Hunting a Dithmarschen...

[YukonJack_AK]

Ok so I REALLY want to hunt down a 20K ton "supertanker-ish" ship... :arrgh!: Question is, being that I've never added any extra ships before, what needs to be done??? :doh: I would first assume that the ship needs to be added to the roster of the right country... but that can't be it - can it? Is there anything special that needs to be done in order for it to show up on it's own AND in convoys? Then of course adding names to SH3Commander...

Any help would GREATLY be appreciated - cause I've been playing with this for a couple of days now... and haven't gotten it right yet...:damn:

[Sailor Steve]

If this is a ship you've created yourself, you need to create all the necessary files. Open up the 'Sea' folder and pick a merchant - say NOTMS. Open that folder and you'll see all the different required files. Then go to the 'Roster' folder and open the American folder and then the Sea folder there. Only one file, but it actually puts the ship under that country's control.

If this is a ship you've downloaded, then you just need to put the appropriate folders in the appropriate places, and it will turn up at sea and in convoys. To have them in harbors you have to use the Mission Editor to script each one individually.

[YukonJack_AK]

Actually it's the Dithmarschen Supply Ship (21K tons) from GWX2.1... I would just like make a 'copy' of it under British and American Flags as a "super-tanker" so that I might see it while out hunting... She's a big, beautiful ship and I'd love to see her as the center-piece of a convoy... :arrgh!:

[Sailor Steve]

Okay, gotcha. I think all you need to do is put it into the appropriate Roster folders. As I said, check out some other ships to see how they did it.

[YukonJack_AK]

Much Thanks Sailor Steve! I shoulda just gone the simple way but had to go and try to copy/rename the NFAD etc etc etc... anyways just lots of headaches and CTDs!:damn: Now that I have 'Super-Tankers' I need to go an sink the bastards! :arrgh!:

[LordNeuro"Serbia"]

Kann u maybe post theat tanker with u roster files so we all cann add it. I play gwx 3.0 and dont know if is there. But i will love too se theat nice tanker on my periscope.:yeah:
Chers

[YukonJack_AK]

@LordNeuro -
Sure! I can't take any credit for it though... The original model is the Dithmarschen Supply Ship from GWX2.1...;) all I did was edit some files to make it a 'Super-Tanker' for the Americans, British & Canadian fleets... I'll go ahead and get those files posted in the next day or so along with the edits I made to the 'ShipNames' file in SH3Commander so when I sink one it has a name...:up:

...Besides who doesn't want to sink the 'Exxon Valdez' :arrgh!:

BTW - Do people want just the .cfg files I edited or the complete ship data?

[CapZap1970]

@LordNeuro -
Sure! I can't take any credit for it though... The original model is the Dithmarschen Supply Ship from GWX2.1...;) all I did was edit some files to make it a 'Super-Tanker' for the Americans, British & Canadian fleets... I'll go ahead and get those files posted in the next day or so along with the edits I made to the 'ShipNames' file in SH3Commander so when I sink one it has a name...:up:

...Besides who doesn't want to sink the 'Exxon Valdez' :arrgh!:

BTW - Do people want just the .cfg files I edited or the complete ship data?
Is it possible to have the complete ship data?
Thanks a lot in advance. :up:
CapZap

[linerkiller]

Note that 20K was her DISPLACEMENT (in DWT) as german auxiliary ship, if you add her to the allied roster as merchant vessel her TONNAGE is about 8000-10000brt:O:
There is a huge difference between the two measurement units, also if many people uses them improperly:88)

[YukonJack_AK]

:o80 to 100K TONS! ARE YOU SERIOUS! I guess I need to spend a few minutes researching this before I release a 'final'... I know that modern super-tankers are usually in excess of 250K tons, but being as the largest ship in game is less than 50K I didn't want to go TOO much...:arrgh!:

@CapZap - The files will be up later today... I don't know yet if I will try to make it JSGME compliant or just post the edits I have done. BTW - My new 'SeaKnight' and 'A Drop Of Red' skins will be available on my FileFront page later today!

[YukonJack_AK]

@Linerkiller-

Ok got some REALLY DETAILED info on the actual Ditmarschen herself...

