Used JSGME to install file, but when viewing the pacific map did not see a anchor at Darwin. Am I supposed to see that?

Ah, sorry, I added the base, but I didn't add an anchor icon.

It's there, though.

tater

When I enter the Harbor, I see the tender there-but I don't get a "Refit" message-how do I refit/refuel?

Well, one problem is I did something stupid. I saved it with a different name, lol. Deleter the _Darwin before .mis

I fixed that and tried it, but no dice. I assumed it was as easy as adding a naval base. Perhpas they are pointed to in the UPC files someplace, I'll have to see.

Sorry about that.

tater

Hehe, actually just under 2,000 civvies + military personnel, but that's beside the point. ;)

Anyway, yes, the port was small, but the harbour was big. Twice the size of Sydney Harbour and during WWII Darwin boasted the longest anti-submarine boom in the world, measuring ~5km and operated by seven ships.

To give you an idea of how busy the place could get, at the time of the first Japanese attack (19 Feb 1942), Darwin Harbour was holding 35-45 ships, including eight RAN ships, one US Destroyer and one US Army Transport. So despite the low population of the town, the harbour was still a busy place to be. ;)

A sketch of Darwin harbour...
http://www.navy.gov.au/spc/history/g...in-harbour.gif

Darwin port itself, as it was during WWII...
http://www.navy.gov.au/spc/history/g...-yard-1942.gif

Picture six ships in this image and you have the number that were immediately docked in the port on 19 Feb 1942. The balance of ships were more SW, towards the harbour itself.

So that's the quandary. Use a port that reflects the town size and it may be too small to reflect the harbour usage. I wonder, can you/someone take the current smallest SH4 port and thin the number of buildings? Might make a nice port that could be used throughout SE Asia (could be used for all the old British or Dutch colonial ports), so certainly would be worth the effort.

BTW, I've already researched all this kinda thing when I was working on GWX, so I've got a lot already at hand (including airbase locations, sizes, units etc etc). Any q's, feel free to PM me. ;)

Oh, I neglected to add, despite what Operation Petticoat will have you believe, I'm not aware of any submarine tenders ever actively stationed at Darwin (although USS Otus was in Darwin in late 1941 for repairs and USS Coucal was there for a few months in 1944). Essentially Darwin's tides were unsuitable for submarine operations and the harbour was too open, hence why it was never developed as a sub base. No sub base equaled no need for submarine tenders. But there were instances of submarines docking to take on ammo or other supplies (eg USS Seawolf I), so some ability to refuel/rearm might be appropriate - I guess SH4 supports friendly ports like SH3 does?

There were of course numerous tenders in Fremantle and Brisbane.

But I haven't looked too closely, so will accept being wrong.

anyone?

Some excellent stuff here JSc, hopefully somebody will take you up on
your offer ^^^ :yep:


RDP

Cool info, thanks. The problem is that even the smaller facilities in sh4 re loaded with huge cranes, etc. Not to mention european looking buildings.

The biggest issue seems to be that it is taking more than just placing a naval base to get a port there that you can refuel with---which is odd cause it worked when i tested with port moresby.

The idea isn't that there was really a tender there, more that a sub could stop and get diesel at even a civie port.

Just wanna see some accurate reflection in the game of the Australian, Dutch amd Kiwi contribution. ;)

Surely someone could make a colonial looking port? Certainly is needed if the ones in there are all carry overs from SH3.

Strange, What country navalbase are you using? Australian, British or American? It should work if it is American with appropriate entry and exit dates. By rights it should work even if it's Australian, but I could prolly understand if that wasn't the case considering the SH3 heritage of SH4.

I think I made it american. I tested with port moresby and made a british one, and that worked. I'll mess around with it.

Yeah, colonial ports would be nice. In some cases the physical extent of the ports used is quite good (miles of waterfront, etc), it's just that the facilities are so over the top. That's really what I was getting at.

10+ 600+ foot long concrete docks with overhead cranes instead of a jetty, and a quay along the waterfront with tin-roofed warehouses nearby.

I'll see if I can make it work, dunno what I'm doing wrong, I had tried it before once and remembered it as being as easy as placing a naval base with the right dates.

According to the manual (quoted above) neutral ports should give just fuel. I might try a mod where I test that. I could then make a new "colonial port" country that would be neutral (technically) so that subs could stop and get diesel, but not fish. Port Moresby, etc. Emergency stops, really.

tater

Just fuel would be great! I've been reading "USS BOWFIN" and it seems they routinely refueled at Darwin during patrols to the Celebes, etc.

It's so much closer to any of the other refueling spots-it would help the skippers having fuel rationing problems, for sure!

The USS Cod, during her fourth patrol (July 1944), expended all 24 of her torpedoes. She then refueled and rearmed at Darwin and returned to her patrol area to continue her fourth patrol where she again expended all her torpedoes. On several occasions she would top off tanks at Darwin after leaving Fremantle on her way to her patrol area, and also at times, refuel on her way back from patrol in order to reach Fremantle. She also had some repairs made at Darwin after they became evident after leaving Fremantle.

Has there been any update on being able to refuel, rearm, and make repairs at Darwin? I think this really needs to be incorporated.

Gus

Sub Tenders
 

I always thought that our sub tenders were nothing more then a striped anchor on the map or another port to dock in, but upon further investigation this is not so. Are they ships or ports or both?

Johnston Atoll Tender

http://www.downbelow.net/sh4/tender1.jpg

http://www.downbelow.net/sh4/tender2.jpg

http://www.downbelow.net/sh4/tender3.jpg

http://www.downbelow.net/sh4/tender4.jpg

http://www.downbelow.net/sh4/tender5.jpg