Is it really worth the effort to raid harbours when the opportunity to do so arises?

[Paul Riley]

Having just completed the 24 hr patrol in AN26 I am now considering my next move.I WAS going to risk a trip to Scapa Flow and inspect what may be in there but I got a radio message from base instructing us not to attack any capitol ships,at least for the time being,ruling out a trip to S.F.
I have decided instead to make for Aberdeen and lurk about 5-6km from land to intercept any shipping that may be heading there.Now I dont normally opt for harbour raids,but something is compelling me to do so as my patrol so far has been quite uneventful save for a Granville sinking a few days ago.I am wondering,is it really worth the effort to raid harbours,and does anyone have any experience of patrolling just off Aberdeen?,whats the traffic like?

NOTE - I have compiled a notebook containing all previously known ship lane co ordinates from older campaigns and I may have a browse through it yet,I may be close to known shipping lanes :arrgh!:

[maillemaker]

I've never encountered anything interesting in harbors, except late in the war I went into Valletta and discovered the interred Italian naval capital ships and sank them.

I'm sure other players have figured out what harbors to go into when to discover nice targets. But every other time I've gone into a harbor there are just a few ships and nothing very interesting.

Of course you always run the risk of mines and nets. With external camera or raising your periscope a little bit you can (unrealistically) avoid mines and nets.

Just last night I went into Scapa Flow (December 1939) with 100% realism and did not hit any mines or nets.

Of course there are usually a couple of escorts that come to investigate when things starte exploding, but the escort AI goes all wonky.

For example, I went into Scapa, and nailed 3 ships, and the escorts came charging in from the bay. I simply pulled my sub alongside a tanker at pier and the escorts could not get near enough to me to do anything - their AI made them slowly putter about at near-zero speed, hovering near me, and I popped them both with magnetic torpedoes.

While I was parked next to the tanker I was imagining crew men running around up top getting big chains ready to grapple my sub with. :)

Steve

[Paul Riley]

Personally I have never encountered mines or nets before,probably due to the rarity of me entering enemy ports.I also never enable external cam in a campaign other than when training in the academy and I want to try new firing tactics out,letting me watch the torpedo approach etc.
I'll let you know (if interested) if I find anything at Aberdeen,I wont be staying longer than about 2 days in the area,then may move down the east coast of Britain and repeat,but in a IIA this wont continue for any extended time,I have about 3000km of fuel left at 10kts.

PS - I have a feeling traffic may be better near the channel,but as I said,fuel is the issue in this bloody bathtub I am in.A transfer is next on my list when I get back.

[maillemaker]

Personally I have never encountered mines or nets before,probably due to the rarity of me entering enemy ports.

Trust me, they are there, I have pictures. :)

Steve

[Wreford-Brown]

Having just completed the 24 hr patrol in AN26 I am now considering my next move.

There's a little mod that you can enable through SH3 Commander that will order you to go to a second patrol grid and they're specific to type, so you'll be given something realistic for your u-boat type.

No more considering your next move - BdU will order you where to go.

[desirableroasted]

It depends on if you are playing stock or one of the mods, but harbor raiding can be fun for the thrill of it. Hartlepool, early in the war (and in stock), is always worth a couple of (small) sinkings if you need to get rid of a couple of fish.

Use a II boat, though. The VIIs are too long.

With the mods, if you are not seeking extreme thrills, I think you will find it a very high cost/benefit ratio. Though, as Maillemaker notes, sometimes neutral ports offer a few pickings.

[Paul Riley]

I play with GWX3,Commander,and 92 % realism,as stated in my sig.
I enable most realism functions through commander other than the 'realistic career length' , I dont want to abandon a career just because the pencil pushers at BDU believe I should do so.

Thanks.

[Jimbuna]

I've never considered harbour raiding very realist considering how few times it was carried out in RL.

But Hey.....give it a go, you may like it.

BTW...there are mines and nets in a lot of these areas in GWX3.0. :DL

[Paul Riley]

I dont think I will like it much Jim,I prefer active more mobile combat out to sea,as opposed to just sitting there and waiting for the sheep to return to the fold.
I'll give it a go tonight,if nothing i'll hang around some known lanes in the North sea.Things may pick up next patrol,it still is only 9th Sept 1939.

[desirableroasted]

If you can get over to the Hebrides Strait, you should do quite nicely... it's a regular Broadway.... I always go down and out that way when heading to the Western Approaches.

On the patrol I am now on, I killed 30K in waifs and strays there just with the deck gun (unusually good weather, though).

