The deeper the safer ???
 

To what depth should i dive to avoid :

a. Detection ?

b. Damage from DC ?

The point is, If i am at 180m is it harder for DD´s to hear me than at 60m ??

And when it comes to DC damage ? Is it just like a guess lotery ? The DD guesses my depth and I guess their DC setting ??
Do they have a depth limit to go off ???

The deeper you are the more time you have to evade depth charges.

:doh:

it never crossed my mind...

think i could never be a skipper :88)

I agree, the deeper you are the more time you have to avoid DCs; however, it's a double edged sword, sure you have more time to evade but those DC that detonate near you cause more damage.

DD's use pings to determine your depth and upon locating your depth adjust their DC's to detonate in approximation of that figure. I will say that it's more difficult for them to ping you the deeper you go.

I've found from personal experience in game that you needn't go very deep in relation to crush depth to avoid DCs. I rarely go below 100m in the years '39 - '42. From '43 and on I tend to hit the 170 meters deep. There are a few reasons for that: earlier in the war it's seldom you're DC'd by more than 1 or 2 ships at a time and it's much easier to avoid detection, plus the DD's are really relying on sound. Later in the war you need the depth to change courses as I've found 5+ ships will hunt you at one given moment.

My advice, have a couple Petty officers who are repairmen in the later years, they'll save you bacon.

Also, the deeper you are, the more thermal layers there are between you and the destroyer. A thermal layer makes it harder for him to detect you. Dive deep, select silent running mode and move slowly away.

Thermal layers arent simulated into this game.

with depth comes safety... and a lil coating of Albericht can't hurt either...

--Mike

it all depends, sometimes your sound sig. can be louder at a deeper depth... it all depends on the temp. of the water. I dont know if this game does it right... best way to not get killed is to not let them chase you in the first place! :up:

ok... you can stay up there and mess around with those dds if you want to... as for me, i'll be as deep as i can... at silent speed... enjoying the latest movies in the crews mess...

ooops, wrong war :-j

--Mike

The change to hit a sub below 100 meter is or must be diffucult than above that depth ( how deeper you are how longer the charge is on his depth where he is set on to explode)

The sink rate of the Mark 7 was a fairly slow 6 feet per second, which meant there was a very long blind time during which a deep-diving enemy sub could attempt to evade before the pattern eached it. In late 1942, a modified Mark 7 charge was equipped with added lead weight, which increased the sink rate to 13 feet per second

The sink rate of the Mark 6 was 8 feet per second. When weight was added, the sink rate was increased to 12 feet per second

The Mark 9 (1943) has a sink rate of 14.5 feet per second.

A simple feet to meter conversion is,
1 feet = approximately .3080 meters

Example: 75 ft x .3080 = 23.1 meters deep

I knew that deeper the better to avoid them (more time to run away, plus more drifting along the sea currents), but I had never thought that DC would also do more damage. I guess it's just because of the pressure.

100 meters, 1 KTS, silent mode = safe for me :-) (running 1.4)

Ok thx for all the explanation. . .

But and when it comes to detection ?? Is it harder for them to hear you at 170m than 80m ??

Plus I read somewhere that even ALL STOP wont save you, cause their sonar isn´t based on how much noise we make :cry:

well if they're pinging you... you can be as quiet as a rock... and they'll still see you...

gotta find those thermals... what!!! they don't exist in SH3... no wayyyy :-j

--Mike

Along these lines does anyone know if the effective radius of the depth charge is modeled as a function of depth. i.e. the deeper the depth charge goes before exploding the smaller the effective blast area (due to pressure) but the larger the effect is on your sub due to the strain that it is under if you are within that blast radius. Or is it a static value regardless of where it explodes

no, but they should be, because they were in silent hunter 2

They are simulated, I remember someone saying that one of the devs said they were modeled. :know:

Thermal layers are more and more rare the shallower the waters. 150 metres? Nnnnn...never saw one. They might exist, but never saw it.
200-250 and deeper is more like it.

It appears thermal layers are simulated in the game according to the devs, but we have no way of knowing when we are passing one, as there are no temp gauges simulated...

Hello,
" ... thermal layers are simulated in the game according to the devs, but we have no way of knowing when we are passing one, as there are no temp gauges simulated ... "

... and that is how it should be, there was no possibility to measure surrounding water temperature or density. However it was common knowledge there were "hiding zones" in the shallow waters of the U.S. coast, but you would not know exactly where.

If you evade this time you may have to thank a layer, but you can't be sure, next time will probably be different ...

However it is interesting how a destroyer takes the sinking speed of depth charges into account - in the game the charges mostly explode at the same depth as my boat is, even in early years (yes, exterior cam on ... :oops: )

And if a depth charge explodes in deeper water, the resulting radius of the destructive zone or "blast" will be narrower than in shallow waters because of the surrounding higher water pressure - if it certainbly explodes a few centimetres to the hull ... :dead:
I read somewhere that mostly no direct explosions sank your boat, but the shockwave travelling through the water. It would travel right through the hull without damaging it, but it wreaks havoc to the stiffly mounted bolts and unelastic sealings and gaskets. Only the type XXI had some kind of "rafting", separating mechanical parts from the hull with rubbers.

You boat will not sink because of a crushed pressure hull, but because of leaks unable to fix because of the high pressure. Even the pressure hull or bulkheads will mostly not collapse, because the leaking boat will have accomplished even pressure in- and outside before reaching those depths. Modern submarines will develop collapsed bulkheads or hulls due to their stronger design.

Greetings,
Catfish