~Her DISPLACEMENT was infact 8820t (long tons)
~Her CAPACITY was 20858t (GRT)

...There's ALOT of info about her as the USS Conecuh. The Dithmarschen was captured by the Royal Navy on May 9, 1945. Renamed to HMS Southmark, she was in RN service for such a short time, that there's hardly any record of the HMS Southmark. She was handed over to the Americans 6 months later on January 15, 1945 as the USS Dithmarschen where she was eventually renamed USS Conecuh (AOR-110) and entered service as a Fleet Tender/Oiler in the USN Auxiliary.

Wikipedia~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Conecuh_(AOR-110 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Conecuh_(AOR-110)) [EDIT: the link isn't working so just copy/paste)
German Naval History~http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/auxships/dithmarschen/operations.html

...In any case, I think I will be leaving her at 21K Tons (Sorry in advance to all the 'Tonnage-mongers' out there ;)...myself included :D) and the files should be ready soon! :up:

[Sailor Steve]

:o80 to 100K TONS! ARE YOU SERIOUS!
No, he said 8 to 10K.

Also note that if you are using SH3 Commander you will not get names when you sink this ship.

[YukonJack_AK]

Ok! She's ready to go! :rock:

http://g.imagehost.org/0221/Atlantica_Class_STanker.jpg (http://g.imagehost.org/view/0221/Atlantica_Class_STanker)

...A few small changes though - She now weighs 24900GRT and only travels at 17 knots. She did keep her compliment of weapons - minus the 105mm's - to help dissuade the average Kaleun! :arrgh!:

***I take NO credit for the ship model - ALL credit is to the GWX Team and more specifically, Icnhneumon and Privateer, who made the original Dithmarschen model. All I've done is a few edits to make them available to be hunted. :cool:***

The file will be available on my Filefront page as soon as they're back up and running! In the mean time PM me with your email address and I can just email you the RAR as it's only 1.47MB!

DL Here => http://hosted.filefront.com/YukonJackAK

Enjoy!

[Sailor Steve]

If you're going to do it, get it right. First, your link to Wikipedia didn't work for the simple reason that the second parenthesis is outside the link line.

Second, the ship's displacement is listed as 8820 tons. The 20,000+ number is probably the full-load displacement, which is never used in tonnage scores.

Third, the ship was captured at the end of the war, and didn't enter US service until 1946, and wasn't officially commissioned until 1953.

[YukonJack_AK]

Do you REALLY have to sit there and 'bash' me...

If you're going to do it, get it right. First, your link to Wikipedia didn't work for the simple reason that the second parenthesis is outside the link line.

I realized that so I DID edit it with a recommendation to cut/paste...

Second, the ship's displacement is listed as 8820 tons. The 20,000+ number is probably the full-load displacement, which is never used in tonnage scores.

I am NOT a naval expert... NOR do I pretend to be. I am just a guy who enjoys SH3. I am only going by what I READ online (and for that matter in the GWX2.1 Manual) about the tonnage of said ship. So I guess if I screwed up... So did the GWX Team.

From Wiki ~ Type:Replenishment oiler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replenishment_oiler) Displacement:8,820 long tons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ton) (8,962 t (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonne)) Length:584 ft (178 m) Beam:72 ft (22 m) Draft:31 ft (9.4 m) Speed:23 knots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_(speed)) (43 km/h (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometres_per_hour); 26 mph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_per_hour))Complement:284 Armament:8 × 40 mm guns

From German Naval History ~
Dimensions Size (Max): 20858t Length (Total): 178,25 m Length (Waterline): 174,65 m Beam: 22,00 m Draft: 9,30 m Crew: 94 - 208

Third, the ship was captured at the end of the war,

The German Naval History lists the Dithmarschen as being captured on 09.05.1945... Now last time I checked (and I only come from a VERY German family where we still speak it at home) we write our dates DD/MM/YYYY... Being that there are other dates on the same page listed as "30.11.1940" I believe it's safe to assume the date was May 9, 1945... Unless all of sudden there are 30 months in a year and I missed that memo...

and didn't enter US service until 1946, and wasn't officially commissioned until 1953.

I made a typo... was allocated to the USN on 15 January 1946 (not '45 :oops:). And I quote from Wiki... " She was placed in service 2 May 1946 as USS Dithmarschen (IX-301) with Captain A. W. Maddox, USNR, in charge."

