Before reading this or any other thread about harbor raiding, I made my first attempt last night. It took nearly all evening as I'm a very conservative game player in general (which is pretty well suited for a sub sim). In late 1940, I was ordered to patrol the waters north of Ireland and after chasing and sinking a couple cargo ships to the south, I decided to make a run into Loch Ewe. I made most of the approach at night in moderate seas, got very close to the shore, and went to periscope depth at first light. I had an average of 5m under my keel for the rest of the approach and always hugged the shore line. Before dark I sat and waited to study the patrol patterns of the defenses, never popping my periscope up to even identify which were DDs and which were just topedo boats. At dusk I started moving again and stayed well away from all the patrol boats, getting deep into the channel. Finally I put the periscope up to take a look and was almost immediately spotted by a DD. I got off an aft torpedo and to my amazement, sent it ablaze and to the bottom of the harbor. The light of it's flames illuminated a Figi CL hiding over in the shallows. I quickly put 2 into it, sinking it with no problem. Now I needed to get out.

To my surprise, no one was pursuing me. As I made my way out, I noticed that the other 3 patrol boats had all beached themselves on the banks of the channel - 1 trawler and 2 DDs. I put a torpedo in one of the DDs but was fairly amazed ease/stupidity of the AI. I raced out of there at standard speed and didn't see another ship until I was back to the north of Ireland.

What could explain this? If it's any help - I'm playing stock SHIII with the latest patches.

Hello Hambone, did you happen to save your game and come back to it within 50km of the harbour you were raiding? If you did than i can tell you that the harbour traffic has a tendency to run aground because of the limitations with the game engine and how it handles AI course plotting. Thats why if you get close to the shore line, or close to the harbour walls Ai ships that are pursuing you have a tendency to run into them.

one thing i might point out is that in shallow water most large ships dont actually sink as they would in deeper water they just flood til the settle on the bottom and dont count as destroyed (which makes sense if you think about it all the tommys have to do is patch the holes and pump out the water)

when i raid harbors i go for broke just hammer every ship with 2 or even 3 fish to ensure a kill either by simply running it out of hitpoints or dealing critical hits

which usually means limiting your targets to 2 or 3 ships or finding a secluded corner to reload your tubes

oh and some targets i heartily recommned

new york harbor(minmal defenses in 1941, rich with targets)

gibralter (best raided early war before sonar gets mean, usually lots of big warships here)

freetown (big juicy targets usually)

rejayvik (lots of big warships usually, weather can be uncooperative this far north however)

good luck all you wannabe Priens:arrgh!:

Get yourself an IX and set sail for North America. Sneaking into the harbours of Halifax, New York an New Orleans are really good to give your renown a boost :arrgh!:

To avoid mines and nets, raise your observationscope just a little, so you can see where your going

I definietly saved my progress every once in a while, but I never left and returned to them. I snuck into the harbor uninterrupted, killed my prey, then started heading back out with the DDs up against the shore. I had definitely been in shallow water, but none of the hunters were anywhere close to me when they ran aground. One was even outside of the harbor. I guess I will just consider myself lucky.

Ultimately though, I don't find Harbor raiding all that appealing. It's time-consuming and not necessarily worth the danger. I think I will head to Norfolk by December 8, 1941 just so I can see what might be there at the time. Has anyone else ever snuck into Norfolk? Anything good there?

It's possible in a Type II A
 

The secret to Portsmouth is bad weather. Heavy fog, along with rain reducing visiblity to less than 400m... Also, the straight up SH3 shorline shown for the narrow entrance channel is roughly 50m too far east, so keep a eye on bottom contours rather than the game mapping, and mark your inbound course so it's easier to repeat the exact track when departing. Usually there is a nice T 2 awaiting at dock. PS beware DD's at dock nearby the T 2!

Scapa Flow visits - where are the BB's?
 

Your Prien adventure sounds great. What did you sink?
I've hung out in Scapa several times, alas to no avail! When is the Home Fleet ever home! I'm on a new carreer and headed there now in a Type II A. Arrival date: early September. When should I show up to find the fleet at anchorage?

I'' be right behind you!
 

I'm in a Type IIA using the GWX mod. I've visited this anchorage in earlier missions using straight SH3 gaming, only to find no Home Fleet units!

Could you help me understand how best to time arrivals which are productive?

Good hunting!!

TW

Looking for the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow
 

Any Gunther Preins out there?

I've visited Scapa several times using SH3. Other than a tugboat, nothing flying the King's navy flag (other than DD's of course) was to be found.

I'm in GWX and SH3 Commander now, and would like to give it another go.
However, when is the Home Fleet spawned at Scapa? And if I sit there for a few weeks, does my proximity to the HF anchorage prevent the generation of major ships?

Treading water,

TW

i have to agree on the absence of big targets in scapa it seems odd that such a critical military port is essentially abandoned 99% of the time:hmmm:

gibralter is the same way only once have i encountered a bb there you except it to be stocked full of big warships

same goes for other big military ports firth of forth, liverpool, newport etc etc

when big ships are not on patrol does gwx actually model them at thier respective ports?:hmmm:

i want a bit more reward for my hard infiltration work:arrgh!: