How often do you see the big warships, sunk two Taiho Fleet Carriers!

[Systemlord]

I was on my 8th patrol tonight and once I got to my area to patrol, I found four carriers! Two were Taiho Fleet Carriers, the other two were Escort Carriers. I sunk two Taiho Fleet Carrires (35,000 tons each) with three torpedos each at 32ft running depth, I only had five forward torpedos and one in the rear. I had to move my boat a little to fire the last of six torpedos to finish the second fleet carrier which was leaning way over to one side. It felt great to sink two of those huge cities on water! I need to upgrade my FRAPS so I can take JPG pictures of these awesome sinkings!

[Seminole]

How Often?

Not very. For me anyway.

'Cause...My orders usually call for attacks against merchant shipping so I avoid the task forces. :shifty:

I suppose if I were to actively hunt them there would be way more than historical levels of major warship contacs available though. Also the mod combos you have in play might(probably would) limit the number you might encounter I would think.

Good job on those carriers. Keep up the good work.

[tomoose]

I'll second Seminole's comments. I'm running TMO and RSRD (1.4). I've only run into warships occasionally and TFs very, very rarely. I don't engage warships as a rule usually cuz they're too far away and moving too fast. I tend to stay close to my assigned patrol area unless I have a strong lead taking me somewhere else.

The closest I came to engaging warships was an apparent TF in the Bungo Straits. I was patrolling the mouth and picked up a couple of small carriers with a substantial escort. I closed as quickly and stealthily as I could but had to go to flank to even have a chance. This promptly caught the attention of the escorts and I was forced to dive. Once underwater there was no way to keep up and by the time I was able to resurface they were long gone.:-?

[Quillan]

Every once in a while, if you're running RSRDC, you'll get flash radio traffic warning you about an impending Japanese warship movement. They'll give you latitude and longitude, along with a date and time where you can probably intercept the transit. Once when I was heading out on patrol I got warning of a BB transfer from Rabaul back to the home islands, and the intercept was right on my way, so I hung around the intercept point for an extra day to see. Along came two Kongo BBs and two Akizuki DDs running in line astern. I fired 6 fish at the lead Kongo, hit with 5, sank it and evaded the escorts. Those reports are worth investigating, though not all seem to be accurate.

[SteamWake]

I sunk two Taiho Fleet Carrires with three torpedos each !

:doh:

Well sounds like it was fun although not very 'realistic'. :rock:

[Systemlord]

The thing that had me wondering is there must have been 15 warships surrounding only two merchent contacts, so I setup an attack run on the two merchant ships only to find the holly grail of fleet carriers. The seas were soo rough that is was difficult to get a visual on most of the convoy, no wonder why they never found me running at 2 knots in Silent Running. Next time I see a massive amount of warship contacts all group together, I'll be there!

[virtualpender]

Congratulations! Must be a lucky week. I sunk a Shokaku class Sunday night (my first ship over 10,000 tons) after receiving an Ultra dispatch about an IJN task force being at a specific location in my neck of the woods. I submerged in front of the task force as it passed and fired off all four forward tubes at a heavy cruiser as it passed my Sargo class. Before they even finished their run I began to swing around my stern tubes to hopefully fire at another cruiser.

I managed to sink the CA and when I poked my scope up again there was a Shokaku class CV filling my scope picture! I fired all four stern shots at a 0 degree AOB with a guess at the speed and a range of 600 yards. It was beautiful!

I had to endure about four hours of depth charging while I was as deep as I could go (175 feet) but it was awesome!!!

Thanks Lurker for RSRDC and Duci for TMO - best patrol ever!

[Fearless]

Good job Systemlord.:up: I'm like Quinlan and have RSRDC installed. A few flash traffic messages now and again but usually the locations were way out of reach.

[Hylander_1314]

Depends on the message from Pearl. If it says to sink merchant ships, that's what I do. If it says the Captain has full autonomy, then it's look out Tojo, you're gonna lose some of those precious battlewagons, and flattops before I head back to Hawaii.

[buddha95]

I run rfb & rsrdc and i only get big ships when i go port raiding

[Systemlord]

Depends on the message from Pearl. If it says to sink merchant ships, that's what I do. If it says the Captain has full autonomy, then it's look out Tojo, you're gonna lose some of those precious battlewagons, and flattops before I head back to Hawaii.

