How many of us have infiltrated NY harbor?

[mookiemookie]

Does anyone have any good stories about it? I was pretty amazed at how lightly defended it was. Sheeshk....and that nice big fat passenger liner sitting there. I mean how can you NOT stop by if you're in the neighborhood :arrgh!:

It got me thinking about what if a u-boat really DID sink a passenger liner in NY harbor in WW2? That would have been huge. I wrote a little "what if" newspaper article about it. Here goes!

PASSENGER SHIP “CAROLINA STAR” EXPLODES IN NEW YORK HARBOR
ESTIMATE LOSS OF LIFE AT 55; GERMANY CLAIMS SINKING RESULT OF U-BOAT ACTION

New York - February 7 (AP) – Port of New York Authority officials reported this morning that the passenger liner Carolina Star exploded and sank last night around 3:30 AM (E.D.T.) in New York Harbor, presumably after being torpedoed by a German U-Boat. Fifty-five members out of the crew of 104 officers and men board at the time are unaccounted for and feared lost. A statement released this morning from the Coast Guard stated that “Rescue operations for the remaining missing crewmembers are ongoing. Survivor lists will be released as soon as the names can be established.”

The Carolina Star was moored in front of Liberty Island as she underwent preparations to be used for Army transport use. Eyewitness reports state that a great explosion erupted from the center of the ship, blasting its funnels away and breaking the hull in two. “I was checking the tow lines and all of a sudden I hear this loud boom,” says harbor tug captain Joe Nicholson. “She started exploding pieces all over and then went straight to the bottom.”

Rear-Admiral Adolphus Andrews, commander of the Third Naval District in New York referred all questions to Washington and stated that his office was under orders not to comment upon any ship sinkings. A spokesman for the Navy Department in Washington said that an investigation into the incident was ongoing and an official statement would be forthcoming.

German newspapers have stated that the sinking was the direct result of a torpedo fired by a U-Boat. A release this morning by the official German news bureau stated, “Do not let your government lie to you about your safety. If a ship sitting in front of the Statue of Liberty can be sunk at will, would it not stand to reason that any ship in any ocean is not beyond the reach of the U-Boats?” New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reacted strongly to the news of possible German involvement in the incident. “The people of New York and America at large will not stand for a murderous attack on democracy, in front of one of the most prominent symbols of our freedom. The Germans are in for a fight if they think we’re going to take this laying down,” said LaGuardia.

[Safe-Keeper]

Not in a campaign, but I've been there, my presence courtesy of the beloved Mission Editor.

I found the biggest problem to be the lack of destroyers and air power (Grey Wolves). Or maybe that's just in 1942:-??

[mookiemookie]

Air coverage over the US doesn't begin until 43, so as to reflect the US's reluctance to actually DO anything about Drumbeat and the lack of ASW training and suitable planes the US pilots had at the time.

I've seen a couple destroyers off the coast of Long Island, but further in its just PT boats patrolling.

[andy_311]

Been there a few times normally from 41-44 if am in the area,the only intresting story was in 41 when I entered NY harbour on the surface and started to open fire on the Brithish ships that were docked in the harbour,but unfortunatly one of the british ships opened up on me but missed and hit a us merchant which in turn opened up on brits and neutrals,and US ships I sank the brit ships and just watched while everyone else was fireing on each other and the funny thing about it apart from the clemson the rest only had AA guns so I would say it would have took some time to sink a C2 and a Troop transport with just AA guns.

[Skubber]

one of the british ships opened up on me but missed and hit a us merchant which in turn opened up on brits and neutrals,and US ships I sank the brit ships and just watched while everyone else was fireing on each other guns.
That sounds just insane. Like Resevoir Dogs - if you've seen that movie.
One little u-boat shows up and everyone loses their minds. :rotfl:

[WilhelmSchulz.]

Ive done it but no good stories.

[bookworm_020]

A liner did sink in in New York Harbour. It was the french liner Normandie. She was set alight by a fire started when sparks from a welder set alight some life jackets nearby (she was being turned into a troopship,like the Queen Mary). They coudn't use the sprinkler system aboard as it had been disconnected, and the NY fire department coudn't hook their hoses into the ship's water main as they were french.

