SH3 Historical Crew (Type VII)

[derstosstrupp]

IMPORTANT: This is NOT a mod - it is a way for players to mirror historical crew composition and watch schedules!

RECOMMENDED: GWX or NYGM crew fatigue options (8-hour GWX or NYGM’s similar system). SH3Commander (SH3C) is also a must!

I use NYGM in my examples throughout. I have not tested on GWX’s 8-hour system although it should work fine.

BACKGROUND - WHY?
Crew management in SH3 has long been a matter of debate - because it is not “automated” and we need to drag people around, is this a worthwhile task? Wouldn’t the commander not worry about such things? Yes, on both counts. While it wouldn’t have been the commander’s job to oversee watch changes, it was his job to connect with his men, get to know each and every one by name and know his experience. The other option - simply switching off fatigue altogether - seems off to me. I don’t care how much Pervitin your men swallow - in the final analysis they are still human!

This is the spirit of the system I will outline in the posts to come and the associated file - it reflects true (Type VII only for the moment) crew composition, watch schedules, and forces you to know each and every one of your men. With SH3Commander, when one of your digital Dietrichs transfers and you get someone new and train him up, you will know you fulfilled your responsibility to him and your men.

U-BOAT CREWS
Crewmembers fell into one of two “branches” - the seamen’s branch or the technicians’ branch - as determined by their chosen career path. The seamen’s branch consisted of the commander and his watch officers, the navigator, bosun and his mates, the torpedomen, and the sailors who stood as lookouts, helmsmen, and the cook. The technicians’ branch consisted of the chief engineer, his chief machinists, diesel and e-motor personnel, control room personnel, and the radiomen. Crewmen generally stayed with their boat until promoted, at which time they underwent training ashore for a number of weeks, and then were assigned to a new boat.

The seamen’s branch generally followed a 3-watch system - each with 2 watches of 4 hours apiece, with miscellaneous duties in between such as mess duty, peeling potatoes, cleaning the boat etc. In total this amounted to about 12 hours of work a day. The technicians’ branch on the other hand followed a 2-watch system (“port” and “starboard”), standing 2 6-hour watches but generally free from doing the more menial miscellaneous work that the seamen performed.

This division of labor created two “worlds” and no shortage of lighthearted “memes” for the men - the technicians were to the seamen the “men of the underworld with no appreciation for the sea”, whereas the technicians regarded themselves as skilled technical professionals with no time for the simple-minded wonders of the nautical world. “Komische Heinis, diese Maschinenleute....”, navigator Kriechbaum says in Das Boot - there you have it!

Now you too can feel like you share in this dynamic with the system I’ll present!

[derstosstrupp]

THE BASIC TYPE VII CREW
Below is the basic crew composition of the Type VII. It does not reflect any midshipmen, trainees, or other “Badegäste” such as PK men (like Buchheim) - 43 in total. These additional guests can be filled in as desired once you learn the system.

Officers (4):
Commander
Chief Engineer
1st Watch Officer
2nd Watch Officer

Chief Petty Officers (4):
Navigator
Bosun
Diesel chief machinist
E-motor chief machinist

Petty Officers (11):
2 Bosun’s mates
1 Torpedo mechanic’s mate
2 Radio mates
2 Control room mates
2 Diesel mates
2 E-motor mates

Nonrated Sailors (24):
6 seamen for bridge watch (split into 3 sea watches, each 4 hours)
3 helmsmen (split into 3 sea watches, each 4 hours)
2 radio attendants
2 control room attendants
2 torpedo “mixers”
4 diesel “stokers”
4 E-motor “stokers”
1 Cook

Below is a link to a file you can use to fill out your crew. Be sure to make a copy of this file, this is only a template. Details follow in the next posts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VuAokTY9yrmCaLRZbFiumzqs8NNVIHUh_-kUNcZrsXw/edit

[derstosstrupp]

FILE DETAILS

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VuAokTY9yrmCaLRZbFiumzqs8NNVIHUh_-kUNcZrsXw/edit?usp=sharing

CREW LIST TAB
When starting a career, add the necessary petty officers and sailors to meet the numbers in the file. Then start and immediately end your first patrol in port. This allows you to launch SH3Commander again and select Manage Your Crew, where you can go through and assign your men the qualifications as listed on the Crew List. Fill in the crew’s names as well on the Crew List. Note that you can even assign qualifications to sailors with SH3C - this has no impact on the game but makes tracking who’s who substantially easier.