What the heck is RSRDC? I'll follow my orders to the letter, but if I see a once in a lifetime chance to sink more carriers I will do so. I can always refit later if I ran out of torpedos. Imagine if in War ll a US sub saw a chance at sinking one maybe two fleet carriers, would you not do so? Think how many lives you'd save, or that by sinking those two Fleet carriers would have changed the war in our favor 3-1 our favor and not the other way around.

I understand this is just a sim, but it still feels really good having a once in a lifetime chance to sink something rarely found in this game! Few people have had a chance like this, but when the chance comes your way will you ignore it or will you give in and sink it? I actually thought SH4 was all about sinking big warships, just look at the intro to SH4. The intro shows something completely different from actual game play, miss leading as it is! Look at the game package, what does it show on the front? Do you see merchant ships on the front cover? Huh , well do yeah? :D

[Orffen]

Sadly the biggest warships I've managed to sink have been Destroyers; but man, the first one was one to remember:

I was in the SLOT in the Solomons and picked up a fast moving warship on sonar in heavy weather. I was sitting down at about 100ft just listening and waiting for the moon to come out. I think she was doing about 30kts but well within intercept range.

I lined up for my first Dick O'Kane method try (the only manual targeting technique I've managed to get right), and came up to periscope depth. Seas rough and the sky ablaze with the setting sun (wish I'd grabbed a few screenshots). I set my TDC and launch a full spread as the DD passes 340º.

A tense moment as I watch through the scope, waves regularly washing over it and obscuring my vision. And then, the awesome adrenaline rush and elation as 2 of the fish hit and break her back, sending her under. :arrgh!:


Sadly I lost that boat the following morning to 8 or 9 destroyers which were steaming line astern in clear weather when I tried the same thing.

[Systemlord]

I have a little problem here with my deck gun, last patrol I moved my deck gun from the Bow mounting to the rear on my Balao class sub. At that time I had two men assigned to the Bow mounted deck gun, now that I moved it to the rear of sub those two men assigned to the deck gun are nowhere to be seen! So I thought by putting the deck gun back to where it was from the beginning that the two men would be there, now when I give the order to "man the deck gun" no body ever mans the deck gun now and it reload VERY slow!! There is no slot for me to assign a crew member the deck gun, there just blank. What has happened??? :damn:

[Quillan]

First, RSRDC is the Run Silent Run Deep Campaign mod. It changes the layers around, making the ship traffic historical and altering the mission selection. It is wonderful.

Second, what you're currently experiencing is a known issue that has never been fixed. You can upgrade or downgrade your deck gun as much as you like without problems, but moving it from front to back (or vice versa) drops the crew slots from the position, and nobody seems to know why. Reload an earlier save; it's the only way to fix it.

[Systemlord]

First, RSRDC is the Run Silent Run Deep Campaign mod. It changes the layers around, making the ship traffic historical and altering the mission selection. It is wonderful.

Second, what you're currently experiencing is a known issue that has never been fixed. You can upgrade or downgrade your deck gun as much as you like without problems, but moving it from front to back (or vice versa) drops the crew slots from the position, and nobody seems to know why. Reload an earlier save; it's the only way to fix it.

I don't keep olds saves from previous missions, so I will never be able to truely enjoy using my deck gun or even when I get two of them! What if I downgraded to the 3" deck gun on "Bow", then installed the 4" gun back on the "Bow", would this fix it? Someone please give me a saved game (unmodded saved game) so I may have my deck gun function back! First it was the gu.exe issue which still hasn't been given the time of day from Ubisoft, and now its this screawed up deck gun issue. Pleeaaase help me get back what was taken from me, my crew for the deck gun!!

[Hylander_1314]

Depends on the message from Pearl. If it says to sink merchant ships, that's what I do. If it says the Captain has full autonomy, then it's look out Tojo, you're gonna lose some of those precious battlewagons, and flattops before I head back to Hawaii.

What the heck is RSRDC? I'll follow my orders to the letter, but if I see a once in a lifetime chance to sink more carriers I will do so. I can always refit later if I ran out of torpedos. Imagine if in War ll a US sub saw a chance at sinking one maybe two fleet carriers, would you not do so? Think how many lives you'd save, or that by sinking those two Fleet carriers would have changed the war in our favor 3-1 our favor and not the other way around.