Harbour fire boats poured water onto her from the sea, while fire trucks poured water from the other side from land. This caused the ship to become top heavy and unblanced. She sank on her side later that day. The ship then became the most expensive salvage operation mounted at the time, taking over a year. After refloating her, she was too heavly damaged, and so was scraped.

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/7522/capsizedfa6.jpg

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6745/normandienyvd4.jpg

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/6817/normandielipsettpd8.jpg

[Jmack]

http://www.electricedge.com/gordon.coale/familystuff/pilgrimage/day4/images/3-normandy-1l.jpg
http://www.electricedge.com/gordon.coale/familystuff/pilgrimage/day4/images/3-normandy-2l.jpg
http://www.electricedge.com/gordon.coale/familystuff/pilgrimage/day4/images/3-normandy-3l.jpg

[csg_enven]

As MookieMookie stated: 43' was when the Americans started to really put the crank in the local harbor.

I have yet to make it to New York; but Newfoundland...I've had the opportunity to sit pretty watching the coast of that god-forsaken rock.

-CSG_Enven

[shegeek72]

I'm re-posting a SS from a pre-GW night infiltration. I think the year was 1942. It was pitch black (the image has been lightened). There were several patrolling destroyers that I was able to elude through stormy seas and taking regular hydrophone readings. I had to quickly submerge after the screen shot as my stealth meter went read, probably from an armed trawler. I sank several merchants / cargo ships before sneaking back out and ran surfaced at 2 knots to recharge my low batteries. It was one of my more memorable raids. :D

http://users4.ev1.net/%7Etaragem/sh3NY01.jpg
--
http://users4.ev1.net/%7Etaragem/sh3_u100.jpg

[MothBalls]

I did it and I was a little disappointed at how easy it was. I did a save right before entering thinking that for sure I wouldn't survive.

There was some nice eye candy to look at, the skyline, Empire State, Chrysler building, Statue of Liberty, etc.

I wasn't fully armed as the trip over was much more eventful than the harbor. I just looked around and left. I didn't even shoot the liner.

[Phantom II]

I've been there on one of my previous careers, but not anymore, coz its a bit unrealistic :/

-Phantom

[HunterICX]

:hmm: I did it once, because I was assigned at an Patrol grid, and when I whent searching in the dirrection of Ny I detected an Old British Liner that I wanted to sink so I chased it all the way down to closeby the entrance of the NY harbour I sank the liner and well I was there...lets have a look inside the harbour. it looks very impressive to me.

[stabiz]

I`ve been there once, and sunk alot of stuff.

[HunterICX]

I`ve been there once, and sunk alot of stuff.

:D you gave them an Hollywood kick in the ass as we saw in the movie you made about it

[KeybdFlyer]

I went into NY for the first time a couple of days ago. Left image was on the way in, by the time I got into the harbour the weather was as shown in the image on the right. Patrol turned out to be pretty good (my best ever) as can be seen in the remaining image. Pity I couldn't see a thing of the eye-candy I'd heard so much about.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/KeybdFlyer/NY.jpg
It never did sink any deeper - shallow water, the liner didn't look like that for long

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/KeybdFlyer/Image_060921_075720sm.jpg

[catar M]

Been there done that:lol: There are few PT boats at entry and 2 destroyers siting in a harbour not much a defence .Sunk that liner and few other ships but I don't think I'll do it again

[Dowly]

Been playing SHIII from the beginning and I have yet to visit NY. ;)

[Biggles]

I think the reason that there seems to be little or nill defense in NY(never been there, though I did go to the area around Newfoundland once) is that the yanks probably thought:"Hey, how stupid would a jerry be to try go into New York?"
I mean, it would seem, as someone said above, like a totaly 0% chance to survive, so the yanks might took that as the primary defense: It SEEMS that it's impossible, which it probably isn't concidering that many of you allready been there.:up:

[STEED]

Been on two occasions sightseeing that's all.

