Question about the observation periscope

[Rhodes]

Were is located the control to raise/lower the observation periscope? And is it a lever or a switch/button?

[frau kaleun]

IIRC it raises/lowers with the Insert/Delete keys, respectively. To look through it, letter O on keyboard.

[GREY WOLF 3]

Press F1 all options are given

[sharkbit]

IIRC it raises/lowers with the Insert/Delete keys, respectively. To look through it, letter O on keyboard.

Frau kaleun is correct. CTRL+INSERT, CTRL+DELETE raises/lowers it completely. Insert/Delete moves it as long as the key is held down. Nice for peeking just above the surface. :03:

Same thing for the attack scope but with the Page Up/Page Down keys.

:)

[Jimbuna]

I'm presuming your using stock/vanilla.

There are difffering controls dependant on whether a super mod is installed with another mod for example:

GWX3.0 accompanied with the DD-OH_V3 mod the control for the obs scope would be Raise = Shift+0...Lower = Ctrl+0

[Rhodes]

No, actually I was asking in real life, inside a U-boat!



PS: should I laugh?

[frau kaleun]

No, actually I was asking in real life, inside a U-boat!



PS: should I laugh?

Yes, and I'll join you.

:haha:

Sorry we misinterpreted your question. No doubt someone here knows the answer or can point you to the appropriate source of information!

[sharkbit]

:oops::haha:

[Rhodes]

Yes, and I'll join you.

:haha:

Sorry we misinterpreted your question. No doubt someone here knows the answer or can point you to the appropriate source of information!

Not at all, I also may had express in a wrong way! :D

[Hitman]

Inside the real Uboats the observation periscope was raised and lowered via a lever controlled by an operator that was not the same person that looked through the instrument (The commander or IWO peering through the scope asked for rising and lowering it verbally). The lever was placed somewhere in the wall and it had a central position where it stood still, and could be driven upwards and downwards to raise/lower the scope. The left/right movement was done however by just pushing the handles by the user, no hydraulic system aided that, unlike the lowering/rasing process.

[frau kaleun]

Thanks Hitman!

Now this prompts my own question, something I've wondered about before but was never quite sure on.

In the movie Das Boot, when the Kaleun is in the control room and they go to periscope depth and he stands looking through a periscope in the control room to scan topside before they surface, that is the observation periscope, yes? And not just a "lower extension" of the periscope he looks through in the conning tower, which is obviously the attack periscope.

Because when I first saw the movie I didn't know there were actually 2 periscopes on some uboats, so I never asked myself if he was using two different 'scopes depending on situation. Now I know better and I've been assuming since that the obs 'scope was the one he used from the control room.

[Rhodes]

Thanks Hitman!:up:

@frau_kaleunt, yes, that's is the observation periscope. The attack one is a periscope of fix optic or controls. Do not know is it's the correct term.

[Hitman]

Yes FK, in the Type VII like U-96 (Das Boot) the attack periscope is in the control room and goes up & down as asked in the beginning of this thread.
The attack scope is in the conning tower, and is normally of the fixed heigth type, i.e. the big one with seat and pedals controlled by the commander. But not all Type VIIs had that periscope, some built on certain yards or when moments of shortage of equipment had also as attack periscope another up & down one (Installed in the conning tower), which was identical to the observation one except in the outer head, which was again reduced in size, as it corresponds to an attack one.

In fact, the fixed heigth periscope was just a housing with prisms, seat and pedals that replaced the lower end of the periscope. On it you could install the upper part (i.e. the tube that went up and down with the head) of any attack scope you preferred.

Type IIs had one scope in the control room and another in the conning tower, but none was of fixed heigth type (as opossed to how it was modelled in SH3).

Type IXs and XXIs had a fixed heigth and a standard observation one, both in the conning tower.

Type XXIIIs had only one, in the conning tower, and it was not of fixed heigth.

Type XVIIs had both in the conning tower, and none was of fixed heigth type.

[frau kaleun]

Thanks, I think that may answer another question, because I've also seen WWII German film footage that appears to have been taken inside u-boats while they were attacking, and in some of them the officer setting it up is very definitely looking through a 'scope while standing in the control room and giving the order to fire from there, then later at the same 'scope is seen (apparently) signalling to the crew that they have a hit.

So would that be an instance where the attack periscope differed in design/location, and was actually utilized from the control room? Because I can't imagine using the obs. 'scope to set up an attack.

Or maybe there was no attack taking place and it was all a "show" being put on by the officers and crew for the purposes of filming, and they used the obs. 'scope because it was a better location for the filming and the intended audience wouldn't know the difference?

[Hitman]

There are two reasons why the Kaleun would conduct an attack from the observation scope:

1.- As you said, because it was all a "show" for the purposes of filming, and the control room was a better location for the filming (The conning tower is too small to allow one extra operator with a big camera). Add to that, that the fixed heigth attack periscope was a technology that allies didn't master at that time (The US had attempted to create such scopes in the Barracuda, Bas & Bonita class subs, but the results were impractical), and didn't know the germans had. So it is logic that they wanted to keep it secret.

2.- Because it was an attack in low light conditions, not low enough to attack on surface, but too low for using the attack scope (Which had a thinner head, and as such, a much smaller light admision, resulting in a darker view, as if wearing sunglasses).

Kaleuns would conduct an attack as follows:

Daytime: Submerged, using Attack periscope
Twilight/clear night: Submerged, using Observation periscope
Dark night: Surfaced, using the UZO

[frau kaleun]

Kaleuns would conduct an attack as follows:

Daytime: Submerged, using Attack periscope
Twilight/clear night: Submerged, using Observation periscope
Dark night: Surfaced, using the UZO

Gracias, Hitman. Cool stuff to know.