I understand this is just a sim, but it still feels really good having a once in a lifetime chance to sink something rarely found in this game! Few people have had a chance like this, but when the chance comes your way will you ignore it or will you give in and sink it? I actually thought SH4 was all about sinking big warships, just look at the intro to SH4. The intro shows something completely different from actual game play, miss leading as it is! Look at the game package, what does it show on the front? Do you see merchant ships on the front cover? Huh , well do yeah? :D

Don't get me wrong, if I see a target of opportunity that is askin' for it, I will try to sink them. But once you have have your orders, you do what's needed to accomplish the goals outlined, as this has more bearing on the renown you get than sinking big warships.

[Systemlord]

Sometimes my orders say, "deploy to Bismark sea and engage enemy shipping". So thats what I did, followed those orders to the letter.

[Petur]

Well i have just once got in a realy big task force. Sank some sort of a carrier and a Kongo BB'

[Systemlord]

Well i have just once got in a realy big task force. Sank some sort of a carrier and a Kongo BB'

The night before last I sunk two (thats 70,000 tons for both) Taiho Fleet Carriers, then lastnight again I sunk a Ise BattleShip (late war) equaling 31,800 tons! Whenever you see a Task Force of medium size, theres almost always a big fat ship that needs sinking. In the first 7 patrols I'd stay clear of Task Forces all together, but now I look for these medium size Task Forces like candie. :D

[Quillan]

"Deploy to Bismark Sea and engage enemy shipping" is a two part objective:

1) Get to the Bismark Sea, within 50-100 nm of the center of the star, and
2) sink X tons of enemy merchant shipping.

Assuming you're still using the stock game, X is 10,000 tons of merchant shipping. It changes depending on the mod used. There is no requirement that the tonnage be sunk anywhere near the star, though, but it has to be merchant tonnage. Military ships don't count, and I don't know for certain if tankers do. I think they do, but I'm not positive. Be more aggressive, as the Bdu always tells you! :p

[Systemlord]

Be more aggressive, as the Bdu always tells you! :p

Sinking that Ise Battleship was a suicide run. :D

[Sandman_28054]

Perhaps its just me, but, I'm not running any mods. Just the straight up stock game.

On mission 5, on my way to attack enemy shipping in the South China Sea, I ran across a Task Force that contained 3 Yamamoto Class Battleships, one Fuso Class Battle ship, 4 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 4 destroyers.

And out of the whole group, I put 4 "fish" into one Yamamoto Class Battleship, did not sink, and sunk the Fuso class battleship.

I have run across numerous small convoys and small task forces, but this was the biggest task force I have encountered so far.

[Systemlord]

Perhaps its just me, but, I'm not running any mods. Just the straight up stock game.

On mission 5, on my way to attack enemy shipping in the South China Sea, I ran across a Task Force that contained 3 Yamamoto Class Battleships, one Fuso Class Battle ship, 4 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 4 destroyers.

And out of the whole group, I put 4 "fish" into one Yamamoto Class Battleship, did not sink, and sunk the Fuso class battleship.

I have run across numerous small convoys and small task forces, but this was the biggest task force I have encountered so far.

I run the game stock also, that was a huge task force you ran into!

[Zero Niner]

... Just the straight up stock game.

On mission 5, on my way to attack enemy shipping in the South China Sea, I ran across a Task Force that contained 3 Yamamoto Class Battleships, ...


It's "Yamato". Yamamoto is the name of the Japanese Admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbour.

One of the more glaring deficiencies of the stock game. Only 2 such ships were built by the IJN, the Yamato & the Musashi. What was to have been the 3rd ship in the class was converted into the CV Shinano.

Anyway, I was en route to my patrol objective around the Caroline Islands when I received an intel message saying that a convoy from the Home Fleet would be in the vicinity of the waters west of Truk. Since I was in range I detoured and encountered a TF comprising 1 DD (lead escort), *2* Kongo-class BBs and a Chitose-class AV. I sunk one Kongo and the Chitose in my first attack in mid-morning, withdrew to reload and shadowed the remnants of the TF during the day. I later did an end-around and that night I sank the other Kongo. :smug:

[Systemlord]

I never really understood what "Fox Traffic" means from the ordinary "Contact Report" Enemy... What do all those different variations mean?

[Zero Niner]

I don't know what "Fox" really means, but I imagine it as an urgent message ("Flash Message") about a high-value target and is time sensitive. Sort of like the info one gets from intercepting & decoding Jap messages.

[Systemlord]

Sunk a Fuso Class Battleship tonight, it only took four torpedos (fired 6) under the keel to sink her at 32ft. I got within 1300 yards before they knew what hit them! Released decoys and went to a depth of 310ft running 2 knots in "silent running" mode. I then saved my game at that point, then I had a "brown out" (no electricity) a few minutes later! I unplugged my computer from my power surge protecter because the power would go on, then off over and over again.

[Sandman_28054]

It's "Yamato". Yamamoto is the name of the Japanese Admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbour.

I know that and thank you for correcting my spelling, but spelling was never one of my best subjects in school.

[aanker]

I don't know what "Fox" really means, but I imagine it as an urgent message ("Flash Message") about a high-value target and is time sensitive. Sort of like the info one gets from intercepting & decoding Jap messages.FOX SKED - just scheduled broadcasts to the subs. I've noticed that many come around 1800 for example.

Hondo has an outstanding glossary:
http://www.valoratsea.com/glossary.htm
"Fox Schedule - (Fox Sked) Radio broadcast schedule of messages for U.S. submarines."

Happy Hunting!

Art

[SteamWake]

I don't know what "Fox" really means, but I imagine it as an urgent message ("Flash Message") about a high-value target and is time sensitive. Sort of like the info one gets from intercepting & decoding Jap messages.FOX SKED - just scheduled broadcasts to the subs. I've noticed that many come around 1800 for example.

Hondo has an outstanding glossary:
http://www.valoratsea.com/glossary.htm
"Fox Schedule - (Fox Sked) Radio broadcast schedule of messages for U.S. submarines."

Happy Hunting!

Art

Yea unfortunatly for us ... at least in the stock game... the messages are merely color text.

[groomsie]

I got killed a few nights ago in my v1.4 career, so I decided to do the upgrade to v1.5. Installed a clean install ov SH4 v1.5, added the appropriate version of TMO and also added RSRD for first time. Selected a career at beginning of war in Gar-Class boat out of Pearl, 75% realism (basically auto targeting was only thing unchecked...and 1 other minor thing I think). Encountered and sank 1 mechant en-route to my patrol area. And then...something I'd never gotten to before.

In my patrol area, got visual on a destroyer, started a track, could see what looked like a CV hull down...so, I began an end around. Worked at it a bit (TF was doing 14 knots) and got ahead of the group around 1500 yards off-track. I'd figured out there were 3 destroyers, 2 carriers, and a CA. I locked onto the CA with my PK (who was ahead of the first CV). My intent was to shoot 6 at the 1st CV and be happy to get the shot. Anyway, went deep, and when sonar said the leading escort had passed and the CA was closing began my ascent to PD and a turn to square up on the track.
Came up with on the port quarter of the CA and locked onto the CV as it approached. Fired 6 torps, 1 dud, 4 hits, 1 miss. Started to go down to evade and realized I could turn for a shot at the trailing CV, so I did. Was kind of a rushed shot, but emptied stern tubes, 1 hit, 1 dud, 2 apparent missed. Then went deep. After a few hours managed to evade. Was surprised to get the 2nd carrier (sank with 1 shot?).

Anyway, based on everything, was very surprised to get a shot at a carrier (let alone 2) on my first time out of the barn with TMO/RSRD v 1.5. Truly was a thrilling experience, and fortunately I have a few saves during the approach, so my 6 year old son can watch and enjoy the final moments of the set-up in the future.

[Zero Niner]

Sometimes ya gotta know where to look ;)

In an earlier patrol I was north of the Solomons (Aug 42) on purpose, as that was the time the Battle of the Eastern Solomons took place. I encountered the Jap TF, but I was not in a good position to intercept, I only managed to sink a CA.

A few days later I was still in the same general vicinity when I picked up a small TF headed my way. I submerged and let it approach. Saw a flat top, let loose all 4 bow tubes and managed to sink a Taiyo-class CVE.

[Systemlord]

Hay guys is to use v1.5 do you have to buy an add-on? I'm unclear to what 1.5 is, a newer patch?

[Zero Niner]

A new patch, but it's not available for download separately. If you buy the add-on (U-Boat Missions) and install it it'll upgrade the game to v1.5 in addition to adding the U-boats to the Pacific.

[groomsie]

Just got it, but so far I like it and haven't even touched the U-boat aspect of it yet. As many have said, even if you have no interest in "U-boats in the Pacific" this appears to make several very positive changes. Plus the new mods are all set for v1.5.

[Systemlord]

Just got it, but so far I like it and haven't even touched the U-boat aspect of it yet. As many have said, even if you have no interest in "U-boats in the Pacific" this appears to make several very positive changes. Plus the new mods are all set for v1.5.

What the heck is a U-Boat? Give me the whole rundown on what this add-on does, because I am still clueless to what this is????????????????

[Task Force]

Today in my fleet boat while on my first patroal with it I found a giant task force consisting of over 4 carriers 1 seaplane tender, over five distroyers and 2 lightcruisers. I attacked it and sunk two of there carriers and put a torpedo in one, as of now ive sunk over 40,000 (only the two carriers made this) Im going to hall but to get infront of them before they get in to the bungo strights.:D

[buddha95]

Last night I had a great patrol. I was sent near Vietnam to patrol ( !st patrol) and I parked 50 miles outside of camron bay. Bout 2300 hrs spoted a task force heading in. Man, they were loaded for bear! 9 DDs, 4 Lt cruisers, 1 lg freighter, 2 lg tankers, 3 Takeo hv cruisers and 2 kongo BBs.
I tracked the BBs and plotted thier line of approach. I lined up at 500 yds off the line, engines off and silent running ( battlestations, of course)
I dropped scope and used sonar to mark the passing of the DDs, then raised and emptied all 4 of my forward tubes at the 1st Kongo. Scope down, I dove to 90 feet and went flank under the Kongo coming back to pd, 500 yds with aft tubes facing the track, now occupied by the 2ed kongo. Fired my 4 aft tubed, hit 3.
I put the stingray in pursuit of the badly damaged BBs. ! sank from damage and 1 required an additional torpedo. Prior to breaking off I put 3 into a Takao (16000 tons) hv cruiser and with luck, sank it.
What a great 1st patrol. If your out of the Phillipines, dont neglect patroling vietnam.
total 80.000 tons with RFB and RSRDC. Dif all excepy man. targeting.

[iksoks]

2 days ago on my second TMO mission i was almost overrun by a jap TF exiting the port of Bandar Seri Begawan on Borneo (btw mission was Photo recon of this port). 3 CV´s, 2 CA´s & 4 DD´s biggest TF ever for me. Got one Shokaku with my 4 bow eel´s and one Hiryu with my 4 stern shots. And got away in barely 20 m deep water....:know:

On my way back home to Surabaya, with 2 eels left, just maybe 150 Km north of port i get run over by a second TF, but much smaller 3 CA´s and a couple of DD´s. Tried the same approach as last time and fired my 2 last torpedoes on the lead CA. Both missed :down:.... and i got my ass full of DC´s this time in 40 m deep water...

Thank god i saved earlier...

[Sandman_28054]

Last week, before my computer crashed and I had to reformat and reload everything, I was assigned to patrol the south China Sea.

I went, sayed the required time, and noticed that (right after Singapor falls) there are a lot of convoys coming out. So I decided to check this area out.

I ended up chansing a couple of small ships into the port. No problem.

Sank them before they made it into port.

Well, I dove to periscope level because daylight was coming on.

Resurfaced at dusk. I was heading out of the harbor back to the open sea when the watch calls out, ship sighted. 140 degrees, long distance. I turn to investigate.

Coming at me were 6 small DD's, 2 light crusiers, 2 heavy cruisers, 3 fleet carriers, 3 escort carriers, 2 sea plane tenders and 2 med tankers.

Wow! What a find.

However, that is not the end of the story.

By a strange twist of fate, I did manage to sink all three of the fleet carriers. Trying to escape proved to be very hard. After 3 hours of evading, i managed to move to the mouth of the harbor.

Guess what?

To the Northeast was a large inbound convoy!

To the East was the task force I just tangled with outbound!

To the Southeast was another large inbound convoy!

Here i am with no torpedos!

Make a long story short, the mouth of the harbor leading to Singapor, seems a prime hunting ground, lots of convoys and task forces.

Good luck and good hunting.

(Note: excuse my spelling as it is not the best in the world.)

[Systemlord]

Last week, before my computer crashed and I had to reformat and reload everything, I was assigned to patrol the south China Sea.

I went, sayed the required time, and noticed that (right after Singapor falls) there are a lot of convoys coming out. So I decided to check this area out.

I ended up chansing a couple of small ships into the port. No problem.

Sank them before they made it into port.

Well, I dove to periscope level because daylight was coming on.

Resurfaced at dusk. I was heading out of the harbor back to the open sea when the watch calls out, ship sighted. 140 degrees, long distance. I turn to investigate.

Coming at me were 6 small DD's, 2 light crusiers, 2 heavy cruisers, 3 fleet carriers, 3 escort carriers, 2 sea plane tenders and 2 med tankers.

Wow! What a find.

However, that is not the end of the story.

By a strange twist of fate, I did manage to sink all three of the fleet carriers. Trying to escape proved to be very hard. After 3 hours of evading, i managed to move to the mouth of the harbor.

Guess what?

To the Northeast was a large inbound convoy!

To the East was the task force I just tangled with outbound!

To the Southeast was another large inbound convoy!

Here i am with no torpedos!

Make a long story short, the mouth of the harbor leading to Singapor, seems a prime hunting ground, lots of convoys and task forces.

Good luck and good hunting.

(Note: excuse my spelling as it is not the best in the world.)

How many torpedos for each Fleet Carrier and what running depth did you run your torpedos at? Also what type of torpedos did you use? The two Fleet Carriers I sank took three torpedos each at 32ft running depth.

[Sandman_28054]

[quote=Sandman_28054]Last week, before my computer crashed and I had to reformat and reload everything, I was assigned to patrol the south China Sea.

I went, sayed the required time, and noticed that (right after Singapor falls) there are a lot of convoys coming out. So I decided to check this area out.

I ended up chansing a couple of small ships into the port. No problem.

Sank them before they made it into port.

Well, I dove to periscope level because daylight was coming on.

Resurfaced at dusk. I was heading out of the harbor back to the open sea when the watch calls out, ship sighted. 140 degrees, long distance. I turn to investigate.

Coming at me were 6 small DD's, 2 light crusiers, 2 heavy cruisers, 3 fleet carriers, 3 escort carriers, 2 sea plane tenders and 2 med tankers.

Wow! What a find.

However, that is not the end of the story.

By a strange twist of fate, I did manage to sink all three of the fleet carriers. Trying to escape proved to be very hard. After 3 hours of evading, i managed to move to the mouth of the harbor.

Guess what?

To the Northeast was a large inbound convoy!

To the East was the task force I just tangled with outbound!

To the Southeast was another large inbound convoy!

Here i am with no torpedos!

Make a long story short, the mouth of the harbor leading to Singapor, seems a prime hunting ground, lots of convoys and task forces.

Good luck and good hunting.

(Note: excuse my spelling as it is not the best in the world.)

How many torpedos for each Fleet Carrier and what running depth did you run your torpedos at?

I ended up using all of my "fish" eventually, but it took on the average 2 per carrier. Standard Mark 14(?) running at about 1 m, contact fuse. I have found, just me personally speaking, but I have found that unless your cornered, a destroyer is right on you, less than 1200 yards, use contact fuses. If a destroyer is dead on you, less than 1200 yards and charging, then provided you have the time, set your "fish" to run at about 4-4.5' and "contact influence" fuses. This has saved my bacon many a time.

Also what type of torpedos did you use?

Like I said, I'm not sure, I think it is the standard early war issue, the Mk. 14.

The two Fleet Carriers I sank took three torpedos each at 32ft running depth.

I must have had good luck then because mine were set to run at/or near the surface. Generally, one well placed torpedo will do the job, (it may take a little bit to sink though) however, I did not take any chances. I fired two at each carrier, at 5 sec. intervals, spaced at about 2 degrees off on the second torp.

I wasted the rest of my torps, tring to get shots at the Cruisers. Diving to 90 ft, (shallow harbor) and silent running at 3kts, coming up to periscope depth to check where they were and where my persuers were.

[Systemlord]

It really pays to make your second shot a few degree's off the first because two holes in a ship is better than one deep one. My first torpedo is fired at 0 degree's, I then lead my second torp at 1-2 degree's incase the ships see the first one coming. If you lead with the first torpedo and the ship see's it coming, he will slow and turn. You'll over shoot him this way. Why do you launch your torpedo's so shallow? Is it better to shoot shallow or am I missing something as normal?

[Sandman_28054]

Why do you launch your torpedo's so shallow? Is it better to shoot shallow or am I missing something as normal?

In the SH4 manual, it tells how deep a ship is in the water. If you shoot too deep, nothing happens. As in the case of the Akisuki destroyers. They only set 3.8 feet in the water. It does no good to shoot at them with the torps set at the default depth of 6 feet, they'll just go under them. So I set mine, in this instance to run at about 4-4.5 feet, and explode under the hull.

Bigger ships, like the fleet carriers, are usually "thin-skinned." Thinly armored. Thus a torp running right at the water line or shortly below will leave a hole where water can pour in.

But, I have also found from playing SH3 and SH4 that some ships are better hit, a little lower.

Suppose you have a Modern T-3 Tanker coming. It still does no good to shoot and have your torps running any deeper than 9 feet, they'll just pass right under them unless they are set to explode under the hull.

Fo me, its just my personal perference. Unless I'm in a harbor, shooting at stopped, docked ships, I generally let them run at the surface. Unless needs dictate otherwise.

Like I said, I have found that what works for me, is to draw DD's away from the convoy, dive and come up behind them, shoot when the angle and range is right, leaving me pretty free to pick apart most convoys.

A DD coming at you, running between 25-35 knts., shooting at them from around 1200 yars or less with the torps set at high and running shallow, does not give them enough reaction time. And if they manage to turn a little, the torp still explodes under the hull resulting in a sink.

I generally I like night attacks, that way I can sneak in closer than I could from the surface. I have also found out from my own experience, that for some reason, torpedos have a bigger "punch" if fired from close range than long. I have managed to sink a Fleet Carrier with a single torp from 1000 yards, and had to sink one with 2 at about 1500 yards. I have also put 4 torps into a Yamamoto Battleship at 1200 yards without it even stopping or noticing. But have put 4 into a Fuso Battleship at about the same distance, and sink it. Go figure.

I just prefer to shoot and let my "fish" run from shallow depths rather than deeper ones unless there is a specific need to. Like in the case of 2000 yards or more, daylight run on a convoy. Then i might set my "fish" to run a little deeper to avoid detection and explode under the hull.

But as it has been pointed out, what works for me, may not work for you.

Its just my personal preference, and oftentimes, I get knocked for my personal preferences here.

Another good tactic is to get in the line of a convoy/task force, dive until it approaches, surface or come to periscope depth, and unload both with the "Fore" and "Aft" tubes at the same time. This drives the DD's crazy. They can't tell from where exactly they (the fish) came from. But this is very hard to do sometimes and very tricky.

But hey, this works for me, and it may not work for you. Using these same tactics, I had a thread started where I was well over half a million tons sunk and I was only on mission 12.

Got all kinds of kicks on that one.

(Note: My computer crashed and I had to reformat it, reload windows, and all my games. I am playing SH4 patched to v. 1.4, the stock version, no mods as of yet, I'm on mission #8 (in the career) and I'm already at about 300,000 tons. During my last run, I managed to sink 4 Large modern freighters, 3 med composite freighters, 4 DD's, 1 huge European Passenger ship, 1 large passenger ship, one small passenger ship. Some 66,000 tons there abouts.)

Here is a hint, if you ever find yourself in a position like the one I described, the monster task force, when the timing is right, save the game. Try it my way. If it does not work, reload the game and continue on the way you feel most comfortable.

That is the beauty of this area, not everybody plays the same way. If they did, I'd have to "wash out" of here. :D

Lots of luck to you and good hunting Captain.

[Systemlord]

[quote=Systemlord]Like I said, I have found that what works for me, is to draw DD's away from the convoy, dive and come up behind them, shoot when the angle and range is right, leaving me pretty free to pick apart most convoys.

Can you tell me how to get the DD's away from the convoy, I would love to know how you do that! :D Me don't got much in the way of attack skills, share you skills with me. :yep:

Thanks Sandman!

[Sandman_28054]

[quote=Systemlord]Like I said, I have found that what works for me, is to draw DD's away from the convoy, dive and come up behind them, shoot when the angle and range is right, leaving me pretty free to pick apart most convoys.