Now, when relaunching SH3 via SH3C, transfers may occur (be sure to select realistic crew transfers in the SH3C options)! Thus you may be leaving port with an unqualified man - that’s ok, update your Crew List for any gaps by putting him where needed and you’ll know what to give him when you return.

The Crew List tab also includes notes for each crewmember explaining where they sleep, where their duty station and possibly battle station is. These are also indicated elsewhere throughout the file.

WATCHES TAB
This tab breaks your crew down into the watch system by branch - seamen’s and technicians’, showing who stands each watch with a picture of the relevant compartment. Don’t worry about the times on this tab - they are listed there for reference. Use the Key Times tab to guide yourself through the watch changes themselves.

KEY TIMES TAB
This will be your most heavily-referenced tab. This tab shows the times at which men are moving around. Note the time and then place the indicated individuals at their relevant duty stations. Take your time and be patient! Moving men around will become second nature. Coming out of time compression to do so also affords you the opportunity to take a look around on the bridge, update your logbook if you are keeping one, and I feel it helps with the weather transition in game. Besides, you will find you develop a bit of a connection with your crew as you spend the time in the F7 screen, and it gives you something to do/manage.

SURFACED NORMAL TAB
This shows the placement of the crew during normal, non-combat surface travel.

SURFACED BATTLE STATIONS (TORPEDO)
This shows the placement of the crew during a surfaced torpedo attack.

SURFACED BATTLE STATIONS (GUN)
This shows the placement of the crew during a deck gun attack.

SURFACED BATTLE STATIONS (FLAK)
This shows the placement of the crew during a flak attack.

SUBMERGED BATTLE STATIONS
This shows the placement of the crew during a submerged attack or depth charge pursuit.

[derstosstrupp]

RANKS
SH3 only has ranks for the seamen’s branch (Matrose, Bootsmann etc). That’s fine - just follow the guidelines below for starting ranks:

1. The bosun (#1), both chief machinists, and the torpedo mate should take the 4 highest petty officer ranks.

2. The navigator wasn’t a commissioned officer in real life but we need him as one in game. Just don’t promote him from an Oberfähnrich.

3. The 6 lookouts and the cook take the lowest sailor ranks.

4. Bosun’s mate (#3) should not outrank bosun’s mate (#2).

5. Distribute the remaining petty officer and sailor ranks evenly across the remainder of the crew.

PROMOTIONS/TRANSFERS
Promotion in the Kriegsmarine was generally time-based, the length of time changing as the war progressed. Also, crewmembers generally stayed with their boats until promoted, at which time they attended training for the next level and were subsequently assigned to a new boat.

Here’s how we can handle promotions and transfers:

1. Use the “realistic crew transfers” in SH3C to handle transfers at the basic level. JScones and Beery did quite a bit of research to make these transfers realistic.

2. Let SH3 dictate when promotions occur (that is, after patrols). When this happens, do the following:

- To simulate the time-based promotion system, of all eligible personnel up for promotion, choose the man who has completed the most patrols.

- Roll a six-sided die. On a 1, the individual DOES NOT promote and stays with your boat. Repeat the process with another eligible man. On a 2-4, dismiss him and replace him with a lowest-ranking man. On a 5-6, dismiss him and replace with someone of equal rank. If you have to pay for it with renown and don’t have enough, then get what you can afford!

AWARDS
These are largely up to you with a few guidelines. Use SH3C to award medals, but do not go overboard with it!

1. Everyone receives the U-boat war badge after their second patrol.

2. Iron Cross 2nd Class to the crew only after a very successful patrol (20k tons or so) and/or one requiring valiant effort from the crew (damage control etc). Also after you earn the Knight’s Cross.

3. Iron Cross 1st Class was seldom awarded to crew. Do so in very rare cases, and give preference to those men who had foregone getting promoted to stay aboard (for whom you rolled a 1). Remember, IC1 only comes after receipt of IC2!

[derstosstrupp]

Reserved - Video Demonstration

[John Pancoast]

Looks interesting ! Few things, you're probably aware of them.

- You mention using the NYGM fatigue system but it only uses 36 men. I take it you're only using the actual fatigue.cfg info. ?

