Cruising Speed?

[NoGoodLandLubber]

Fellow U-Boat commanders!

How fast do you generally cruise the oceans while on patrol?? My last couple patrols have come up empty and I'm worried I've been going too fast for the conditions and have missed contacts.

I pretty much run at "Standard" unless things get hot then I kick it into "Flank" speed and run like a little girl!

[Gargamel]

I've installed the fuel effeciency mod, which set's 1/3 speed to my most fuel effecient. I usually cruise around 8 knots every where. Right before my computer died, I finished a 56 day patrol (type IX), and I still returned with 1/3 of a tank left (and 5 eels, sigh).

While I could go faster and have the same results, I'm always worried about that one time I get some damage and lose a diesel tank. half of nothing is, well, let me do the math, carry the nothing, ummm... nothing!

[Missing Name]

Yeah, for the Type IX, I just click on "Ahead 9 knots." This seems to be the most efficient speed (note: it will rarely actually make 9. More like 8 or even lower on high seas.)

[desirableroasted]

Set for 8 knots and forget it (in heavy seas, you won't make 8 knots, but don't worry about it).

If you want to get fiddly, go up into the tower, look for the RPM gauges, then adjust your speed until the RPMs hit 200. That seems to be the most efficient setting.

You can also prick your CE on the shoulder, take over his station, and do the same thing.

Fuel is the last thing you should run out of in SH3, either in stock or GWX. I regularly come home from 50+ day patrols with enough fuel to stay out another 20 days.

[Obltn Strand]

When transfering to patrol area or returning to port I set 12kts.

Inside patrol grid/area 8kts.

[CCIP]

Yep, 8-9kt is about correct and historical. Actual U-boats achieved this speed with efficient fuel consumption by having only one diesel running at a time, driving both screw shafts. While SH3 doesn't model that, the fuel consumption at that speed is about ideal in the game anyway.

[sharkbit]

Like everyone has said, it falls in the 8 knot range.
If you want to find out exactly, set a speed, go to TC16 and have your navigator check your range to empty. Set a different speed and repeat. Check various speeds and you will find the most efficient speed where the range peaks and then falls off again.
Try to do this on a calm day because conditions will change the numbers. As long as you do it in the same conditions, it gives a pretty good idea of the most fuel efficient speed for the particular type of boat.

I do this each time I get a new type of boat. I chart it as well as the speeds(surfaced and submerged) at various settings, as well as reverse, and the speeds when running decks awash so I know exactly what speed I should be running at each setting and condition. Sea state chnges these numbers, but at least I know what I should be getting.

:)

[Paulski]

Yep, 8-9kt is about correct and historical. Actual U-boats achieved this speed with efficient fuel consumption by having only one diesel running at a time, driving both screw shafts. While SH3 doesn't model that, the fuel consumption at that speed is about ideal in the game anyway.

Do you happen to know what's a historical correct cruising speed for the type II's?

[NoGoodLandLubber]

Thanks for all the info! Sounds like I've been running too fast.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Going fast is okay if you're just foraying in to the North Sea from Wilhelmshaven but out into the Atlantic you never know how much you'll need for convoy chasing and your return. I too use the fuel efficiency mod :D

[Sailor Steve]

Do you happen to know what's a historical correct cruising speed for the type II's?
Eight knots, according to www.uboat.net (http://www.uboat.net).
http://uboat.net/types/iib.htm

I always use the second setting. In a Type II it comes to 7 knots, and I've never had a problem with it.

[Kapt Z]

As been said I think 8kts is the ideal for type VIIs. In order to factor in food consumption I have been using 9kts on my last patrols and that has reduced my range so that I can still do pretty much what I want, but will usually make me return to base after about 40 days or so. Sometimes with unused torps still aboard.

[papa_smurf]

For me it depends on what type i'm in. Usually its:

- Type II; 6-7 knts
- Type VII/B and C; 7 knts
- Type IX; 8 knts

[flag4]

Fellow U-Boat commanders!

How fast do you generally cruise the oceans while on patrol?? My last couple patrols have come up empty and I'm worried I've been going too fast for the conditions and have missed contacts.

