Attacking the submarine base
 

I just started a new career in 1939, after my brave crew in my previous career perished in a brave convoy attack, and so I decided to attempt something risky. After heading to my patrol area, and sinking a ship on the way there, and another on the way back, I decided that before I returned to port, id attack stuff at the submarine base thats north of Scotland. Now, I was able to successfully sneak in undetected, with silent running on underwater. I lined up for my attack on a warship, fired two torpedoes, both hit, destroying the warship. Now, being the stupid 17 year old I am, I watched the pyrotechnics of the explosion through my periscope, taking screens, and then I started getting pinged by destroyers. For the next 20 minutes, they chased me out of there, with my ship still under silent runnings, getting depth charged constantly. Unfortanately, my crew could not repair all the compartments fast enough, so in the end, after many depth charges they got me.
Im interested in knowing if there was anything I could have done to get out of there alive, so I can attempt it agian perhaps on my next patrol.

YES! Stay out of harbours and shallow water

What is this suicidal fascination in going into a harbour full of destroyers mines and nets? Some captains out there seem to have a crazy death wish. :nope:

I died not long ago. I'm not ashamed. I proved that a VIIC can go to 430 meters without imploding. Realistic vulnerability on

try this, if you see a ship you would like to sink and it is in port... line up a stern shot at the very limit of the torpedo range. this will of course allow you only 1 or 2 shots depending o nthe type of boat your using.

if you want to make use of the bow tubes however line up a shot so that you are having to shoot at a bearing about 70-80 degrees off the port or starboard bow - near the maximum angle of deflection the torpedo can turn to. also you should be nearly at the maximum range of the torpedoes your shooting.

when the last fish clears the tube... turn to leave the port and head for deeper waters, if its night and the destroyers are in port to you might risk flank speed on the surface...

hopefully either way you will have already cleared a couple of miles out of port before the first torpedo even hits the target.

in short go for long distance shots with your boat sitting in a position that requiores you to make the shortest turn to exit the area... ie if you are pointing straight at the target you will have to make a 180 degree turn to leave the area - this will take far to long. be in a position to "shoot and scoot". pyrotechnics are nice to look at but if you stick around to watch them it may very well be the last thing you see!

unless you are depsarate or like captain Ahab chasing down a white wale - never - NEVER hunt inside of waters less than 80 to 100 meters unless your in a position to hit a merchant and haul a$$ to deep water under no immediate threat from retaliation.

hope this helps

The depth of the water you can chase in depends of the year.
In 39/40 it s quite easy to get rid of destroyer in water between 40 and 60 meters,
60-80 for 41, after it s not safe anywhere anyway so I will say 80+

That Lerwick is a dangerous place. Got mauled there a few days ago which is why I will never raid another harbour!!! Only about 3m under the keel at periscope depth so when them V&W's start thrashing about theres no going deep to avoid them. I was surprised they never hit my bridge. Mind you they did run aground:D

Well... some of use not paddeling around the east coast in those big IX sonar magnets still treat our type 7's like II's and sniff out a harbour :cool: :cool:

Well, remember as I said, im a dumb 17 year old :P so yeah, I tend to be pretty brave. Well, I guess ill leave this place alone. Ill just stalk the waters around Scapa Flow I guess.

I gotta say .......TOUCHE:rotfl:

Fresh meat for the Allie grinder. :rotfl:

Because it's hard.

Because it requires constant attention to everything that's going on in the harbor and on my boat.

Because some harbors are VERY challenging.

But for the most part:

Because I can.

Same here. It was 1939 too so it wasnt anywhere NEAR as bad as it possibly could have been. And I was in the boat I was best at, a trusted type VII, so all was well. I could have made it out, but I think the only thing that stopped me was the fact I stayed in the same place long enough for them to catch me. My guys kept up with repairs for quite a while, it was only in the end when they became fatigued. So in reality, I put up a good fight that I can be quite proud of.

Death wish fan club now open for harbour raiders. :rotfl:

Captain Norman Where you hopeing to see some enemy subs ?
I was i'm sad to admite. Had a bad experience and no subs. :damn:

That early in the war, I didnt expect to see much of anything, I just hadn't been there before so I wanted an idea of what it was like in regards to making attacks and such.

Depending on the year, certain harbors are definitely death traps.

But then again, it takes a certain amount of skill and finesse to be able to maneuver your boat into a harbor through a screen of at least 6 DDs in waters so shallow that you're lucky to sometimes have more than 5m beneath your keel while at periscope depth.

And then you have to get out again once you light up the harbor.

It may be a death wish to some, but to me, it's fun and challenging. Plus you get more of the "Oh, ****!" factor when you barely manage to get into a harbor, then realize that there's no capital ships, and only a handful of small merchants.

It was the first time i noticed it said sub base so... curiosity got the better of me then there was no turning back. :rotfl:

I haven't really done harbour raids but I can see the attraction.trying to beat all the Uber defences. I say each to his own on this one, I know it's suicidal but one day I might just try it;)

You'd be surprised at just how hard it is.

I've raided harbors in every boat in the game (including IXD/2 and XXI).

I can honestly say that in terms of raiding harbors, the 4 classes are ranked like this (best to worst):

1. VII
2. II
3. IX
4. XXI

Now, let me make this perfectly clear. Neither the IX or the XXI should be the first choice for a harbor raid. The IX handles like a bus on a Formula 1 circuit, and the XXI is just too damned big. Seriously, this thing is so big that it's not even worth it to raid a harbor in anything but calm seas...because you'll constantly slam into the bottom if you go in at periscope depth during even a light storm. Plus, the XXI does not have the life-saving rear torpedo tube that the IX and VII have.

The Type II is hampered by horrid battery life, but it can maneuver incredibly well underwater. Unfortunately, sneaking in and out is a major problem. And at only 6 torps, you have to be VERY precise in your shots. You must also choose between saving 1 torp for defense on your way out (since the minute you start sinking ships, the defenses will be onto you) or fire them all. As for me, I'm currently trying for a 100k ton harbor raid in a Type II. THAT is hard.

If you're looking for the last challenge from SHIII before you head towards SHIV, harbor raiding is it.