Rambler241
05-18-15, 10:32 AM
These are not of the "I shouldn't have crash-dived in the Thames Estuary - 10 metres below the keel ain't enough" variety, but are mostly (all?) based on unwarranted assumptions. This is about SH3 1.4.
1. In my noobieness, I assumed that travelling straight to my Patrol Area at ahead-standard, occasionally diverting anything up to 150k away to (maybe) intercept a target was the way to go. Then I realised I should be doing regular sonar dips, slowing to slow speed for around 10-15 mins for my man-with-the-cans to do his stuff. However.....
2. When I ordered periscope depth and All Stop (silence is golden), I assumed my sonar man would report all contacts. When I had a listen myself (approaching the Dover Strait at night), I was astonished (and angered) to hear what I later learned to be half-a dozen warships, a fishing boat, and two merchants, one ahead and one astern. Eventually, he reported the most distant and faintest. Now I do sonar sweeps myself - I find about 2/3 of my contacts that way. Many are found while tracking a known contact, and bearing marked on the map using the protractor tool (arm length showing guesstimated distance) for possible or definite attention later.
3. I assumed (ha!) that ahead standard would give the best fuel economy. If I'd consulted my Navigation Officer, he'd have given me max range figures that showed that Ahead consumes fuel at nearly twice the rate that 1/3 speed does. In addition, the longer you tarry in an area, the more likely you are to get a reported contact, or a sonar contact too, if you do your own listening.
4. I assumed that racing towards a guesstimated intercept point at full, or even flank speed was always necessary (aggression, drive, flair?). It ain't usually necessary - if you've got the geometry and maths right, sometimes even 1/3 speed is adequate. Full speed consumes fuel at a great rate - if the fuel gauge was graduated in Deutschmarks, and you had to pay the bill on your return, you'd slow down to a more measured speed. If your crew paid the bill, you'd be more careful still - no commander wants to be left on the wrong side of the closed bridge hatch in an emergency dive....
5.I assumed using an experienced gun crew to sink or finish off a target was the best option. After watching apparently wild shots splash short, or set deck cargo alight (aim at the waterline, I ordered!) I realised that the crew pay no attention to pitch or roll of the boat. Now I'm the best gunner on the boat.
However, my experience in air gunnery school convinced me I'd be better off with a qualified and experienced flakman, and I've been proved right. If a Coastal Command pilot gets close enough to see our side emblem, and the sun glinting off the steely eyes of Axel Fechner and his twin barrels, they hesitate, and as we know, he who hesitates is lost... (OK, I've got a vivid imagination).
6. I assumed that a complex search pattern was a must for patrolling a grid. I was wrong - it soon dawned on me that such patterns are designed to find a stationary object - unfortunately ships move. Following a diagonal track, at 1/3 or standard speed, stopping every 25k for a sonar sweep covers 2/3 of a 220k x 100k grid in one pass. Patrolling just inside the longer side covers a 33k-wide strip of the grid, and 33k strip outside also. One across the middle, and one on the other side covers the grid and a 33 k band around it. You won't get your wrist slapped for leaving the grid to attack a target of opportunity.
7. I assumed that "rig for silent running" meant just that, but speed is set to Slow - loud enough for slow/medium speed warships to hear if you're in their "sonar cone". Two knots works in general, three does not, though you might still be heard by a very slow escort even at 2 knots....
8. I assumed that the qualifications and experience of the lookout crew mattered - the more experience, the better. They don't, it seems - the option is disabled in one of the config files. After all the trouble of selecting a good lookout team, reality rules OK, and I've enabled the option.
signed
(An older, greyer and wiser)
Jörg Neumann
(Leutnant, Sr.)
1. In my noobieness, I assumed that travelling straight to my Patrol Area at ahead-standard, occasionally diverting anything up to 150k away to (maybe) intercept a target was the way to go. Then I realised I should be doing regular sonar dips, slowing to slow speed for around 10-15 mins for my man-with-the-cans to do his stuff. However.....
2. When I ordered periscope depth and All Stop (silence is golden), I assumed my sonar man would report all contacts. When I had a listen myself (approaching the Dover Strait at night), I was astonished (and angered) to hear what I later learned to be half-a dozen warships, a fishing boat, and two merchants, one ahead and one astern. Eventually, he reported the most distant and faintest. Now I do sonar sweeps myself - I find about 2/3 of my contacts that way. Many are found while tracking a known contact, and bearing marked on the map using the protractor tool (arm length showing guesstimated distance) for possible or definite attention later.
3. I assumed (ha!) that ahead standard would give the best fuel economy. If I'd consulted my Navigation Officer, he'd have given me max range figures that showed that Ahead consumes fuel at nearly twice the rate that 1/3 speed does. In addition, the longer you tarry in an area, the more likely you are to get a reported contact, or a sonar contact too, if you do your own listening.
4. I assumed that racing towards a guesstimated intercept point at full, or even flank speed was always necessary (aggression, drive, flair?). It ain't usually necessary - if you've got the geometry and maths right, sometimes even 1/3 speed is adequate. Full speed consumes fuel at a great rate - if the fuel gauge was graduated in Deutschmarks, and you had to pay the bill on your return, you'd slow down to a more measured speed. If your crew paid the bill, you'd be more careful still - no commander wants to be left on the wrong side of the closed bridge hatch in an emergency dive....
5.I assumed using an experienced gun crew to sink or finish off a target was the best option. After watching apparently wild shots splash short, or set deck cargo alight (aim at the waterline, I ordered!) I realised that the crew pay no attention to pitch or roll of the boat. Now I'm the best gunner on the boat.
However, my experience in air gunnery school convinced me I'd be better off with a qualified and experienced flakman, and I've been proved right. If a Coastal Command pilot gets close enough to see our side emblem, and the sun glinting off the steely eyes of Axel Fechner and his twin barrels, they hesitate, and as we know, he who hesitates is lost... (OK, I've got a vivid imagination).
6. I assumed that a complex search pattern was a must for patrolling a grid. I was wrong - it soon dawned on me that such patterns are designed to find a stationary object - unfortunately ships move. Following a diagonal track, at 1/3 or standard speed, stopping every 25k for a sonar sweep covers 2/3 of a 220k x 100k grid in one pass. Patrolling just inside the longer side covers a 33k-wide strip of the grid, and 33k strip outside also. One across the middle, and one on the other side covers the grid and a 33 k band around it. You won't get your wrist slapped for leaving the grid to attack a target of opportunity.
7. I assumed that "rig for silent running" meant just that, but speed is set to Slow - loud enough for slow/medium speed warships to hear if you're in their "sonar cone". Two knots works in general, three does not, though you might still be heard by a very slow escort even at 2 knots....
8. I assumed that the qualifications and experience of the lookout crew mattered - the more experience, the better. They don't, it seems - the option is disabled in one of the config files. After all the trouble of selecting a good lookout team, reality rules OK, and I've enabled the option.
signed
(An older, greyer and wiser)
Jörg Neumann
(Leutnant, Sr.)