSUBPAC or BdU?
Given the conditions both were working under, I'd say it's a toss-up. Both sides made mistakes, both sides did very well at times, and both sides did their best to position their forces where they could do the most damage. ComSubPac was more hidebound when it came to sticking to outdated doctrines, but BdU had this problem of being a not-so-silent service. They were very chatty on their radios.

Of course it could be argued that since the Americans won their submarine war...