OP updated for fourth installment:https://youtu.be/3QmQJUxWVlc

Wait, what? Grind the exhaust valve seats? That must have a very different meaning from grinding valve seats on an automotive engine... :06: You must be referring to the exhaust valves in the line, not the heads, right?

There were flapper valve seats in the external and internal exhaust vents. Carbon would form on them and prevent a good seal when diving, and so periodically they needed to be ground. The external ones had pneumatic motors that would do it, but the internal ones you had to do by hand. You’d slap a big ratchet handle onto this male end here and crank back and forth for a while to unseat the carbon. Rinse and repeat on the other engine 4-6 hours later. Buchheim had the pleasure of doing this and describes it in Das Boot when he stands a diesel watch.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/pic...ictureid=12754

Some early boats were lost due to this design flaw.

Ok, that's what I thought. Not the exhaust head valves but the exhaust line isolation valves.

I thought, what? They pull the heads off those massive engines once every 4 hours to seat the valves? No, that's not happening. :)

https://youtu.be/bEaVXPLv3HE

derstosstrupp


Thank you so much for doing these videos and the information you post on your Youtube site and targeting site. :Kaleun_Salute:

Thanks Dieselglock! Glad you are enjoying them!

Definitive answer re attack periscope optics
 

Hi Derstosstrupp, continuing to really enjoy these. Another 2 questions if I may:

1: Further to the issue of the colour of the deck; so black. Would that have just been a matt black colour designed to be weather resistant? I keep seeing photos of u boat decking and there is such a range of shades there to suggest the black faded pretty quickly to look almost grey. Trying to match a model colour.

2. Attack periscope optics: what we see in Wolfpack, is that realistic in terms of markings? Is that what a real u boat captain would have seen when he looked through a periscope?

Thanks in advance.

Apoll

Hi Apoll,

I believe a matte black is accurate. It did indeed fade quickly and so it was common for them to bring paint along to repaint if necessary.

To the optics question, that’s correct, Wolfpack has now changed both periscopes to reflect the accurate graticule. The only difference between reality and what you see in the game is, in reality, the attack periscope projected the relative bearing by way of prisms, as well as the lead angle slider ring, so both were visible in the top of the view. Wolfpack doesn’t have the lead angle sliders though. The observation periscope projected 3 things at the top of the view: the relative bearing, the reciprocal relative bearing, and the lead angle slider.

Thanks
 

Thanks Derstosstrupp. Very much appreciated.

Apoll

I noticed this yesterday, in defense of Wolfpack, the ladder in U995 does does appear to be set back somewhat.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ridders/36385973976/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ridders/36385973976/

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._-ausstieg.jpg

Yes that’s a good point, reality was somewhere in the middle. Wolfpack has made the tower interior a little bigger for gameplay purposes.

OP updated for fifth episode (tower interior and fire control system):
https://youtu.be/1ik1Z5bNdlU

Is/was the new battery meter some kind of remote hydrometer in the real uboats?

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...ry_meter_1.png

@derstosstrupp, what an excellent treatment on the the TDC. I didn't want to comment until I was able to listen to the whole thing.

I have 2 really hard questions. They are better left until the end of the series.

1.) What are your favorite 10 things that Wolfpack got really spot-on with the simulation-game?

2.) Given that: the team has deadlines, limited resources, and compromises must be made to make the game playable for playability (such as the TDC/ladder conflict)—what are the 10 most important changes that could be made to Wolfpack to make it: even more historically accurate, more enduring on the market, and that would the greatest effect on gameplay.