I want to be sure

[hcs53]

When I'm on patrol (US) and am looking for enemy ships should I occasionally dive to listen?
The same method as the Germans?
What is the best way to search?

Henny

[Rockin Robbins]

The American subs were vastly superior to the German subs. They not only were much faster on the surface but had a little device called radar. This allowed a search radius more than twice visual range.

Now, the number of contacts you raise is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface you search in a day. Cutting a swath 20 miles wide and 216 miles long (the distance traveled in a day at 9 knots) searches 4320 square miles of ocean surface. There is no way to get more than a quarter of that by taking a dip once in awhile and listening.

[propbeanie]

As for the hydrophones, the early old boats did need to be submerged for it to function correctly, and the game tries to simulate that. The Gar / Gato and later boats didn't have that, since their "heads" were on the bottom of the hull, but I forget how old "old" really is here (Porpoise class??)... CapnScurvy has a post with pictures that shows the various boats like that. They're the ones like on the S-boat, to the port side, just forward of the conn, about a foot tall, like a "T" on the deck. Those have to be submerged to be useful. A little note about that though, I've gone to crash dive, which puts you at Ahead Flank with a steep dive angle. You shouldn't be able to hear diddly squat on a hydrophone, other than the roar of the water as it rushes past your hull, and yet, "Sonar contact! Bearing 348! Medium Range, CLOSING!!!"... But yeah, like RR says, radar is your friend, except for submerged targets, which are few and far between in the game (usually).

[hcs53]

As for the hydrophones, the early old boats did need to be submerged for it to function correctly, and the game tries to simulate that. The Gar / Gato and later boats didn't have that, since their "heads" were on the bottom of the hull, but I forget how old "old" really is here (Porpoise class??)

I have the USS-Shark porpoise class,no radar, need to be submerged .
mods are

1_TriggerMaru_Overhaul_2-5
TMO_ Metric_SpeedChart_Nomo
TMO_Alt_engineSounds
Real Environment RSRDC_TMO by Kriller + Caustic


thanks for the information
Henny

[Rockin Robbins]

I have the USS-Shark porpoise class,no radar, need to be submerged .
mods are

1_TriggerMaru_Overhaul_2-5
TMO_ Metric_SpeedChart_Nomo
TMO_Alt_engineSounds
Real Environment RSRDC_TMO by Kriller + Caustic


thanks for the information
Henny
Yes, life is tough when you don't have radar. As Dick O'Kane said sarcastically to Pearl when his radar broke down "what the @#$#. There goes half my torpedoes, wasted." That's a paraphrase.

[torpedobait]

... CapnScurvy has a post with pictures that shows the various boats like that. They're the ones like on the S-boat, to the port side, just forward of the conn, about a foot tall, like a "T" on the deck.

The Balao boat I'm currently driving has the "T". It actually gets in the way when using sight magnification on the deck gun. Are you suggesting the "T" should not be on the newer boats?

[ETR3(SS)]

A little bit about sonar on a fleet boat.
https://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/sonar/chap1.htm#1A

[Rockin Robbins]

A little bit about sonar on a fleet boat.
https://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/sonar/chap1.htm#1A
Sure shows how far from reality our game is. Imagine having all those goodies to play with in the game. Of course that implies more realistic sound environment as well or the sonar goodies are useless.

For those implying that sonic (JP) sonar might not exist on later boats, JP sonar remained on all boats through the end of the war.

[Armistead]

As most of us know, when the game lags out, there's a group in your contact zone that you can't pick up on radar, but you can on sonar. Your crew is limited to the equipment, but you are not, you can always hear all war yourself to the limits of the best sonar. Notice lag, give the sonar a sweep yourself, get a bearing and start heading that way, shortly radar will peg it for you.