PLANES are my hobby... :D :o :oops:
Beaufighters especialy :yep: and beauforts and Swordfishes

It started with Silent Service on my trusty old Atari 600XL, that game made me read Das Boot (and watch the movie).

I have become very friendly with a British Air Arm pilot who began his career in Swordfish. I had an artist do a scetch of a painting he had commissioned many years ago of him flying the old "stringbag". I then had the guy sign it and have it framed and hanging on the wall in my home office.

I even traded houses with the guy...well, he took my condo and I took his house and then I paid the differential after we had both properties professionally valued.

Saved us both a fortune on commissions and stamp duty.

Great guy...83 years old but still sharp as a tac. Unfortunately his eyesight has failed him though.

:yep: me too!

AoD then Silent Hunter.

Das Boot, Enemy Below, some other sub movies I cannot recall the names of :oops:

Hunt for Red Oktober (book then movie)

I am insane :P

:lurk:

I grew up in the '50s, watching movies like 'Run Silent, Run Deep' and 'Destination Tokyo', the TV show 'Silent Service' and reading books like 'Pig Boats'. I loved subs and planes long before I saw my first video games.

In 1986 I read "Clear the Bridge." By Richard O'Kane. Loved subs ever since. :arrgh!:

I just like the fact that you need to rely on your crew and no one else. if something goes wrong your all along. and a submarine is all about that :arrgh!:

I love anything dealing with large ship strategy in a three dimensional world. All my reading jumps from either submarine fighting novels, past. present and future. Well not to future, and anything dealing with large ship space battles. I love it everytime I hear a command coming from the bridge directing these multi manned killing machines in combat. I used to be into flight sims for many, many years but never got over large ship combat. Now that I have outgrown the simplicity of a one man fighters I love the intricacy and involvement of commanding larger fighting ships.

Silent Service on my piece of crap Atari 130XE started it off for me, only thing was the version I had didn't have the Japanese Aircraft carrier Jinya mission. It took me another few years til 688 Attack Sub came out before I had the pleasure of sending one of those big ladies to the bottom. Since then I've always loved Sub movies and Sub games but am yet to find a single Sub Book in this crummy city(Dublin). Still theres always Amazon.com....... :hmm: :up:

I first got interested about U-Boots was when I first watched Das Boot. Then later i got more interested when i was playing Battlefield 1942 and always played on one map that had the subs. Until I heard of Sh3 through Maximum PC and they gave it a 8 rating, i decided to try it and I loved it.

Das Boot for me, I suppose, but when I was a kid I despised piddly little submarines and built airfix models of the Bismark and the Ark Royal, an even destroyers like HMS Cossack.

I could only think in terms of big guns and big ships.

As I grew older, and this wasn't the only thing occupying my mind at that age, in fact it was about the 100th. Of course my attitude changed.

Perversely, but it's true, we British do love an underdog, and I came to realise that small groups of young determined men in small boats, nearly brought us to our knees. And at terrible sacrifice to themselves.

Later, I had even more empathy with the idea in my military service when we were required to be many miles beyond enemy lines, and hoping they could not see us, or hear us, or pick up our short radio transmissions. Just like a U-boat and with alll the tensions and consequences that brings to a small team.

So that's what I love about SH3 (which has combined the freedom of AoD with the rich intensity of modern graphics)

We're the little guys against the big guys, and it doesn't matter if we're German, it's all about stealth, patience, resourcefulness cunning and courage. Which is what makes it such a good game for anyone with an ounce of imagination.

And every patrol, like U-46's, is open ended, until the time when it is ended.

Any way my boat is still up and bouncing up and down those Atlantic rollers.

Hope your boats are too.

Best, Laughing Swordfish

I work on them for a living.............

John, look at Full Fathom Five segment of V@S. When it opened freeze frame when on the side of the fleet superstructure. You will see 485 The USS Sirago last Navy ship commissionedn during WWII. I served on her from 1963-1968 after converstion to a GuppyIIa. Was a real submariners submarine :arrgh!:

I am a fanatical flight sim pilot and recently a friend bought the sh3 game, thought i would give it a go and no i am hooked. Finding it very dificult to balance my fight weekly and mt parols, damn the devs why did they have to make such good sims!!!! :down: