Attacking Scapa Flow

[pickinthebanjo]

Attacking the British Naval base Scapa Flow is a rewarding way to start or end a patrol. It is one of the larger naval bases that the British own and is well defended. You will have to avoid the sub-nets, destroyers and coastal batteries. This can be achieved fairly easy.

This is the easiest way in/out of the harbor. You will avoid most of the nets.
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5382/45043238.png

It is best to stick to the coast line, and at dark/storm. (coast is just over there)
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/812/89671351.png

You will see a lighthouse in the distance, dont worry its 18km away...
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/435/14698632.png

...See
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/3373/33127824.png

As the passage narrows you will see barriers (Sunken Ships) Pass by them
and then submerge (unless you want to become target practice)
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8206/83744821.png

Now go nuts, get it done fast then get the hell out.
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/9143/70222783.png
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/14/52765407.png
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1624/36032179.png
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/8039/36508406.png

After it's all over it should look like this
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/9617/85585301.png
Or hopefully better:DL

As you make it back through the Ship Barriers it's best to man the 88mm
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7175/14015821.png
that is unless you still have torpedoes

[Little Uboots]

When are you able to do this?

I haven't played in a long time but in essay procrastinating i went and started reading this forum I had in my bookmarks lol

I tried to attack Scapa Flow, I did it at the same date of the historical raid on it so I figured there would be ships in there.

After pain-stakingly winding my way in and nearly getting the **** blown out of me (I got really lucky when a destroyer or corvette or something that was chasing me ran aground) I made it to the harbour and there was nothing there!

I was really pissed at my waste of time so I just surfaced and shot my deck gun or AA gun (i can't remember if I even had a deck gun at this point) at some buildings and waited for the royal navy to come get me.

[LostDream]

Dont forget that in GWX there are torpedo nets protecting many of the ships docked there.

I ventured there once early in '39. After a very, very long crawl following basically the same course as you, I made it to the harbor. Found a very nice troop transport and fired two at her. I saw the impacts on my scope, but the ship didnt move at all...:hmmm: So I figured it was a magnetic failure, reloaded and fired again...no joy :damn:

After much cursing in both Spanish, English, and some German, I moved the camera to see what was going on. Hold and behold that there was a torpedo net about 100yrds. away from the ship and had absorbed all four torps. Frustrated I blew ballast, hit the gas and charged in gunning :rock: and that lasted about three minutes for I had forgotten the two other destroyer types less then 300 meters from my last reported position...:oops:

[kdv]

I'm sailing Bismarck around mostly whenever I play SH3, so I just sail in like I own the place shooting everything up.

A tip for you sub captains, set the torp depth for the surface - they'll cruise right over the nets into your targets.

[Iranon]

I can't resist the urge to sneak into British naval bases... but it's not that rewarding.

From several attempts, I'd suggest not bothering to shoot at any troops transports there. Bloody nets.

There's usually some cruiser to be tagged there as well as a few merchants deeper in the harbour. I only encountered a capital ship once there, sinking the Hood in the first week of the war.

[pickinthebanjo]

I hit it any time after the war starts, I use GWX and there are PLENTY of ships to hit there. After you make it in, yeah there is one net that I forgot to mention by that troop transport. But to hit the tankers that are docked you have to pass the net anyway so this was not even close to being a problem for me (worked as an advantage cause the DD's would have to navigate around the net usually hitting stuff along the way)

It's very easy to get in there you just pass the barriers then dive, crack a beer have afew smokes and your there in no time. Like I said though Hit it at DARK or in STORMY weather or become surface battery practice.

It's a pretty standard attack. You just have to keep your scope down, and make it IN the harbor not the outside of it.

As far as it being rewarding, Iv'e hit many convoys before and the one thing it takes is Time. You can make it from Wilhelmshaven to Scapa Flow, Hit it and be back in 7-10 days with a good 30000-40000tons

[krashkart]

Oh I see. I didn't sail that far in last time, nor from the same direction. I tend to raid through the channel that leads out into AN15. From time to time I run across a couple of parked J-class destroyers there. If I head north into the bay, past the searchlights on shore, there are usually a couple of corvettes parked to the east. On your screenshot of the Nav Map, that would be about 12-15km southwest-ish of your 36km waypoint. I play stock SHIII and I don't remember which year I first encountered those, so I have no certainty as to what you might find there. May be worth a look though if you want some extra tonnage.

kdv, you are right about the torpedo depth settings. I ran into a sub net on a raid into Portland one night. Took a look around with the ship cam and noticed some overhead clearance, which worked out nicely because earlier I had spotted a C2 sitting pretty at dock. Figured 1 meter run depth would do the trick and let a couple of eels out. Sure as rain, they glided right over the sub net and sped onward to the target.

Little Uboots, welcome to Subsim. :salute:

[Fozzy22]

Hi all, I'm trying this method right now, although there is a large (what i think is) torpedo net running across the sunken ships. I submerged just before them because i spotted a coastal gun just behind them on the shore. I've taken damage but i think i can quickly surface to get over it then submerge again (I hope that gun doesn't spot me) :doh:

Edit: I can safely say this tactic doesn't work (at least in the summer as there is not enough night to work with) after jumping back over that fence by the sunken ships i was spotted by the coastal gun and cornered. Finally I was destroyed in a collision with a Destroyer being pushed up the shore bank, forced to surface to try to break free and fire my deck gun but was destroyed. :wah:

[pickinthebanjo]

Hi all, I'm trying this method right now, although there is a large (what i think is) torpedo net running across the sunken ships. I submerged just before them because i spotted a coastal gun just behind them on the shore. I've taken damage but i think i can quickly surface to get over it then submerge again (I hope that gun doesn't spot me) :doh:

Edit: I can safely say this tactic doesn't work (at least in the summer as there is not enough night to work with) after jumping back over that fence by the sunken ships i was spotted by the coastal gun and cornered. Finally I was destroyed in a collision with a Destroyer being pushed up the shore bank, forced to surface to try to break free and fire my deck gun but was destroyed. :wah:

Well I don't know what to tell you that I hadn't already. Like I said twice before
hit it at DARK/STORM. (Meaning when you can't see past 500m)

I guess I'll have to hit it in the summer then, as every time I go there it tends to be in winter. But just cause it may be summer doesn't mean you can't do it, it still rains in the summer:88)

[pickinthebanjo]

Oh I see. I didn't sail that far in last time, nor from the same direction. I tend to raid through the channel that leads out into AN15. From time to time I run across a couple of parked J-class destroyers there. If I head north into the bay, past the searchlights on shore, there are usually a couple of corvettes parked to the east. On your screenshot of the Nav Map, that would be about 12-15km southwest-ish of your 36km waypoint. I play stock SHIII and I don't remember which year I first encountered those, so I have no certainty as to what you might find there. May be worth a look though if you want some extra tonnage.

kdv, you are right about the torpedo depth settings. I ran into a sub net on a raid into Portland one night. Took a look around with the ship cam and noticed some overhead clearance, which worked out nicely because earlier I had spotted a C2 sitting pretty at dock. Figured 1 meter run depth would do the trick and let a couple of eels out. Sure as rain, they glided right over the sub net and sped onward to the target.

Little Uboots, welcome to Subsim. :salute:

I used to play stock as well, but only started hitting harbors after I installed GWX3. I'm surprised at how many people are playing it stock, the only reason I was because I did not know about all the mods for the game.

Yeah I think I'll investigate that area though, last time I found a battleship:)

[pickinthebanjo]

I can't resist the urge to sneak into British naval bases... but it's not that rewarding.

From several attempts, I'd suggest not bothering to shoot at any troops transports there. Bloody nets.

There's usually some cruiser to be tagged there as well as a few merchants deeper in the harbour. I only encountered a capital ship once there, sinking the Hood in the first week of the war.

Yeah the first time that I hit it I somehow managed to miss the nets, the second time though I wasted a torpedo on one, also wasted a torpedo on a ship I had sunk already (was aiming at some tanker and struck a ship laying on the bottom)

[Little Uboots]

Cheers for the welcome :salute:

So you fellas all play with this GWX mod then? I was playing on vanilla, would this explain why scapa was completely friggin empty when I got there?

[pickinthebanjo]

Cheers for the welcome :salute:

So you fellas all play with this GWX mod then? I was playing on vanilla, would this explain why scapa was completely friggin empty when I got there?

You know thats probably the exact reason. I should have posted that I was playing with GWX3 And Commander. I recommend GWX to all SH3 players, it enhances the game play/realism by alot.

I will do another attack and post more details. (nets, batteries, destroyer locations) In GWX3 (at least on my install) when it gets dark I can't even see the bow of my sub, so I never have a problem with batteries.

