Help with Scapa Flow

[BULL]

I am in a career in U47 and would like to penetrate Scapa Flow to see what I can sink just as Prien did in October of 1939. I have tried this in the past but suffered many CTD and run aground damage to my boat even though I was in the middle of the channel.

I have tired seaching the forums for advice on this but have not come up with exactly what steps to take to get into and out of Scapa Flow. Can someone please give me a clear statement on if this can be done and exactly what I need to do to enable this?

Lastly... how many torpedoes does it take to sink a battle ship? In a previous career I hit one with at least 4 torpedoes and even though it listed heavily it didn't go down. I only have 5 torpedoes left on this patrol so should I even bother to penetrate Scapa Flow to sink a BB with 5 torpedoes?


My Load Order:
SH4 V1.5
om 705
om to 720
om 720 patch 5
omegu v300

Thank you!!!!

[MaddogK]

Depends on which way you come into the harbor. I still havent figured how Prien actually got into the harbor via his route as I didn't find a ship to follow thru the sub-nets and sunken ships blocking the NE channel. I have done it tho using the external camera and running dead slow. The southern channel was completely open to traffic, but beware of patrol boats.

It took me 6 torps to sink the target on my best run, the worst was 9.

[BULL]

OK - worth a try but probably need to wait until I have replenished torpedoes since I only have 5 and your best effort was with at least 6. I will try the Main entrance rather then the NE since that channel is where I had problems in the past....

In the NE Channel I did not find any sunken ships.... and I don't think any nets caused my issues either.... is that because I did this in career mode on my own initiative rather than being assigned this goal or playing a single mission?

[MaddogK]

I also did it in career mode, never once as a single mission. The NE channel (Priens RL route) is very shallow in OM and has at least 2 sets of sunken ships you must maneuver between to get thru. The nets strech between shore and the wrecks. Like I said the southern channel is clear and deep, but patrolled. The harbor is shallow and also patrolled, but the patrol ships follow a predictable path and can be avoided, and leave you a clear shot (from the south) at the BB, and time enough to leave before the patrol boats arrive.

GL

[BULL]

I will put into Wilhemshaven for fuel and torpedoes first - then go try my luck at Prien's historic mission. I must admit that the historical purist in me wants to try the NE channel but in the interest of frustration may yield to the South channel.

Thank you for your advice.

[MaddogK]

You're welcome. This may be of help- my after action report following the raid:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1533971&postcount=336

[BULL]

It appears you also favor making the game mimick real life as much as I do. I even wondered if I could somehow start the game prior to 1.9.39 since in R/L the first patrols left port in August and were already in position in the Atlantic and North Sea when the war began. Prien was in the Bay of Biscay when the war started.

Have you had any CTD in Scapa Flow or other congested areas? What system are you running and how much memory?

[MaddogK]

Only a couple CTD while near Iceland mid 1940. Turns out I had saved while shipping was still within range, and on restart the save crashed.

Am running 1 gig DDR2 xpsp2 on a p4/2.8ghz intel 945 board, nvidia 6600 AGP card. I tried not to run full graphic candy but realism is in the 80%ish, and DO NOT save films. I've had almost no issues with OM crashing, but keep a close eye on where/when I save a game. If ANY land or ship is within 20 miles of me I DO NOT save a game.

I also do not run omegu, I use the stand alone KIUB package. Otherwise my install is identical to yours. I did however do a SH4 conversion of the SH3 Arandora Star and created a mission file for it as the star wasn't included in the OM campaign file. I didn't release either one as the Star model didn't leave permission to re-release.(pic posted in post 350 of the logs thread)