Now I understand the frustration
 

Now I start to understand the frustration of U-boot commanders who went on patrol in late WW2 years. I am reaching mid-'43 with my career (GWX, of course, playing dead-is-dead) and already things are getting hot. Enemy radar is making one hell of a difference. After approaching convoys mostly undetected in the past, now I can't get anywhere near a convoy as the bloody radar is pinpointing me, sending my boat deep below for cover. Escorts now come right at me even before I can get a fix on the convoy on my (primitive) radar. I'm at the third convoy that I miss in a single patrol because they find me before I'm able to get at medium range, to shoot my eels. Bye-bye night cover, farewell discreet approach on surface. The %#$? (censored) radar is ruining every attempt at a stealthy approach.:damn:
As I said, frustration is the name of the game from now on, but this also brings a challenge. The challenge to find new tactics, else I'm gonna miss every bloody convoy by far.
Let's see what the future will bring.:-?

Peanuts compared to 1944 no wait hang on 1945. :eek:

It's now a question of surviving. :ping:

Good Luck.

Do you guys even bother patrolling in the assigned grid in the later years? Or do you just pick off merchants where you know you can get some tonnage relatively safely and head home?

I take what I can get and usually get so banged up I have to go home early.

Thanks, mate.:up: I guess I'll need all the luck I can get, given what I see even as early as mid-43.

@Sirrvs

Yes, of course I first patrol the assigned grid for 24 hours, because of two reasons: 1. it brings some renown (not much, but anyway...) and
2. that's what they did in RL, and I want to recreate the whole experience, not just hunt for some easy tonnage. If they had to go to the assigned grid, then that's what I'll do as well, even if this means less juicy targets. I even had patrols that ended without any kill at all. Strange to admit, but I never felt I was wasting my time in such a patrol. Knowing that IRL many U-boots returned to base without even gettting near the enemy, my "zero-tonnage" sorties actually brought me some form of satisfaction: though empty, it's as realistic as can be.
Go figure...:lol:

No and I shall tell you why, me and my big IXD2 are on patrol down under and there are no patrol grids. :D

Turn off your radar. You're broadcasting your presence and position over an electromagnetic loud-speaker. I never use radar, and as of yet have not found any use for it, except for locating lone un-armed merchants in heavy fog.

agreed. It is a near useless tool and you might as well launch signal flares every nautical mile you move forward... leave it off or dont equip it on your boat at all.

I have found that if you leave map contact updates ON you will see the little grey contact line that represents a radar signal... if you stay right on the outer most edge of this line they will not detect you... try to exploit this to your advantage if you can, but this is very difficult to do.

radar was the final blow to the U-boat war IMHO... my strategy for late war is to remain submerged for as long as possible, only surfacing at night to recharge batteries and when i do so i am moving at flank speed.

hunting ships should be dont almost entirely by hydrophone after 1943... your war is pretty much over after that point.

Too true the tonnage takes a nose dive.

Thank you Adolf for the long term scientific cut backs in 1940. :damn:

Thanks everybody for the good advice & tactics.:up: Will try them for the remainder of my patrol. Too bad I already spent renown for the radar:cry: Now I'm off to stalking the Med route of convoys near Algiers.:arrgh!:

Make hay whilst the sun shines :sunny:

Stormy weather ahead http://imgcash1.imageshack.us/img265...shockedyi3.gif

Ack! Lost my last boat near there in September 1943. Ran afoul of a really nasty Tribal class destroyer with a plentiful supply of hedgehogs. :down:

I guess those experiments in castle wolfenstein for super soldiers and super assasin ladies as well as diverting all the research towards super secret project of atomicbombspacerocketcannonlaserbeamtimetravelnerv egasblarghlol left no funds for advancing the u-boat service. :cry:

Good thread. :up:

We worked our hooties off on the sensors in GWX.:yep: (...and everthying else too for that matter LOL!)

Erm right yea. :-?

I remember the conversation with goering and luftwaffe pilots during the battle of britain ...

Goering: What can I do for you?
Moelders: Upgraded engines for my Bf 109s.
Galland: A squadron of Spitfires....!!!

For sh3..

Get the snorkel as soon as possible.

XXI sub help a lot with his 15 knts and fast torpedo loading. but only late in the war ( if you survive enough).

Use the SD and SJ radars... :oops:

Always Patrol your assigned grid!

Failure to do so, is disobeying a direct order Herr Kaluen! :nope:

Especially late in the war, this could be viewed as an act of treason.

Dont be surprised if you dock, and the Gestapo is waiting for you.

"Herr Kaluen, we would like to have a word with you...." :o

I'm having to approach submerged from a further distance and it's late 42. Try to get with range of yer mk1 eyeballs and youre going to ruin your attack. You'll be surprised at how much area a submerged uboat can cover. But dont blow all of your battery life.
I have radar installed, but I never turn it on. At the beginning of each save, make sure you turn it off! I had to learn that the hard way.

Before I discovered GWX I had radar turned on when I had the flak guns.
I was unstoppable, too bad the liberators would spray with their bombs from far away.
Their squadrons of spitfires and whatever else was nothing.

Since then I have reinstalled the OS and playing plain jane SH3 with the Commander add on.