I pretty much run at "Standard" unless things get hot then I kick it into "Flank" speed and run like a little girl!

" a father bull and his son are sat on top of a hill. the son says to the father bull " hey dad, look at all those cows down there in the field. why dont we run down and **** one of them?"
the father bull turns to his son and says " why dont we walk down and **** them all?"

take your time. between 7-9 knots before the action hots up!

[Paulski]

Eight knots, according to www.uboat.net (http://www.uboat.net).
http://uboat.net/types/iib.htm

I always use the second setting. In a Type II it comes to 7 knots, and I've never had a problem with it.

Thanks! :)

[reignofdeath]

" a father bull and his son are sat on top of a hill. the son says to the father bull " hey dad, look at all those cows down there in the field. why dont we run down and **** one of them?"
the father bull turns to his son and says " why dont we walk down and **** them all?"

take your time. between 7-9 knots before the action hots up!

This has to be the best analogy Ive ever heard. hahaha :har::har::har:

[WH4K]

I guess I'm doing it wrong. I use "Ahead Standard," which usually works out to 10 knots, less in rough seas.

Keep in mind that so far, I've only done patrols with Type IIs. It doesn't have much range until the IID upgrade. But you only get 5 torps anyway, so running out of fuel shouldn't really happen.

Even so, I managed to do it once, by profligate use of flank speed. I ran dry of fuel oil just close enough to home port to make the rest of the trip on the batteries.

Once I've used all torpedoes, I go home at Full or Flank, so that I can get back in the fight as quickly as possible. Of course I turn it down to 1/3 or even Slow in the harbor area, so I won't run into anything.

[NoGoodLandLubber]

That's what I've been doing too...cruising at Standard with occasional jumps to light speed...usually involving hiking my skirt above my head like a little girl! :har:

[desirableroasted]

I always wonder why people use high speeds (my temptation is to go slower, but that's just as inefficient). And shoot at destroyers (the two seem to go hand in hand).

Your job is to sink as much merchant tonnage as possible with the ammunition you are given. So it should be a given you do that as efficiently as possible. Don't waste torpedoes and shells on warships. And realize 8 knots = more fuel on station = more time to carefully shoot torpedoes and gun ammunition + ready fuel to go home/to a resupply boat.

Burning up fuel racing around is like shooting torpedoes into the ocean, or using the deck gun for fireworks. And sinking a destroyer when you could be sinking a merchant carrying critical parts for 100 new destroyers is ego.

But that's just me.

[danexpat]

If you're going to AN11 there's no harm IMO cruising at full and standard -- other than the obvious decrease in stealth. Your NO will report your max range at current speed. Do you really need 12k range to go to AN11 and back? No, you don't. You'll even have enough fuel to prowl the shipping lanes west of Ireland after remaining on station.

[WH4K]

Yes, in a Type II your limiting factor is torpedoes. So I try to find targets quickly, sink them, and then get back to base as soon as possible.

Going at Ahead 1/3 is not a part of that plan.

[Herr-Berbunch]

And sinking a destroyer when you could be sinking a merchant carrying critical parts for 100 new destroyers is ego.

But that's just me.

But if you sink that one vessel that contained Johnnie Walker, maybe you'd have saved more than a dozen other subs to destroy more merchants. :hmmm:

[frau kaleun]

But if you sink that one vessel that contained Johnnie Walker, maybe you'd have saved more than a dozen other subs to destroy more merchants. :hmmm:

But if you sink that one merchant that contains several thousand bottles of Johnnie Walker, you'll be fishing crates of Scotch out of the water and the crew will make you a "Bestest Kommandant EVR!!1!" medal out of some scraps of tin they found in the engine room. :yeah:

[danexpat]

120 for DD, 60-70 for coastal/small merchant. In any case, I think it makes a great deal of sense to target convoy escorts early on in the war, particularly in clear (i.e., deck gun) weather and if you're only looking at a DD and an armed trawler or torp boat.

[Gargamel]

Started new thread on this war ship vs merchant topic, as it deserves it's own IMO. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=1578536#post1578536