Why would a uboat commander remove his deck gun?

[Lt.Fillipidis]

After a 73.000GRT patrol in the mediteranean, the first thing i did was to go to the nightclub to have some fun. Well, Bruno there told me that Peter removed his deck gun before his last patrol.
Why would he do that? :DL

[Pohl]

Because the far you get into the war the less you will use the deck gun, merchant ships begin to have guns and actually shot you but with a terrible aim, so you eventually stop using it around mid '42 (at least for me) I find the flak guns more efective or use a trained gunner to take out the merchant guns that way you can take your time to sink them or it could be to improve the speed while submerged :o

[danlisa]

Regardless of the games take on this. A Uboats 'skin' and hull was very susceptible to small & large caliber fire. So as soon as merchants etc became equipped with their own deck weaponry, surface attacks became dangerous.

So uboats opted to remove the now useless (or less used) deck gun in favour of faster turn rates, reduced drag , faster dive times and (possibly) additional storage resultant from the removal of DG ammo stores.

Why have it if you can't use it?

[danurve]

Beacuse it looks cool and sometimes you can still find a lone merchant with just a forward deck gun. :arrgh!:
If the game engine took into account the dynamics on no deck gun I'd remove it after 41. As it is I just choose no gun when I trade in the viib for 7/41.

[Jimbuna]

There are very few ships you can fight on even grounds after merchants become armed......not very realistic either.

Try taking on an MTB...you'll soon find you've few crew to man the bloody thing :DL

[Murr44]

Try taking on an MTB...you'll soon find you've few crew to man the bloody thing :DL

It's like trying to kill a wasp with an elephant gun...:D Your best bet is to dive when you encounter an MTB. The game engine won't let them launch torpedoes so you'll be safe once you submerge. MTB's often operate in pairs so watch out for that too...

[Task Force]

Well... In real life... the subs without were alittle quicker under water. And during the late war.

Deck Gunning=Death.:yep:

[Slick Rick]

Once radar became widespread....a u boat didnt spend much time on the surface.......hard to use while schnorkeling.....

[Platapus]

In the game, are there "dead zones" where the merchant's guns can't transverse/fire?

I am a big deck gun fan I guess I am a frustrated DD Kaluen stuck in a sub.

If the merchant only has a gun in the bow, I have maneuvered directly behind the merchant and shelled it. It gets very tough when the Merchant only has a stern gun and you are in front of it.

Does anyone know of any other "blind" zones for merchant guns?

[Letum]

There is a blind zone 'under' the ships guns. U-69 style.
Surface next to the ship, get your crew on the deck gun and concentrate on
not colliding when the AI starts to zig-zag.

When U69 surfaced very close to an armed merchant and opened fire the sub was mistaken for a cruiser.