And I continue..."On 1 October her name was changed to Conecuh, after the Conecuh River in Alabama, and she was redesignated AO-110 (the construction of USS Conecuh (AO-103) had been cancelled on 18 August 1945), but lack of funds delayed her conversion and she was placed out of service on 24 October [1946]. Her classification was changed to AOR-110 on 4 September 1952 and she was converted to a replenishment fleet tanker. Conecuh was commissioned 16 February 1953, Commander M. B. Freeman in command."

...So IIRC she "did" enter USN service in '46, though she was pulled and then 're-commisioned' in '52/'53... so barring my typo - we are both correct.:up:

BTW - Is there ANY need at all to be acting like children on this forum... Thank you for your help, but not everyone here is a Computer Science major, or has ever even looked at code, or is a certifiable UBoat/Naval Historian... We're just here to play... ENJOY the fact that there are still people that are playing/modding a game thats damn near 5 years old. ;) All I'm trying to do here is make what was once a German ship now an Allied ship that's available to be sunk... If you don't like it - By all means, don't use it.

[linerkiller]

@YukonJack_AK
Please do not misunderstand Sailor Steve suggestions;) he is only trying to help you doing the best possible work!:DL Your mod is very useful, i'm sure that many people would d/l it...
Yes, when I said 8000-10000tons i meant 8k to 10k...100k supertankers started to be built only in the sixties:up:. Usually the Germand tended to give the displacement as misuration means for their auxiliary ships, so in the stock game the German Raider (that is copied by the Pinguin, ex M/V Kandelfels-7700 tons) is given as 17 000 tons (displacement). That could easily led a lot of people to misunderstand their dimensions:up:
Keep up the good work:salute:

[Sailor Steve]

I do apologize if I came on strong. It's just that back in 2005 I fell in love with SH3 Commander's ability to give names to ships that we sank, but was unhappy with the generic nature of the names assigned. I've spent the last three years of my life trying to coordinate and reassign names to the proper models and categories, and have been both happy and frustrated with all the new models. Happy because it lets me get closer to getting all the right names in all the right places, and frustrated because each new model means going back and looking at thousands of pictures to see if any of the ones I have tagged as 'wrong' can be reassigned to a closer match.

I currently have a list of over 9000 names I've assigned, and my list is the one now included in the latest version of SH3 Commander. I've also whittled the 'Generic' list from 3500 names down to less than 900.

All of that said, I expect at least three more years of intensive research on the subject before I be to the point where I consider myself done.

So, while I might be a little too close to the subject, and I probably take it a little too seriously, I do tend to pull my hair out when someone comes along and says "Hey, guys, look what I did on a whim!"

So again, I apologize. But that doesn't mean I won't do it again.:sunny:

[YukonJack_AK]

@Sailor Steve
I too apologize for coming off rather strong! Sorry Mate!:up: I understand that modding can be VERY time consuming and tedious work and at the best of times VERY frustrating! :damn: I spent the better part of a week messing with cfg files trying to copy/rename the NFAD files and that only led to many hours of CTDs! :dead: I CAN completely understand the personal attachment you have to the work you've done with SH3Cmdr... it's your pet-project and I feel the same way everytime someone comes along and tells me "Hey look what I did!" (I currently work in advertising).:DL I didn't mean to step on any toes... I usually only paint subs but I really wanted a hefty tanker to sink and as no-one had done one (I was not going to pester IAMBL) I figured I'd try it myself. Through many hours, and your help, it's working. And though it's not realistic, nor are the names (which I sincerely do hope work ;)), I hope it's a fun MOD that people will enjoy!

So that said... Let's dump it all over the side, grab some beers, and sink some damn merchies! :arrgh!:

[CapZap1970]

YJAK:
Thanks a lot for your mod. I am trying to enable it, but I am facing a problem since I use SH3 Cmdr 3.2, if I replace the cfg file, I will loose the ability to see the cargo and crew of every ship sunk.
Is there a way to sort this out? :hmmm:
Will be waiting for your response, and once again thanks for your help. :yeah:
CapZap

[Sailor Steve]

I'll put together a file for it tonight. I'll through in a few names of tankers of similar size, along with cargo and crew.

I'll put it up tomorrow, along with instructions on how to install it.

It won't be historically accurate, but I don't want anybody to feel left out.:sunny: