Longest uneventful patrol time

[bert8for3]

My current patrol is certainly the longest uneeeventful period of time I've run into. Departed Lorient Oct 18. It's now Nov 29. During all that time, I've seen/heard just two ships. First one, 5 or 6 days into patrol, a small merchie. Then zilch until Nov 29. Got all excited at a reported sighting, only to find out it was a hospital ship. Gives you an inkling of an idea of how tiresomely dull it was a lot lf the time. The beat goes on ... a convoy's smoke must be just over the horizon.

[Letum]

Don't give up hope, Iv'e had many patrols where I only find the goodies at the last moment.

[Blacklight]

I'm having the same issue right now. I've used up most of my fuel and I havn't fired a single torpedo. :nope:

[Sailor Steve]

I did that in a type II once. I don't remember the patrol length, but I came home with all five torpedoes aboard. SH3 Commander's randomized time in port had me turned around in just five days.:sunny:

[rifleman13]

One patrol, I sailed from the Hebrides to the southwest tip of Ireland and found nothing...

...the my crew almost mutinied on me!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[nikimcbee]

I've sailed all the way to West Africa w/o seeing a single thing.:damn:

[Murr44]

I once went all the way to the Cape of Good Hope. I was playing stock with the IXD2 range & torpedo fix then. If I remember correctly the trip took two months (game time) and I saw a grand total of 4 ships. I was able to sink 2 of them but the other two were way ahead of me & there was no way that I could overtake them or get into a good firing position. That was a really disappointing patrol.:cry:

[nikbear]

All the way to the east coast of america and half way back without seeing a blinking thing:nope:I seriously thought my game was broke at one point:o:cry:and then all of a sudden I bumped into a convoy(in bad weather in the dark)and had the patrol of my life from then on:up:hang on in there,its moments like that,that make this game so great!best of luck bert8for3;)

[StarLion45]

:o I once had this boring patrol 111 days without seeing nothing till the end of the patrol one sloop:o :o :rotfl: :rotfl:

[bert8for3]

The kaleun staggered out of the bar, bucked up not only by the quantity of alcohol he'd consumed, but also by the realization that his fellows had had far worse experiences.

:up:

[papa_smurf]

Been there many times. Just completed my 4th patrol yesterday having only sunk 1 merchant vesse, and then having no contacts for the rest of the patrol:nope: .
I even sneaked into Casablanca, and found nothing of value.

[Jimbuna]

Once had a Type II during testing and never saw or heard a thing in the Black Sea......I obviously returned to base with a full quota of eels.

Wrote an observation report over at The Lair asking others to try and replicate the problem.

About an hour after posting I realised I hadn't enabled the Black Sea campaign files :oops:

[UnderseaLcpl]

Only sailed to America once and it was the most boring thing ever. I think it took a couple weeks or something to get there and when I did they had escorts and planes and crap so I thought " To hell with this! I can get this off of England!".
For the rest of the war my patrol grids were BF15 and AM(whatever it is off the north coast of Ireland 29?)
If Bdu doesn't like it they can come do it themselves.

[predavolk]

I've gone for a couple of weeks I think, but the map with the routes on it usually saves me from that poor fate. Although crossing the Atlantic can be pretty boring at times!

[Jimbuna]

I've gone for a couple of weeks I think, but the map with the routes on it usually saves me from that poor fate. Although crossing the Atlantic can be pretty boring at times!

Try to use the convoy route as your crossing the Atlantic.

[Kapt Z]

Waking up a old thread....:yawn:

Just had my first 'goose egg' patrol. U-572 left Brest on 8 March 1942 and returned 30 April 1942 out of fuel and full of torpedoes. 54 days of nothing! Picked up one ship on hydrophone but during a bad storm with heavy fog and rain. Other than that didn't find a thing. Only received a convoy contact on the way home which was too far away and I was almost out of fuel by then.

Caught up on my reading, but what a long boring patrol especially since I never went above 256tc. :zzz:

[Keelbuster]

About a month of rain - no contacts. It twilight-zony.

[popcorn2721]

I went out on three patrols not finding anything...I finally figured out it was a faulty install that wasn't loading the boats. I literally had no enemy ships to shoot. I thought that it was odd that I didnt see any harbor traffic but I was new to the game and was trying out different things. In response to this thread, I do have more than a few patrols logged with zero contacts... That is how you come to shoot up sail boats, my friends...out of boardom.:salute:

[mookiemookie]

As of right now, I've gone 3 weeks off of Casablanca without seeing anything except a Japanese large merchant. We've all been there.

[ReM]

Be more aggressive!

BdU

[Jazer]

that's how one gets sunk to the bottom of the ocean. no contacts, followed by boredom, followed by trying to sneak into a port and being depthcharged to death. Just stick to the high seas, eventually a contact will be reported to you, aces!

Jazer

[harzfeld]

I do wonder if Kentrat or one of his crew ever suffered cabin fever during their 225 days on patrol?
http://www.uboat.net/men/kentrat.htm
Just 2 ships sunk in over 8 months?...makes me wonder if he ever or how many times met supply ships for fresh food and refuel. I'd like to read his logbook..

[RoaldLarsen]

I do wonder if Kentrat or one of his crew ever suffered cabin fever during their 225 days on patrol?
http://www.uboat.net/men/kentrat.htm
Just 2 ships sunk in over 8 months?...makes me wonder if he ever or how many times met supply ships for fresh food and refuel. I'd like to read his logbook..

I have just completed my own version of Kentrat's patrol: taking U-196 to Madagascar and back. It was a bit shorter, since I had to start in Bordeaux, not Kiel, and I spent a bit less time in the Indian Ocean and a bit more time in the mid-Atlantic. The result was not quite as boring as Kentrat's, but at times it was tedious.

Patrol Summary
Patrol Length: 178 days, 1943 APR 23 to 1943 OCT 18
Longest span without enemy surface contact: 88 days, JUN 28 to SEP 24
Longest span without contacts of any kind: 61 days, JUN 28 to AUG 28
Ships sunk: 11 for 52,646 tons.

Once U-196 passed the Canary Islands, the planned route was almost entirely outside the reach of Allied land-based aircraft. (I've lost too many IX boats to aircraft recently.) Once I reached this point, I ran much of the time between patrol areas surfaced at TC2048. In patrol areas or areas of enemy air control I rarely went above TC32, and then only if submerged.

During this trip, U-196 was plagued by engine problems. The original plan had been to go to the Indian Ocean and return without having to refuel, but a fuel leak or engine wear resulted in excessive fuel usage in the first part of the trip and U-196 had to deviate from the planned course to rendezvous with U-460 west of Freeetown.

This diversion from plan resulted in a close call on the approach to the rendezvous point on MAY 23. During very bad weather, U-196 was proceeding on the surace when she stumbled into the escort screen of a Freetown to England convoy. The FuMB detected RADAR emissions soon enough to give U-196 time to dive, but two escorts came to the attack. U-196 evaded at flank submerged speed and deployed a Bold decoy as the leading escort approached within 1.5km. U-196 then cut speed to 1.5 knots and rigged for silent running at an ordered depth of 70m. As the escorts began dropping depth charges (probably on the decoy) it was found that maintaining a depth of 170 was not possible. U-196 continued to slowly sink. Kapitaen Yung was reluctant to blow ballast, as hydrophones indicated that one of the two escorts was always approaching the u-boat, and it was feared they would hear the sound. Finally U-196 reached 230 metres and Yung gave the order to blow tanks and level off. U-196 leveled for a moment and then began to sink again, this time to 235 metres. Yung again ordered tanks blown and U-196 climbed back to 170 but when Yung gave the order to level off at that depth, U-196 soon began to sink again. During this time the escorts continued to drop depth charges just north of the u-boat's position. Yung let U-196 sink back to 230 metres before blowing tanks. This time he let the boat rise to 25 metres before leveling off. By now the escorts had given up the attack and were rejoining the convoy. When U-196 finally surfaced, it took longer to replenish the compressed air than it did to recharge the batteries.

U-196 found U-460 two days later after searching for some time in the continued bad weather. (See screenshot here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1046105&postcount=8).) After refueling, loading replacement torpedoes and making repairs, U-196 continued southwards. Two days later, U-196 was attacked by planes based in Freetown, and the diesel engines failed during the crash drive. The attacking aircraft missed, but U-196 was now unable to run at flank speed.

Before detouring to meet U-460, U-196 had encountered and sunk 5 merchant ships: 2 west of Spain, 2 north of the Cape Verde Islands and 1 south of the Cape Verdes. This took place during the first three weeks of May. The next victory would not occur until JUN 14, when a small merchant ship was sunk off the coast of South West Africa. Two weeks later, U-196 had rounded the Cape and on JUN 28 sank a coastal merchant in the Indian Ocean off Durban. This was to be the last enemy ship U-196 saw until SEP 24. After many fruitless days patrolling the Mozambique Channel, Yung decided to return to Bordeaux.

Problems with the diesels persisted and Yung was reluctant to pass through allied controlled airspace without top speed. U-488 would have the necessary spare parts but wasn't due on station until SEP 7, so Yung spent some time patrolling the New York to Med convoy routes in DG7 and DG8 without success. The tedium was relieved a little bit by three air attacks, which may have been from shipborne aircraft, as the patrol area was supposed to be outside land-based coverage.

U-196 rendezvoused with U-488 on SEP 15. The repairs were only partially successful. U-196 could run at flank speed, but about two knots lower than her former maximum.

With full tanks and tubes, Yung decided to patrol the mid-Atlantic convoy routes some more. On SEP 24, surfaced in heavy fog and high seas, U-196 was surprised by a C2 coming out of a fog bank 400 metres away. Before U-196 could react, the cargo's gun crew had put two shells into U-196. U-196 backed away, made repairs, and then set up an intercept course. The C2 was quickly sunk.

Four days later U-196 detected a convoy by hydrophone. By the time the convoy's course had been determined, U-196 was behind it. The fog had only lifted a bit, so visual contact could not be maintained out of RADAR range. U-196 plotted an end-around course that would take about 9 hours to arrive at a possible attack position.

About five hours into the pursuit, U-196 was rocked by a violent explosion. Her three after compartments were heavily damaged. The cause of the explosion remains a mystery. The lookouts did not see or hear any aircraft. The radar detector detected nothing, and neither did the hydrophones. U-196 was forced to give up the pursuit and head for home. The damage was so severe that Yung did not dare submerge more than 50 metres. This would make crash dives from aircraft tricky, and evading attacking surface vessels almost impossible.

Despite her injuries, U-196 managed to limp back to base, sinking 3 more merchants, and surviving a half dozen air attacks along the way. She arrived in Bordeaux on 1943 OCT 18. Yung was awarded the EK1 and his LI got the EK2.

When U-196 next goes out on patrol in January 1944 she'll be kitted out with new supercharged diesels, a snorkel, Bold 3 and Naxos.

[Jimbuna]

SINK EM ALL!! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Otto Heinzmeir]

My 3rd mission of a campaign in 1939 except for the 1st 2 days the visibility was 350 meters max the entire 2 weeks. I sank one neutral ship during the 1st two good weather days. I have nav updates off so only get an update from usually 20 or more km away. For one update I plotted the targets course and intercepted it. With the bad visiblity I was trying to stay 500 meters off its track by hydrophone updates and backing up and going forward. This is before I knew the visibility was only 305m. I knew it was bad but it wasn't till I saw this small merchant for the first tome at 300 meters that I found out had bad it was. Later I got an update on a convoy. How anyone spotted it to radio it in is beyond me. I must have been 500 meters off its track and never saw it. After some trial and error by advanceing on the surface where the visibility was abot 400 meters. Slightly better to just use your eyes on dech instead of the periscope. I was trying to line up a cargo2 ship. But in order to see it I was too close to arm teh torps and just when I was far enough away it would disappear in the fog and rain. I was weaving in and out of this convoy for at least 30 minutes when a destroyer took a shot at me and I send to hell with it. The weather never changed all the way back to Kiel.

I ended my mission only having spent 2 torps and was down to 10% diesel. I recieved negative prestige or whatever its called since I didn't have enough diesel to make my patrol grid after chasing down the convoy. :damn::damn::damn::damn:
So I went awol. Changed my name and started a new campaign where the last mission I had smooth as glass seas for 21 straight days:rock:

[A Very Super Market]

That doesn't make any sense. Patrol grid renown is added to your total, not taken away. You must have sunk a neutral ship or something

[Lt.Fillipidis]

My last patrol was like that.
From La Rochelle to grid CA64, just outside New York.
I arrived to the grid, went to Bermuda and then Carribean.
Besides Task Forces, no contacts whatsoever.
I left La Rochelle in the first months of 1944 and ported back in June. :damn:

[casey.phobic]

sorry, i posted in this thread when I thought i was posting a new thread.

[Torplexed]

For those that come back empty-handed I found this rather interesting statistic in Osprey Publishing's Wolfpack book:

During World War II, some 1,171 U-boats were operational. Of these only some 325 actually carried out attacks on enemy shipping, sinking or damaging the enemy. Over 800 U-boats therefore, were used only on training duties, were never used operationally, or were used but failed to find or attack the enemy.

Gee...the game is realistic. Now I don't feel as bad when I get skunked on a patrol. :cool:

[Kapt Z]

For those that come back empty-handed I found this rather interesting statistic in Osprey Publishing's Wolfpack book:

During World War II, some 1,171 U-boats were operational. Of these only some 325 actually carried out attacks on enemy shipping, sinking or damaging the enemy. Over 800 U-boats therefore, were used only on training duties, were never used operationally, or were used but failed to find or attack the enemy.

Gee...the game is realistic. Now I don't feel as bad when I get skunked on a patrol. :cool:

How many of those 800 bought it before they even got out of the Bay?!:nope:

[Torplexed]

How many of those 800 bought it before they even got out of the Bay?!:nope:
Exactly. By 1944 most U-Boats weren't even surviving their first patrol let alone finding the enemy.