- I notice there are never any men in the torpedo rooms for either a surface or submerged torpedo attack ?

- Some of the qualifications in SH3 do nothing. Helmsman and medic, i.e.

- Second qualification for Petty Officers does nothing.

- Qualifications for ordinary seamen do nothing.

- I assume the last three points are for graphical purposes only ?

Looking forward to printing this out !

[BritTorrent]

Excellent tool. I really like little additions like this that add to the immersion.

[derstosstrupp]

Looks interesting ! Few things, you're probably aware of them.

- You mention using the NYGM fatigue system but it only uses 36 men. I take it you're only using the actual fatigue.cfg info. ?

- I notice there are never any men in the torpedo rooms for either a surface or submerged torpedo attack ?

- Some of the qualifications in SH3 do nothing. Helmsman and medic, i.e.

- Second qualification for Petty Officers does nothing.

- Qualifications for ordinary seamen do nothing.

- I assume the last three points are for graphical purposes only ?

Looking forward to printing this out !

Hi John thanks! With NYGM I need to top off the crew by adding people. Correct, no people in the torpedo rooms although the torpedo men would be in real life. You could simulate it, I really just only use the torpedo men for reloading. The qualifications are mainly only for tracking purposes.

[John Pancoast]

Hi John thanks! With NYGM I need to top off the crew by adding people. Correct, no people in the torpedo rooms although the torpedo men would be in real life. You could simulate it, I really just only use the torpedo men for reloading. The qualifications are mainly only for tracking purposes.

Sounds good thank ! Definitely going to try this out. Have you found having so many qualifications on the crew from the start screws anything up gameplay-wise ? Never fatigued, etc. ?

[derstosstrupp]

Sounds good thank ! Definitely going to try this out. Have you found having so many qualifications on the crew from the start screws anything up gameplay-wise ? Never fatigued, etc. ?

Oh no not at all. The NYGM fatigue system seems to be working as usual. I still have a bit of work left, I need to flesh out promotions and ranks, and then I’m going to do a video demonstration of a whole day.

[John Pancoast]

Oh no not at all. The NYGM fatigue system seems to be working as usual. I still have a bit of work left, I need to flesh out promotions and ranks, and then I’m going to do a video demonstration of a whole day.

Great, I really like the ideas behind this. Thanks for all the work ! Will add a much needed aspect to the game.

[derstosstrupp]

Great, I really like the ideas behind this. Thanks for all the work ! Will add a much needed aspect to the game.

Thanks John! And it can appear to be tedious, but honestly, once you have the schedule in your head, it really doesn’t detract much in my opinion.

[John Pancoast]

Thanks John! And it can appear to be tedious, but honestly, once you have the schedule in your head, it really doesn’t detract much in my opinion.

I agree; I don't turn off fatigue so in that case, I'm moving the crew regularly anyway so might as well have a better purpose for it.
This just adds to it ! Makes this aspect of the game much more personable, etc.

Really, really impressive effort. :salute:

[Fifi]

Something always puzzled me in SH3, is they completely forgot the helmsman (steering)... even in conning tower there is no BBC station!
Would be cool to have this guy 3D + animation...
Certainly as important as the 2 guys at the diving station

[derstosstrupp]

Something always puzzled me in SH3, is they completely forgot the helmsman (steering)... even in conning tower there is no BBC station!
Would be cool to have this guy 3D + animation...
Certainly as important as the 2 guys at the diving station

I agree - a very odd oversight on their part!

[John Pancoast]

Something always puzzled me in SH3, is they completely forgot the helmsman (steering)... even in conning tower there is no BBC station!
Would be cool to have this guy 3D + animation...
Certainly as important as the 2 guys at the diving station

That, and the planesmen having their hands on the rings instead of the hydraulic buttons. The rings were a backup not a constant use item ala SH3.

[derstosstrupp]

That, and the planesmen having their hands on the rings instead of the hydraulic buttons. The rings were a backup not a constant use item ala SH3.

My thinking with helm, since the primary helm station surfaced was inside the tower, I bring a fully-rested off-duty helmsman to the bridge to fill the fourth slot. This simulates the somewhat rigorous duty inside the tower at the helm station. On-duty helm is in control room in game but having helm do “double duty” works well. Cook can help up on bridge too.

As for the planesmen, if you wanted to be technical, on a dive you could bring down the bridge watch petty officer and one additional lookout for manning the planes but since there are only three control room slots, one of which is taken by helm, I just keep those as the control room personnel (Zentralemaat and his Zentralegast).

[John Pancoast]

My thinking with helm, since the primary helm station surfaced was inside the tower, I bring a fully-rested off-duty helmsman to the bridge to fill the fourth slot. This simulates the somewhat rigorous duty inside the tower at the helm station. On-duty helm is in control room in game but having helm do “double duty” works well. Cook can help up on bridge too.

As for the planesmen, if you wanted to be technical, on a dive you could bring down the bridge watch petty officer and one additional lookout for manning the planes but since there are only three control room slots, one of which is taken by helm, I just keep those as the control room personnel (Zentralemaat and his Zentralegast).


Not a bad idea. I like to use Diving Duck's interior as it automatically puts the planesman on the bridge while on the surface and at their planesman stations while submerged, vs. having them at their seats all the time which is not how it was done irl.

[derstosstrupp]

Not a bad idea. I like to use Diving Duck's interior as it automatically puts the planesman on the bridge while on the surface and at their planesman stations while submerged, vs. having them at their seats all the time which is not how it was done irl.

Oh yes I should add that that’s very good - thanks!

[derstosstrupp]

Edited post #4 for ranks, promotions, and awards!

[John Pancoast]

Trying this out over the weekend. Let you know how it goes !

[John Pancoast]

I notice in "Surface Normal" state there is no Engineer in the control room; can't give maneuver orders without him though ? Not sure I understand the purpose of putting him in the e-room vs leaving in the control room.

[derstosstrupp]

I notice in "Surface Normal" state there is no Engineer in the control room; can't give maneuver orders without him though ? Not sure I understand the purpose of putting him in the e-room vs leaving in the control room.

Normal travel no one is needed. Even with waypoints set. If you spot an A/C etc, grab him in, otherwise keep him from tiring by putting him in the off-duty engine room (a neutral zone).

You’ll need him and nav in port to get started and set Kiel outbound if needed, call it “maneuver stations”. But yeah otherwise those guys don’t need to always be in control room.

[John Pancoast]

Normal travel no one is needed. Even with waypoints set. If you spot an A/C etc, grab him in, otherwise keep him from tiring by putting him in the off-duty engine room (a neutral zone).

You’ll need him and nav in port to get started and set Kiel outbound if needed, call it “maneuver stations”. But yeah otherwise those guys don’t need to always be in control room.


Ok thanks. Hey, you've probably already done it but I edited the NYGM 1024 menu.ini to again show all the crew slots in the compartments. Makes adding them easier.

Let me know if you want a copy.

[derstosstrupp]

Ok thanks. Hey, you've probably already done it but I edited the NYGM 1024 menu.ini to again show all the crew slots in the compartments. Makes adding them easier.

Let me know if you want a copy.

Yes please, I appreciate it!

[John Pancoast]

Yes please, I appreciate it!


Here (https://www.mediafire.com/file/9hlknpbnlzscyq1/NYGM_ini_file_with_restored_crew_slots.7z/file) you go. Been trying this out for a bit this a.m. Very nice ! I moved a few of the crew around to different quarters to reduce the drag distance when doing watch changes.
I.e., all the engine crews are in the aft quarters, all the watch crews in the forward, etc.


Liking the concept though !

[derstosstrupp]

Here (https://www.mediafire.com/file/9hlknpbnlzscyq1/NYGM_ini_file_with_restored_crew_slots.7z/file) you go. Been trying this out for a bit this a.m. Very nice ! I moved a few of the crew around to different quarters to reduce the drag distance when doing watch changes.
I.e., all the engine crews are in the aft quarters, all the watch crews in the forward, etc.


Liking the concept though !

Thanks! Glad to hear it’s going well. Yeah good point, probably easier to do it that way in the long run, I was simulating the sailors in the bow room, with the petty officers in the U-Raum.

[John Pancoast]

Thanks! Glad to hear it’s going well. Yeah good point, probably easier to do it that way in the long run, I was simulating the sailors in the bow room, with the petty officers in the U-Raum.

That's true too; they didn't bunk together, i.e. Also, I couldn't assign both the radio and medic quals to the two crew involved; both quals take the same "space" in the crew members qual box in SH3C.
No big deal as I kept the radio qual but how did you get that to work ? Edit the crew.cfg files ?

[derstosstrupp]

That's true too; they didn't bunk together, i.e. Also, I couldn't assign both the radio and medic quals to the two crew involved; both quals take the same "space" in the crew members qual box in SH3C.
No big deal as I kept the radio qual but how did you get that to work ? Edit the crew.cfg files ?

The petty officers should be able to accept 2 qualifications, but I think they might need one patrol under their belt already.

[John Pancoast]

The petty officers should be able to accept 2 qualifications, but I think they might need one patrol under their belt already.

Thanks, I was able to give them radio quals but when trying to also give them the medic, that qual would replace the radio one.
But no big deal.

[derstosstrupp]

Thanks, I was able to give them radio quals but when trying to also give them the medic, that qual would replace the radio one.
But no big deal.

There should be a space under the first qual in the box, that should allow you to add one, that’s very strange.

[John Pancoast]

There should be a space under the first qual in the box, that should allow you to add one, that’s very strange.


Exactly. For some reason, these two quals are sharing the same spot. But it doesn't detract from the mod.

[FUBAR295]

derstosstrupp & John,

Been following this thread and some really great stuff provided by you and John. Very interesting concept.

Thank you both, but I still will play with no fatigue as I do not want to be moving all those icons around. But, if I ever do, I have a really great system to follow.

Good hunting,
FUBAR295

[John Pancoast]

derstosstrupp & John,

Been following this thread and some really great stuff provided by you and John. Very interesting concept.

Thank you both, but I still will play with no fatigue as I do not want to be moving all those icons around. But, if I ever do, I have a really great system to follow.

Good hunting,
FUBAR295

Don't thank me; derstosstrupp did all the work. I'm just a consumer. :)

[FUBAR295]

Don't thank me; derstosstrupp did all the work. I'm just a consumer. :)

John, you did provide some valued feed back and suggestions.:yeah:

[Mad Mardigan]

Have to agree with fubar, I've been following this thread with interest, to the point of having it hot listed as a subscription to it.

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[John Pancoast]

John, you did provide some valued feed back and suggestions.:yeah:

:salute:

[derstosstrupp]

Thanks fellas, glad this could be of interest!:Kaleun_Salute:

[derstosstrupp]

Deck gun and flak battle stations added to the file!

[Mad Mardigan]

Have a question, that I hope doesn't get thought of, as derailing the thread.. as that is 1st & foremost, NOT my intent...

with that put out there, here goes...

In dealing with SH3Commander, I too, have noted that attempting to add in another rating such as navigator/navigation or medic... that with PO's, it only allows for 1 rating to be added to them.. which is kind of strange. PO's are like.. 1 step up from the normal crew but, 1 step below Officers (which with Officers, they are allowed to have up to 3 ratings added to them, & normal crew of 1 rating (rating, may be the wrong word here & if so, then I apologize...) but PO's are stuck at 1, just like a reg. crewman).

Is there any means or methods to edit PO's, so as to allow them to have more than regular crew but 1 less than Officers.? (PO's = Petty Officers), so that it would be as follows, when editing the crew in SH3Commander:

Qualifications (not ratings, as I mentioned above...)

Officers = 3

PO's = 2

Reg. Crew = 1

As it stands now, in using the 'manage your crew' option, via SH3Commander, it stands as follows:

Officers = 3

PO's = 1

Reg. Crew = 1

Any info, on how to edit this, would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[derstosstrupp]

Have a question, that I hope doesn't get thought of, as derailing the thread.. as that is 1st & foremost, NOT my intent...

with that put out there, here goes...

In dealing with SH3Commander, I too, have noted that attempting to add in another rating such as navigator/navigation or medic... that with PO's, it only allows for 1 rating to be added to them.. which is kind of strange. PO's are like.. 1 step up from the normal crew but, 1 step below Officers (which with Officers, they are allowed to have up to 3 ratings added to them, & normal crew of 1 rating (rating, may be the wrong word here & if so, then I apologize...) but PO's are stuck at 1, just like a reg. crewman).

Is there any means or methods to edit PO's, so as to allow them to have more than regular crew but 1 less than Officers.? (PO's = Petty Officers), so that it would be as follows, when editing the crew in SH3Commander:

Qualifications (not ratings, as I mentioned above...)

Officers = 3

PO's = 2

Reg. Crew = 1

As it stands now, in using the 'manage your crew' option, via SH3Commander, it stands as follows:

Officers = 3

PO's = 1

Reg. Crew = 1

Any info, on how to edit this, would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

I’m beginning to think POs accept a 2nd qual only after a certain rank - maybe Oberbootsmann? I have 2 quals for my lead bosun and he’s a Stabsoberbootsmann iirc.

[Mad Mardigan]

I’m beginning to think POs accept a 2nd qual only after a certain rank - maybe Oberbootsmann? I have 2 quals for my lead bosun and he’s a Stabsoberbootsmann iirc.

hey derstosstrupp, :Kaleun_Cheers:

Ok, so that means in order to add in that 2nd qual, the PO would have to undergo being promoted up a rank then, in the promotion chain.. now that I have that bit of info... will do some experimenting with them & see just where & when it is that they can be assigned 2 quals.

Will post what I find out, after running that (of course, remembering their exact rating, so as to return them to that before I close out things) experiment.

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[Mad Mardigan]

Ok,

Did some experimenting, with the PO's that would be affected by having a 2nd qual, added to them (or at least that was the intention...)...

When I tried to boot them up a rank (from Bootsmann, to Stabsbootsmann) when I tried to click on accept, I got a message popping up 'can't be done, due to their 'inexperience' to rank up... or some such..) am paraphrasing on the exact message, as what it amounts to, is that I can't boot them up a rank, so as to see if the 2nd qual can be added to them or not... :/\\!!

On the plus side, of running this, I did find out the following:

Ranking of Petty Officer ranks:

Bootsmann: Basic rating upgrade from the highest rank for a lowly ranks of the crew.

StabsBootsmann: Next rank, after Bootsmann

Then the final rank that can be (at least as it goes with using SH3Cmdr, that is..)

StabsOberBootsmann: The final rank for a Petty Officer, before going into the Officers segment. Surprisingly, there was no in between PO & Officer qualification, as in the U.S & other Navies, that I can find of... meaning Officer training before stepping up to Office flag territory. From what research I could drum up, under short time, that is...

This all pertains to using SH3Cmdr, of course... just so that is clear.

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[derstosstrupp]

Take the ranks in the game with a grain of salt. They only cover the seaman’s division. There were midshipmen, Fähnriche, who were somewhat officers in training.

[Mad Mardigan]

Take the ranks in the game with a grain of salt. They only cover the seaman’s division. There were midshipmen, Fähnriche, who were somewhat officers in training.

Yeah, that I did see, with some of the info I was able to dig up pertaining to the different ranks of the kriegsmarine during WW2. I poked about, more extensively after posting what I did, right after trying to test the higher ranks of PO's, in the SH3Cmdr...

I did note, while poking about during that test I ran, in the Officers cat... the mention of the lowest rank for them of, OberFanrich zS, (2 lil' dots located, just riiiight above the 'a', in fanrich...I can't get my keystrokes to show up those euro typecasts of certain letters, sorry... :oops:) so am guessing that they would be a 'graduate of officer training' or the kriegsmarine equivalent to the U.S or other navies version thereof... more or less... again, just a guess...

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[derstosstrupp]

Yeah, that I did see, with some of the info I was able to dig up pertaining to the different ranks of the kriegsmarine during WW2. I poked about, more extensively after posting what I did, right after trying to test the higher ranks of PO's, in the SH3Cmdr...

I did note, while poking about during that test I ran, in the Officers cat... the mention of the lowest rank for them of, OberFanrich zS, (2 lil' dots located, just riiiight above the 'a', in fanrich...I can't get my keystrokes to show up those euro typecasts of certain letters, sorry... :oops:) so am guessing that they would be a 'graduate of officer training' or the kriegsmarine equivalent to the U.S or other navies version thereof... more or less... again, just a guess...

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

A Fähnrich was still technically an “officer candidate”, vs an ensign in the USN which is already an officer. Fähnriche rode along on patrols learning everything they could (and pissing people off :O:) before taking that next step. Ullmann in Das Boot (the troubled guy with the French fiancé) was this.

[Mad Mardigan]

A Fähnrich was still technically an “officer candidate”, vs an ensign in the USN which is already an officer. Fähnriche rode along on patrols learning everything they could (and pissing people off :O:) before taking that next step. Ullmann in Das Boot (the troubled guy with the French fiancé) was this.

:yeah:

I always wondered about that guy, after having watched Das Boot a couple of times... the way the other guy was responding to them after Ullmann made it known of the girl he was talking about... can't remember the other guys name... it has been a bit since I watched Das Boot... will have to see of watching it again... :D

Ok, so that Oberfähnrich, would fall into that 'Officer candidate' ranking then... good to know. :yep:

M. M.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[Antanas]

Heya, first off, massive kudos for this, derstosstrup, such a detailed method was just what I needed to give dealing with fatigue a go :arrgh!:

Now, I have yet to even reach my grid for my first patrol, have sank three ships already though (including a neutral merchant mistakenly, oops!) and I've got a few issues with the spreadsheet you provided. They're all relatively minor, but still, thought it'd be nice to point them out.
First off, one of the diesel mates' qual icon is wrong, helm instead of machinist. Secondly, combat helmsman shown in the 'key times' tab isn't actually the same person as the combat helmsman in the 'crew list'. And lastly, there seems to be three control room attendants and one control room mate in the spreadsheet, yet you wrote there were two of each in the opening post. I got pretty confused about that one, althought that might very well be ignorance on my part :ping:

And while I'm at it, I'll ask, does anyone know how to turn off sh3 moving crew around on its own? E.g. not letting me leave the bridge empty before a dive, so that I can get the crew to the engine room easier afterwards. It's kind of a hassle to be looking for the scattered bridge crew all over the ship :haha:

Once again, thanks a lot for this, I've been enjoying it so far, although it really is a different kind of experience than what I'm used to, especially since I decided to incorporate some of the advice from this thread (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=239796&highlight=fatigue) into my playthrough. Lots of fun to be had for sure! :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

[Aktungbby]

Antanas!:Kaleun_Salute:

[derstosstrupp]

Heya, first off, massive kudos for this, derstosstrup, such a detailed method was just what I needed to give dealing with fatigue a go :arrgh!:

Now, I have yet to even reach my grid for my first patrol, have sank three ships already though (including a neutral merchant mistakenly, oops!) and I've got a few issues with the spreadsheet you provided. They're all relatively minor, but still, thought it'd be nice to point them out.
First off, one of the diesel mates' qual icon is wrong, helm instead of machinist. Secondly, combat helmsman shown in the 'key times' tab isn't actually the same person as the combat helmsman in the 'crew list'. And lastly, there seems to be three control room attendants and one control room mate in the spreadsheet, yet you wrote there were two of each in the opening post. I got pretty confused about that one, althought that might very well be ignorance on my part :ping:

And while I'm at it, I'll ask, does anyone know how to turn off sh3 moving crew around on its own? E.g. not letting me leave the bridge empty before a dive, so that I can get the crew to the engine room easier afterwards. It's kind of a hassle to be looking for the scattered bridge crew all over the ship :haha:

Once again, thanks a lot for this, I've been enjoying it so far, although it really is a different kind of experience than what I'm used to, especially since I decided to incorporate some of the advice from this thread (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=239796&highlight=fatigue) into my playthrough. Lots of fun to be had for sure! :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

I am glad you are getting something out of it! Thank you for the comments. I’ve been making some edits to them recently, because I’ve gotten some additional insight into roles on board the boat. The edits are incomplete at this time, but when I get back to them I will post here.

[Antanas]

The edits are incomplete at this time, but when I get back to them I will post here.
Looking forward to that! I have to say though, after finishing my first patrol, while rewarding overall, the crew management during long uneventful voyages to and from the patrol area are a pain. Guess it did make me memorise most of my crew's last names and positions, but still :)

I have to say, you were right when you wrote "[...] you will know you fulfilled your responsibility to him and your men.". While they are obviously just computer men, there is some sort of pride in leading them, thanks to all that time spent on moving them around. And well, a simple 28-day patrol took me about a week in real life, so it feels great to be finally done with it! We earned some rest!



Also, partly to brag, it was a really succesful patrol, with almost 70k tons of allied shipping sunk beneath the waves. Even after expending all my torpedoes and deck gun shells, I still managed to sink a ship (and a half) just with the flak gun alone. Can only wonder if it had anything to do with the slower, more methodical approach to the game. Guess I'll see how the next one goes!