[Theta Sigma]

Haven't gotten around to it yet, but it was one of the reasons I got into subsims in the first place. Sneaking into harbors ala Destination Tokyo is a personal favorite. :)

[Frenssen]

I finished reading Michael Gannon`s Operation Drumbeat a couple of months ago and I was amazed by the fact that Reinhard Hardegen and the crew of U-123 could admire the Manhattan skyline without any resistance.

[MothBalls]

I finished reading Michael Gannon`s Operation Drumbeat a couple of months ago and I was amazed by the fact that Reinhard Hardegen and the crew of U-123 could admire the Manhattan skyline without any resistance.

I bet they still could today. I don't think America is as secure as most people might think.

Now I'm curious. I'm going to go start a new career in 43 and probe all the US harbors. :)

[csg_enven]

I think the reason that there seems to be little or nill defense in NY(never been there, though I did go to the area around Newfoundland once) is that the yanks probably thought:"Hey, how stupid would a jerry be to try go into New York?"
I mean, it would seem, as someone said above, like a totaly 0% chance to survive, so the yanks might took that as the primary defense: It SEEMS that it's impossible, which it probably isn't concidering that many of you allready been there.:up:

Very true.

The newfoundland sight-seeing trip was somewhat awkward..I had not seen one ship/plane the entire time going that way...I wish I could remember the course exactly..I guess I was just lucky..

I should try for ny again and scope it.

[macstu23]

I'm another that has been, but not in the campaign game yet, only by the grace of the mission editor. I must say i was surprised by the level of detail in the scenery.

I did some investigating while writing the mission, to find out just what sort of defenses did exist in NY harbour, and it seems that in January of 1942, precious little. It amounted to something like; 1 submarine net across the Verazzona Narows, 2 small minefields, 1 armed trawler protecting the harbour entrance and 1 small coastal gun. Defenses were of course quickly improved by mid 1942 with magnetic detection systems and hydrophones being put in place.

Here's an interesting articles I used as a source;

http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/uboats.html

[Kruger]

I did get into NY harbour, twice. First when I was opkaying vanilla, and second with GW installed. It's a nice hunting ground..not very well defended, but it takes so much time to get there :((

[HunterICX]

that buggers me also of the NY harbour, no defenses really...a couple of PT boats....well, even without me shooting at me they managed to ram their boats onto land .... :o saw one hitting land and start burning :rotfl:

[Ulic]

I even managed to surface in the NY harbour last time to reload batteries.

How realistic is that?

Managed to sink 13 ships in the harbour, but not the nice fat liner :(

[mookiemookie]

that buggers me also of the NY harbour, no defenses really...a couple of PT boats....well, even without me shooting at me they managed to ram their boats onto land .... :o saw one hitting land and start burning :rotfl:

Yeah, that was my knock on it too. I realize that it reflects historical accuracy, but come on, it couldn't have been THAT easy!

I even managed to surface in the NY harbour last time to reload batteries.

How realistic is that?

lol so did I....some stupid tugboat saw me and started doing these crazy high speed circles. I was just imagining the captain..."ohmigodmohmigodmohmigod...gotta get away from the uboat, gotta get away from the uboat!"

[Jimbuna]

I'm another that has been, but not in the campaign game yet, only by the grace of the mission editor. I must say i was surprised by the level of detail in the scenery.

I did some investigating while writing the mission, to find out just what sort of defenses did exist in NY harbour, and it seems that in January of 1942, precious little. It amounted to something like; 1 submarine net across the Verazzona Narows, 2 small minefields, 1 armed trawler protecting the harbour entrance and 1 small coastal gun. Defenses were of course quickly improved by mid 1942 with magnetic detection systems and hydrophones being put in place.

Here's an interesting articles I used as a source;

http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/uboats.html

Pretty good article that one mac :up:

[macstu23]

I'm another that has been, but not in the campaign game yet, only by the grace of the mission editor. I must say i was surprised by the level of detail in the scenery.

I did some investigating while writing the mission, to find out just what sort of defenses did exist in NY harbour, and it seems that in January of 1942, precious little. It amounted to something like; 1 submarine net across the Verazzona Narows, 2 small minefields, 1 armed trawler protecting the harbour entrance and 1 small coastal gun. Defenses were of course quickly improved by mid 1942 with magnetic detection systems and hydrophones being put in place.