[dyslexic doggie]

this morning, before i had to drag myself to work for 12hrs of fun and grease i got an hour in to play with my new xxi, did my 24hr patrol sank a couple of merchants, a destroyer, then decided to check out lock ewe, took my time crept in to about ten or so miles out and my sound contacts went nuts, there were destroyers parked everywhere it seemed, they were at the docks, parked at the shoreline, i sank 8 destroyers and a destroyer escort before i ran out of torpedoes, this is in early 1940, what a great morning.
dyslexic doggie.:arrgh!:

[pickinthebanjo]

this morning, before i had to drag myself to work for 12hrs of fun and grease i got an hour in to play with my new xxi, did my 24hr patrol sank a couple of merchants, a destroyer, then decided to check out lock ewe, took my time crept in to about ten or so miles out and my sound contacts went nuts, there were destroyers parked everywhere it seemed, they were at the docks, parked at the shoreline, i sank 8 destroyers and a destroyer escort before i ran out of torpedoes, this is in early 1940, what a great morning.
dyslexic doggie.:arrgh!:

Thanks for the tip, but were there any merchants? (or 4000+ ton ships)
I like doing harbor attacks, and am trying to find more ports to attack.

If I get ballsy enough ill head for gibraltor but I cant help but feel like it would be suicide:dead:

[dyslexic doggie]

no i don't think i saw any merchants that were not already on the bottom,
no big transports, or anything like that, but the destroyers who have hunted me relentlessly and blown off various pieces of my boat were good enough for me.

[krashkart]

Thanks for the tip, but were there any merchants? (or 4000+ ton ships)
I like doing harbor attacks, and am trying to find more ports to attack.

If I get ballsy enough ill head for gibraltor but I cant help but feel like it would be suicide:dead:

I tried Gibraltar in early '43. Scary stuff - destroyers and Elcos everywhere. By then of course they have some decent radar, so even at night in medium fog I had to be very careful. I don't know how, but I managed to get away from an escort destroyer that had snuck up on me. Caught me totally off guard and started blasting my sub to shreds with her guns. Thankfully the waters were deep enough to dive under a thermal layer.

If you can range far enough I recommend New York harbor. I had to cheat a little to make it there in '43, but found the trip worthwhile. You might be able to follow a shipping lane most of the way in if you plot a course out of the middle BC's IIRC, more or less in the direction of New York. Found a passenger liner that was on her way in, and plenty of cargo and tanker at the docks. Again, this is all in stock game. GWX players might find their experiences different from mine.

Speaking of GWX, maybe it's about time I install it.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Heres is the best way that I have found to enter Scapa Flow, and I can say it is one of the safer ways of entering this anchorage.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/scotland/orkney-islands/map_of_orkney-islands.jpg
The enterance is located to the West and is inbetween the large island of Mainland and the small island of Graemsay. There is only one ASW trawler that patrols these waters. It is better to sink it if you decide to leave via the same route. Stay close to the coast until you reach the area where the large ships are anchored. From there the best ways out are eathier back the way you came in or to the south inbetween the islands of Flotta and South Ronaldsay. Give it a try for yourselfs and tell me if it is better or worse.:salute:

[Freiwillige]

The original posters map and directions are the same route Gunther Prein took when he sunk the battleship Royal Oak in 39'.

There is a map of his attack here. WWW.U47.org (http://WWW.U47.org)


"The stern still touches the cable, the boat becomes free, it is pulled round to port, and brought on course again with difficult rapid manoeuvring, but... We are in Scapa Flow!"


0027 hours 14th Oktober 1939

In GWX III you can find the Royal Oak on that date but its out of place about 4-6 miles to the north west of its original position

[Tessa]

Going through the southern straight is easiesr, aren't any blockships but there are mines to deal with if you are forced to go in submerged. Which is a bad idea anyways with a minefield being just outside the straight also (times I've hit a mine has always been submerged, so must been chained to the floor.)

When there is a gale or massive storm getting in and out of there can be a real breeze. Last time felt like a lvl 5 hurricane (15, 1.0 weather readings) heavy rain heavy wind, and only 300m or so of visibility in daylight. Travelled to each area where there's usually a subnet (and hopefully a BB or flat top) but only found an Aux Cruiser that time (only have 5 torpedoes left anyways, rough water makes flooding go faster but without any forward movement a stationary target can be a real vice). Was the first and only time the weather was still so bad in the middle of the day I was able to literally walk out the front door on the surface. And didn't get detected by the patrol ships or land defenses.

Gibraltor's pretty easy to get into with the kinks in the subnet that you can let you slip in while submerged. Loch Ewe is the really harsh one to try. Either choose to surface decks awash between two cannon enplacements while you go over the net or go the slightly safer route but have to go over 2 nets and evade no less than 4 DD/trawlers till you can get into the harbor. Can be some juicy merchant ships there but is tougher to catch the big ships in there like there's usually something in Scapa, Gibraltor or Southend that can put up massive tonnage.

[Jimbuna]

Thank you for the info...I never could have imagined it was so easy http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2391/bubblegum21.gif