Snorkel Device???
 

Hi all,

Just been wondering, is there a snorkel in this game or not, I've had seen it mentioned numerous times in posts but can never seem to find it on threads about sub upgrades.

Also, what is radar depth, I have also seen this mentioned also, but can never seem to find the right depth even when trying out differents speeds and depths.

Answers would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Krauter

No snorkels. Guppy as they were called after the war when the snorkel was added.


Not sure about the radar depth question. I just submerge until the radar does not work anymore. The I go up a few feet until it works. This then is the radar depth for the particular class of submarine you are using.

thanks very much, im still troubled however because i've been hearing about snorkels a couple of times..

Thanks very much also for help on radar depth.. now ill be able to make daytime detections without relying solely on sound detections:arrgh!:

With Regards,

Krauter

Sorry about that, Chief!
 

The snorkels I've seen installed on American subs were done in 1950 and later. Balao's was installed in 1950. We had to copy captured U-Boats for those.

Hey, Americans don't invent EVERYTHING! I think I remember that we even copied a captured German torpedo for our Mark 25. I believe the Mark 14 was even patterned on a German design. Anybody want to contribute facts to supplement or destroy my vague memories?

We did introduce a much better ballast system with our negative and trim tanks. We did come up with the Position Keeper to suppliment the TDC and give our subs the world's first predictive targeting system for submarines. We also invented an efficient bureaucracy which ensured that top quality torpedoes were provided to our sub force from the first day of the...... ah, strike that:oops:.

Might have been a thread or two on the snorkel. The snorkel did not catch on with the submarines until after the war.

Not sure about other class of boats but I know S boat radar depth is set at 40' which of course is to deep, Tater whipped me up a depth file to try and will do when I get home from work. :arrgh!:

Apart from the German subs later in the war, only the Dutch O.19 and O.21 class were equipped with snorkels- as built:):up:!!!!!!!!! When the O.21 class arrived in the UK after Germany's invasion of the Netherlands, the British Admiralty ordered the snorkels to be removed forthwith- the RN saw the snorkel as useless, only adding extra holes to the pressure hull and therefore a danger.............

Thanks all, so from what i gather there will be no runnin at snorkel depth to avoid those pesky H8Ks and Zekes, nor will I be able to charge batteries under the surface. However I will be able to search targets with my radar at a certain depth.

(If only German U-boats had the Americans pesky torpedoes and a moronic buraucrocy along with it, then we mighnt not have been embarassed too much..)

With Regards,

Krauter

Actually, the Germans DID have a pesky bureaucracy. In 1939-40, the U-Boote suffered a rash of torpedo failures, just as the USN did. The failures ruined a good few attacks on Allied warships and merchantmen alike, especially during the German invasion of Norway. As with the USN, the failures were blamed on the skippers- the torpedoes were not at fault. Unlike the USN, however, Dönitz and Raeder quickly ordered a full investigation, uncovering pretty much the same mess as later discovered in the USN. As a result, it was "action this day!" in Germany and those responsible were severely dealt with (no doubt posted to sentry duty at the North Cape).

Thanks for the info, although I always thought that Donitz had never wanted to hear any wrong of his submariners, and thus investigated all possible equipment defects.

Also, all equipment (torpedoes in this case) always have teething problems:)

With Regards,

Krauter

Ooooooooo, them's fighin' words
 

Sir, I realize that you have eaten too much sauerkraut and drank far too many expensive German beers, but I must remind you that in lousy waters (all the shallow stuff was where the best hunting grounds were and there were plenty of well-defended choke points we had to negotiate) and an ocean that made the Atlantic look like a kid's wading pond, we won our sub war. We certainly are not embarrassed by our Pacific victory. *sniff*

Just because we copied a couple German torpedoes, defects and all, and filched U-Boat construction details. And we started the war without a strategy, so we stole one from the......Germans. But we improved it and it worked. And I might add we only dissasembled captured German U-Boats from WWI to find out what the Germans did wrong:p. Other than that we were quite original. Show me a U-Boat with an ice cream freezer. You CAN'T!!!! So based on that clearly superior technology, we rest our case. Pass me one of those captured Lowenbraus, will you?:up:

Edit: What's that? I didn't respond to what he said at all? He was talking about the GERMANS being embarrassed? I am the one who has drank too many expensive German beers? Well....ummmmmmmmmmmmm...................NEVER MIND! Can I have another Lowenbrau?

Was the german torpedo not based on a captured british torpedo ?
I think it was :D

cheers
NoLine

Was not as big a priority for fleet boats as it was for U-boats as we had more sophisticated air radar than they did.

The First Torpedo's
 

The first self propelled torpedo was invented in 1866 by Robert Whitehead a Enlish engineer working in Austria it was called the Minenschiff. By 1870 it could go to 1000 yards. Germany introduced the first battery powered torpedo just before WW2. Other torpedo's using steam were developed in the early 1900's but if it's a question of the first torpedo to actually do what a torpedo does, it was invented by a Brit.

From what I have read concerning Donitz he was always forthwith concerning the u-boats and the men that sailed them into battle. All complaints were taken seriously and handled quickly. Donitz also required stalwart crews that would not cower in the face of the enemy. Just as demanding as the crews were, Donitz was just as demanding in return. The torpedo situation was much like the US torpedoes in the beginning. Many problems at the start. If I'm not mistaken the two engineers who worked on the torpedoes and did not correct them were summarily removed, either imprisoned or firing squad...not sure which one was their fate.

As far as the US, quite a few German torpedoes made the beaches along the eastern seaboard of the US. These were studied and replicated in a few areas. Specifically electric torps. I believe but not sure about the homing torps and the US getting their hands on one to study for development.

From what I've heard of both Sub Commands, I'd rather have the Kriegsmarine+Donitz commanding my actions then a High Command willing to deny their skippers the right tools, and who must also be shown over a long period of time the effects of their actions.

However I tend to lean more towards the German Army in WW2 (NOT their political reasons..). You have to admit, comparing forces such as the German U-Boots and the American Fleet Boats, the Germans certainly had an edge; both in technology and experience, as well as tactics.

However, whose to say is the most elite of the submariners, no one can really tell..

With Regards (to this totally weird post)

Krauter

If I have offended anyone with my ideals on the German and American Submarine Command in the Atlantic and Pacific, I apologize in advance.

With Regards,

Krauter

But not in radar and ASW technology, and it makes the difference in the late years of the war.

Radar makes very difficult or impossible surface night attacks, and the planes equiped with it makes the life misserable for the u-boats. forcing it to stay dived running at 3 knts without possibility of recharge battery or chasing convoys.
In radar tech, allies were always a step forward compared with germany.

They have a good submarine tech and designs but they don´t use it until it was too late, like the XXI boats, or they thought that the war could be finished for 1943

True, radar was lacking in the German U-boots. However, comparing the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, you'll see that the Atlantic would be **Slightly** easier to patrol, especially as in earlier in the war the U-Boots were patrolling off of the British Isles only and could rely on sightings for FW 200?? Condor search planes from the mainland.

So Radar really came handy to the Americans because they had a lot more area to search and could not rely on visual sightings of convoys from land based aircraft until later on in the war.

Please shove this post back in my face if you see any faults in it:) I am NOT an expert but am recalling only vague memories of some reading on the Pacific Campagins as well as the Atlantic.

With Regards,

Krauter