Can you tell me how to get the DD's away from the convoy, I would love to know how you do that! :D Me don't got much in the way of attack skills, share you skills with me. :yep:

Thanks Sandman!

Well, it depends on the time of day.

If it is during the daylight hours, I tend to run on the surface until I'm within 6000-5000 yards, by this time they have seen me, and are turning towards me with guns firing. When that happens, several things may happen.

First off, the destroyers will turn right at your position full steam firing with their deck guns until you dive, then when they get within 1000-2000 yards, they will slow down to 12 knts. But be warned, it takes time for your boat to dive. Usually about a minute, a lot can happen in a minute and in mostlyhood, you will take a few hits.

Once one or two of the DD's are coming at me, and I'm at periscope depth, I try to turn 90 degrees one way or the other depending on which way they are coming at me. Once I have them at a 45-90 degree angle perpendicular to my position, I'll order rudder amidhips and ahead 1/3 and creep along at 3 knts until they are lined up with me for a shot from the Aft tubes, lowering and raising my periscope occasionally to varify that what I want to hapen, is happening. I can usually take one out this way. But they is always the side escort coming also. You can turn away from him, have your next shot lined up where he is coming straight at you from the rear, (180 degrees) set the torp depth at 4-4.5 ft. and set it also at "contact influence", and wait until they are within 1200 yards to fire. This will usually go under the Bow and explode resulting in a kill.

This is one way it might happen.

Secondly, I have drawed them off, dove deep, 220 meters, ordered ahead 1/3, silent running, once below the thermal layer, let them pass and come up to periscope depth and set up for a shot.


At night, it is easy to draw them off by simply diving when you are close by, and ordering ahead flank briefly. If they are listening with their active sonar, trust me, they will hear you and turn. Likewise, follow the same proceedure.

But sometimes, at night, it is best to just "sneak: up on the convoy, and cut loose. the last patrol I was on, this happened to me. I spotted a large convoy, snuck to within 1200 yards of the ships on the closest side to me, fired one torpedo at the center ship in the convoy, and the destroyers went to the far side thinking I shot from over there.

If you can get in front of the convoy, and be very close as they approach, and fire a torpedo at the ship on the far side of the convoy, then the DD's will think your over there and go to the far side to hunt for you leaving you most likely with on one DD on your side to deal with.

Funny thing about most destroyers is they are very thin skinned. One shot either under the bow, or from the side is enough to sink them.

Now if you are lucky enough, you can run on the surface in the daylight, let them see you. And when they start firing at you, dive deep, between 165-220 ft., Reduce speed to 3 knts, and order silent running, it is possible to let them pass overhead, and you continue on towards the convoy. They will continue go on a little ways, and circle while dropping DC's. The only drawback to drawing destroyers away from their convoys is that once you have taken the time to set yourself up for the perfect shot, the convoy has shifted tract and are heading, or have turned away from you.

As a general rule, I don't bother with the DD's unless I have to. I like to try to sneak up as close as I can, usually right between the outside ships and the side escort. Fire my tubes, and dive deep. Since I'm in a Sargo Class boat, (I think) I have 6 "fish" in the front tubes, which usually means 3 kills. Usually. Sometimes I have had those med and lg freighters that just refuse to sink.

If I have taken out 2 or 3 of the escorts, then it real easy to take the rest of the convoy out.

As always, there are exceptions to the rule. I approached one convoy that was loaded with tankers, and before you know it, I was under the gun from 4 escorts.

Early in the war, now realize I don't have any mods installed at this time, just playing the stock patched version 1.4, but early in the war, convoys that I have run across have mostly 3 DD's as escorts. Later on, as the war progresses, you may see 3, 4, or even 5 escorts with a convoy. When that happens, its like a game of "cat and mouse."

Read through the threads here, there is a lot of useful advice being passed on from more experienced Captains than me.

I can only tell you what works for me. This may or may not work for you.

It is easy to approach a convoy, save the game, and try differnt tactics until you find one that works for you, or try to develop your own approachs. If mine don't work for you and you get sunk, you can always reload that save, and try somebody elses tips.

After a year of playing SH3, I got SH4 as a birthday present, and have been playing this game for only a month now.

But, I have found that the lessons I learned playing SH3, have helped playing SH4.

Just read the threads, learn what everybody passes on, play the game, and experience will come. Who knows, you may the next "hot-shot" here.

Good luck and good hunting Captain.