And if you are feeling fly, you can always hang around outside Loch Ewe for a few days. I've popped Hood there in the first month of war (but that was in GWX 2.x)

[maillemaker]

Once, in 1939 before war broke out, I sailed my uboat into Portsmouth and parked alongside three british subs. :) I took a screen shot, too. :)

Steve

[djcazpa]

I dont think I will like it much Jim,I prefer active more mobile combat out to sea,as opposed to just sitting there and waiting for the sheep to return to the fold.
I'll give it a go tonight,if nothing i'll hang around some known lanes in the North sea.Things may pick up next patrol,it still is only 9th Sept 1939.

sorry to but in to your question with another but you mentioned "waiting for the sheep to return to the fold." Do the ai ships actually leave and dock at certain times and return frm patrols ect.... just never read about it or anything and would be interesting if the ai were to do that... then it would mean if you know a port where a certain ship like for example hood or somthing ushally docked and if you were determined you could wait picking of the small frys and any returning boats till your fish came into sights... or ships docking and leaving the ports not a thing in shIII:arrgh!:

Also if it does.. does this mean that the game is historicaly acurate with where certain ships were around the war??

[maillemaker]

With the exception of escorts patrolling harbors, and friendly harbor traffic, I have never seen ships moving about in enemy harbors. They are always at anchor from what I have seen.

Steve

[The Enigma]

I've sunk a lot of ships in harbors.
As a matter of fact, if I fail to find some ships at sea, I'll set course to the nearest harbor.

It's always changeling to bypass the warships.

[Leandros]

Personally I have never encountered mines or nets before,probably due to the rarity of me entering enemy ports.


Inside Loch Ewe....


http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o129/Leandros10/U122/Patrol18/Mission18C.jpgcost




cost-effective...?


http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o129/Leandros10/U122/Patrol18/Mission18D.jpg

[Jimbuna]

sorry to but in to your question with another but you mentioned "waiting for the sheep to return to the fold." Do the ai ships actually leave and dock at certain times and return frm patrols ect.... just never read about it or anything and would be interesting if the ai were to do that... then it would mean if you know a port where a certain ship like for example hood or somthing ushally docked and if you were determined you could wait picking of the small frys and any returning boats till your fish came into sights... or ships docking and leaving the ports not a thing in shIII:arrgh!:

Also if it does.. does this mean that the game is historicaly acurate with where certain ships were around the war??


A lot of the scripting in GWX3.0 is historically accurate but the game engine will not render ships within 30/50km of you, so whilst it is possible to see a ship disappear it is impossible to see one appear.

[djcazpa]

A lot of the scripting in GWX3.0 is historically accurate but the game engine will not render ships within 30/50km of you, so whilst it is possible to see a ship disappear it is impossible to see one appear.

:O: I guessed that what I ment was ships like for example:(not that am going to do this tho) Say I sat at a harbour in sh3 and waited would I see a convoy arrive and dock then leave again or a warship thats docked leave for patrol then come back and dock again or is the harbour traffic just static:arrgh!:

[fisherstoys1]

I have gotten two AMC's, a large floating dry dock, and a Couragous carrier at Scapa. Not to hard if you know the nets and the dumb harbour patrol dd's keep hitting the shore.

In the Medd, I forget which harbour it is but you are always get a Dido, Fiji and some transports.

I guess it is allright if you have a dry patrol but it is a little like a cheat.

Grant

[krashkart]

:O: I guessed that what I ment was ships like for example:(not that am going to do this tho) Say I sat at a harbour in sh3 and waited would I see a convoy arrive and dock then leave again or a warship thats docked leave for patrol then come back and dock again or is the harbour traffic just static:arrgh!:

I've never noticed traffic like that, just the usual patrol vessels, docked ships, and however many merchants pop up in the area while I'm there.

[Jimbuna]

:O: I guessed that what I ment was ships like for example:(not that am going to do this tho) Say I sat at a harbour in sh3 and waited would I see a convoy arrive and dock then leave again or a warship thats docked leave for patrol then come back and dock again or is the harbour traffic just static:arrgh!:

If a convoy is scripted to disappear at its final waypoint (which is usually the case) say, 20km from a harbour entrance....then yes if you are in close proximity you would witness it vanishing...but you will never see one appear or start its journry because units will not render ingame if you are within rendering range which is 30-50km.

[Snestorm]

If a convoy is scripted to disappear at its final waypoint (which is usually the case) say, 20km from a harbour entrance....then yes if you are in close proximity you would witness it vanishing...but you will never see one appear or start its journry because units will not render ingame if you are within rendering range which is 30-50km.

Can you give me a hint where the convoys passing through AM53 end?
I'm wondering if getting close to Liverpool is worth the risks.
(30 miles or so. I don't harbor raid.)

[Paul Riley]

If a convoy is scripted to disappear at its final waypoint (which is usually the case) say, 20km from a harbour entrance....then yes if you are in close proximity you would witness it vanishing...but you will never see one appear or start its journry because units will not render ingame if you are within rendering range which is 30-50km.

Interesting Jim.
So just to clarify,if I was say 20km from an enemy port you wouldnt normally see active traffic come and go in the area?This really is a shame.
I guess this forces the player to be more active in his playing style,and that suits me fine :smug:
The only traffic I have ever seen at ports is usually no more than 3 moored vessels,and they are usually no bigger than rowing boats and thats it.Come to think of it,if the game rendered a huge amount of traffic (as in real life) the fps would probably drop to about 1 fps,and the complaints would soon mount up.
Just for the record I managed to nail an inbound medium cargo just south of the Shetlands last night,this area is crawling it seems!