Here's an interesting articles I used as a source;

http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/uboats.html
Pretty good article that one mac :up:
Thanks. Hoped somebody might find some interest.

I did take a couple of screenshots of my infiltration which I posted on U-boatRealsimulation a good while back. Here they are again if for those that missed them;

[/URL]http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/448/liberty3vy0.th.jpg (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/%5BURL=http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=liberty3vy0.jpg%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://img181.imageshack.us/img181/448/liberty3vy0.th.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[URL="http://img133.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libertygd9.jpg"]http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/3200/libertygd9.th.jpg (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/%5BURL=http://img133.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libertygd9.jpg%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://img133.imageshack.us/img133/3200/libertygd9.th.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[Biggles]

lol so did I....some stupid tugboat saw me and started doing these crazy high speed circles. I was just imagining the captain..."ohmigodmohmigodmohmigod...gotta get away from the uboat, gotta get away from the uboat!"

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
How woulkd YOU react? that must have been hilarious to see!

[Cerberus]

I went there once, early '42 I think.
The streets needed cleaning, the food was dreadful & the people downright rude!
OK, I did sink a few ships there, but they weren't local and I thought the fire & explosions cheered the place up a bit.
Were they grateful?
They were not.

[Sailor Steve]

I went there once, early '42 I think.
The streets needed cleaning, the food was dreadful & the people downright rude!
Wattsa matta you, you don' like New Yawk? They clean da streets once a month, whether they need it or not! You want good food, you gotta go to Little Italy-you gonna love it!

And you say we rude again, I breaka you face!

Putz!

[bigboywooly]

Have been a couple of times
Before and after the US enters the war

Plenty of targets and too easy early on

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/3079/linerinnyharbourja5.jpg

[Biggles]

And you say we rude again, I breaka you face!

Putz!

A bit ironic innit'?:rotfl:

[andy_311]

I even managed to surface in the NY harbour last time to reload batteries.

How realistic is that?

Managed to sink 13 ships in the harbour, but not the nice fat liner :(

Iv'e done that and reload my torpedo tubes as well.

[Sailor Steve]

And you say we rude again, I breaka you face!

Putz!

A bit ironic innit'?:rotfl:
'twas meant to be.

[NealT]

I did and found nothing. No guardians of the entrance, no ships, no nothing. Except a lot of rain that is...

Quite disappointed...

[bigboywooly]

I did and found nothing. No guardians of the entrance, no ships, no nothing. Except a lot of rain that is...

Quite disappointed...

I take it you have the stock game

[Biggles]

Question: Is there NO harbor traffic in the stock game?????

I once got in Dover in stock, nothing in sight.....need GW to get harbor traffic?

[bigboywooly]

Question: Is there NO harbor traffic in the stock game?????

I once got in Dover in stock, nothing in sight.....need GW to get harbor traffic?

All of the supermods have harbour traffic IIRC

[HunterICX]

Question: Is there NO harbor traffic in the stock game?????

I once got in Dover in stock, nothing in sight.....need GW to get harbor traffic?

you have Harbour Traffic mods to download, dont need to download the whole Supermod if you dont want so.

[Safe-Keeper]

I gave Manhattan a go in the Mission Editor, adding some new ships to sink. It's one of the biggest cities in the USA (or is it the biggest:-??); It should have a butt-load of ships parked there. I guess adding a ship to each pier and a ton of vessels in transit would increase lag to epic proportions, though:cry:...

[Biggles]

you have Harbour Traffic mods to download, dont need to download the whole Supermod if you dont want so.

Yes, but do I need ANY mod to have ships in harbors? Is there no ships in harbors in stock SHIII???


Oh, and BTW, would you please (If you find the time) list any of those mods for harbor traffic, just their names?
Would be very nice if you did.

[Jimbuna]

Harbour Traffic 1.47 :up: ....less than 200MB

[Nippelspanner]

Oh yes I was there... a long time ago:
http://img432.imageshack.us/img432/1961/nytanker1ou7.jpg

[Deep-Six]

Been playing SHIII from the beginning and I have yet to visit NY. ;)

I too, have not been there. but i will think about it when the time comes.:)

[Hartmann]

I tried to sneak in the port at 5 of december-1941 but i not found nothing to sink , the port is empty :damn:

i have RUB.1.44 with other mods like harbour traffic and milkcows.

could be A mod incompatibility or i mess some thing wrong ?:88) :oops:

[Ducimus]

Never been in there after 42. A little bit of shallow water i don't mind, but ALOT of shallow water i do. NY harbor is nestled at the back of a pretty large and shallow shelf.

Infact, i lost a boat there patroling the CA grid in early 42 when caught on the surface at night in a rough sea by a radar equiped destroyer. My gambit at shooting my aft fish at it while running away didnt work. He had me bracketed with his guns, had no choice but to crash dive in 35 meters of water. Bottomed the boat quick, got the flooding under control and tried to make like a big hole in the water. Nothing quite like being depth charged in shallow water while sitting on the bottom. Quite an experience. Unfortunatly i was ultimatly left with two choices, stay down and die, or surface and die, evasion was impossible and the boat was badly damaged. If it were a real life scenario, i would have been forced to surface and surrender.

[Hartmann]

One little question ..

what mod have the people that see ships in enemy harbours ??

i see a lot of ships but only in friendly ports.

i don´t use NYGM or Gw yet.

[Jimbuna]

You might want to consider Harbour Traffic 1.47...I use Grey Wolves :up: :rock:

[Der Eisen-Wal]

I did it a few times in 43 or 44 don't remember i ahven't played in months. I believe it was in a XI wen i first got it and began crossatlantic strikes.

they were pretty easy both times except the approach is a bit triky, once you are inside there is no stopping you. both times i sunk the passenger liner and the old liner and any tankers in the area. the PT boats can't do anything to you, I've gone in usually in the nighttime but I've also done one run during the day. depends on battery power.

one time i went in during the night, unloaded my torps and then ran low on batteries. I then proceeded to the north east bridge (i don't know the name), and went up that narrow river to try to find my way out NE to boston i'm guessing. the map showed theriver connected to another bay. unfortunately i sailed about 2 hours surfaced with no problems in the dark of the night manuevering very slightly as the river was just wide and deep enough for the boat to be surfaced... until i found my way to the end of the river and there was a hump of land and then more water beyond it. i was not impressed that the map failed to show this until i magnified it to the max. so another 2 hours on reverse propulsion back to new york harbour, past all the burning ships and sneaking out again. the view was magnificent though.

i don't play with god eye though, 96% realistic GW (no dud torps/ huge pet peeve)
it's getting a little easy so i'm planning on going to the carribean from now on.

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/9631/sh3img10620061542wy5.th.jpg (http://img372.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sh3img10620061542wy5.jpg)

http://img333.imageshack.us/img333/1761/sh3img10620061935ci2.th.jpg (http://img333.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sh3img10620061935ci2.jpg)

[SkvyWvr]

I've been there twice. Big targets. Great hunting but I also thought it too easy. I was dissapointed by the lack of shore based defenses at the "Narrows". There was and still is an Army base on the western shore of the Narrows (Fort Hamilton). Being from Brooklyn though, I really felt like mooring and going ashore for a slice of Pizza and a beer.:D

[fredbass]

I've only taken my crew for a long journey like that one time. It's a long, boring trip which I've avoided since then. I'm sure it can be fun over there but I just find that I can get just as much enjoyment without having to fiddle my thumbs as I wait to make contact. And the wait is fairly lengthy since I'm afraid to miss something so I don't turn up the time compression much.

[Sailor Steve]

Yes, but do I need ANY mod to have ships in harbors? Is there no ships in harbors in stock SHIII???
No, stock SHIII has pretty much no ships in the harbors.


Oh, and BTW, would you please (If you find the time) list any of those mods for harbor traffic, just their names?
Would be very nice if you did.
Harbour Traffic 1.47
Grey Wolves
NYGM

I use the campaign files from GW, as it contains Rubini's updated HT 1.48. Even then most of the harbors are a little too easy compared to real life.