Famous misconceptions about submarines

[bstanko6]

There are three misconceptions I have to post that new guys assume that just is not real in SH3.

1) what? 3 destroyers are heading my way. No worries, I'll just dive!

Truth: if destroyers are after you, and you dive, you are not invisible. You are attempting to mask your signature with colder sea water so that you can confuse your pursuers and hopefully slip away. If you dive when pursued, you are committing to a depth charge attack. I try to run as best as possible. And only dive when necessary. Read about Silent Otto Krechmer.

2) 100 feet of water is perfect depth to sneak away! No worries!

Truth: if you dive with only 200 feet or less under you... You may be in trouble. I prefer at least 300 to test my crush depth capabilities. The British will find you and eventually destroy you if they don't run out of depth charges. Most areas of operation east of Britian are very shallow. Be careful.

3) I have a convoy, I have set up a perfect 90deg attack, I'll just wait at periscope depth until ready to strike!

Truth: even if you are perfectly still and do not make a sound, the British will find you. You have to dive. Set your self up, dive deep and use your sonar suite. As soon as that lead escort passes you and wins distance, pop up and take a look! If you wait at periscope depth and the water is choppy, your boat may pop up out of the water and be seen.

Bonus number 4) silent running is perfectly quiet. They will never find me in here!!!

Truth: your command room has RPM gauges for a reason. When you want to go silent, press Z, and manually select your speed to be under 1 knot. You may need to experiment with this, but your RPM must be at 50 RPM or less.

Happy hunting!

[bstanko6]

Feel free to post your ideas!

[ivanov.ruslan]

In this context part of this it seems interesting, although the author says he does not work with all boats, ie. engines when stopped or 50 rpm will continue to collapse down
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=958




For me personally, it is not real when stopped engines to maintain periscope depth and another
Maybe in liquid ground, but it manifests depth as I heard

[bstanko6]

Here's another good one. A lot of new players think that Britain did not have Asdic or that their Asdic was terrible.

Truth: britain's Asdic was very good. They had w trial by fire in the first war. The Germans turned the u-boat into a living nightmare on the sea. Britain learned from their mistakes.

Trouble was, 21 years passed until they needed it again. The treaty of Versailles stated that Germany would not manufacture any more u-boats. Being a time of honor, it was expected that Germany was playing ball. Oh was the world wrong.

So now WW2 is in effect, many Asdic veterans are dead or too old and the sailors had to relearn the procedures from academies and books.

It was the radar that kicked Germany's butt.

The Asdic is good newbie... Respect it!

[bstanko6]

Newbies attack everything!

Truth: I was this guy! Everyone does it. A true U-boot commander was taught to take opportunities as they came. It was actually written in the u-boat commanders handbook.

Doenitz actual recommendation was, if you are not sure... Attack!

The actual truth was every commander had other men he was responsible for. They wanted to get back home.

Commanders selected the right opportunities, communicated to BDU often, attempted wolf packs, and really weighed out all options.

Options being: weather, time of day, escort package, convoy importance, and depth of ocean.

Weather: this limits the visual range, and speed of other ships. 15 m/s winds made the ocean choppy that assisted in masking u-boat signatures!

Time of day: you should know this. Night time is always the best option. It just stinks when you find the convoy at 9:00am!

Escort package: if I am alone and there are 8 destroyers, I ain't doing it! I may perform some night surface attacks. That's it!

Convoy importance: what I mean is, if it is a group of tramp steamers with a serious escort... I don't think so. I want tankers and ammo ships. We need to stop the British war effort!

Depth of ocean: this is the most important to me! I want to know if I have a chance to get away if possible. It takes depth charges longer to hit at 250 meters than 100. Gives my engines time to rev up and get out of the area! Think about it.

In the end, whether you attack a ship or convoy, take your time and plan. This convoy may make or break your career. No commander rushed in. Use your navigation map, plot and plan, make marks on the grid even if your math is bad and consider all options. It will pay off.

[bstanko6]

U-boats were not submarines, they were submersibles. Even with a snorkel, the u-boat was not a submarine. The first true submarine was the Scorpion of the United States. It was in trials when the ship was lost due to a reactor malfunction. Then came the USS Nautilus. These ships could stay under indefinitely without ever resurfacing and make attacks with little use of the periscope... Which for those that do not know, is no longer in use!