CAOD - Fog at Sea

[Joval]

Greetings,

I recently started playing CAOD and after lurking in these forums for a while I have just registered.

I'm currently playing my first career campaign in CAOD and have been assigned an area north of Scotland, just west of Shetland to patrol. So far I've come across one tanker and after quite a long chase to catch it up and overhaul it I eventually put a single torpedo into its side, causing it to burst into flames and sink.

My patrol continues; it is currently night time - about midnight - and a fog has just descended over the sea. It's as thick as pea soup; I can't even see the bow of my submarine.

What is the best tactical approach for dealing with fog? Should I stay on the surface even though I can't see anything or should I submerge to periscope depth and rely on my sound man to listen for contacts. If the later case is appropriate should I also cut the engines to 1/3 (and crawl along at about 1 to 2 knots)?

Thanks for reading this.

[MarkShot]

If you don't maneuver at 1/3, you'll run down your battery quickly.

If you do come across a convoy (early war), you should be able to get by the screen at night in the fog and attack the merchants on the surface. Also, if the escorts force you down, then you should be able to evade them a bit and resurface and make a run for it. They cannot hear you on the surface and its the difference between making 2kts versus 18kts (you'll soon be safe).

See my other AOD post. I think when the enemy gets radar, then you are a sitting duck for AC, since they can find you with zero visibility and your crew will give you absolutely no warning before they are upon you. Something to think about.

I am currently out on patrol in 1941 and I am spending so much time forced under that I've decided to shift to an area outside the reach of land based aircraft.

[ChristopherT]

Greetings,

I recently started playing CAOD and after lurking in these forums for a while I have just registered.

I'm currently playing my first career campaign in CAOD and have been assigned an area north of Scotland, just west of Shetland to patrol. So far I've come across one tanker and after quite a long chase to catch it up and overhaul it I eventually put a single torpedo into its side, causing it to burst into flames and sink.

My patrol continues; it is currently night time - about midnight - and a fog has just descended over the sea. It's as thick as pea soup; I can't even see the bow of my submarine.

What is the best tactical approach for dealing with fog? Should I stay on the surface even though I can't see anything or should I submerge to periscope depth and rely on my sound man to listen for contacts. If the later case is appropriate should I also cut the engines to 1/3 (and crawl along at about 1 to 2 knots)?

Thanks for reading this.

I'd stay on the surface. It's my usual patrol pattern to dive to periscope depth periodically and listen on the sonar for contacts. As the war progresses and the Allied ships and aircraft get equipped with radar, I stay on the surface and have the AA guns manned night AND day. (Usually I just man them from sunrise to sunset.)

Christopher

[MarkShot]

I have also found that you get a sense when they are going to drop out of the sky when time compression drops to a lower speed. :)