question for experienced IX Kaleuns
 

I've got the renown saved that I can go to an IX Uboot, and it seems like with the increased speed and loadout there are only advantages to going to a type IX. Are there any drawbacks?

Hi mate! it has longer diving times,and are a bit more sluggish that the smaller VII boats.. But the long range & loadout compensates for that!

The Type IX dives like an old man with arthritis settling into a tub of cold jello. Other than that....

If you haven't done it yet try it for sure. What's the worst that could happen?

:hmm:

Cons:
Slower dive time.
Slightly less manuverable underwater.
Slighly less underwater endurance.

Pros:
Faster surface speed
More torpedo load
Greater range allowing you to reach distant places. (some of which can be quite lucrative)


Uses:
The type 9 was designed primarly as a solitary hunter operating in remote waters. It is not a boat meant to use in wolfpack operations (IE, North atlantic). Its greatest assets are being able to reach distant waters and be able to operate there for a reasonable length of time.

:o

Umm...thats a way of puttin' it I guess!

:rotfl:

Another drawback, and a huge one for me, is that the IX makes it incredibly difficult to raid ports, just like the XXI.

And since GWX has some amazingly lucrative ports, this is a major con for me.

After 8 profitable patrols in a VIIB, got killed on 3rd patrol in a IXB :nope:
Still, got a new life, again in a IXB. Some people never learn :88)

And yeah, the IX boats settle like warm goulash on a lazy afternoon.

Hogwash.

http://www.ducimus.net/sh3/u-196/p1-9.jpg
That's Durban harbor with a liner the the background in that picture BTW. Go find that on the map, your not gonna get there in a type7.

Seriously, while the type 9 turns slower then a type7 underwater, its NOWHERE near as bad as a type21.

The IX is wonderful. Long patrols. Plenty of torps. I did not like it at first but after you keep finding more torpedos to load stuck in her bilge and ships are sinking around you one after the other, you love it!

I never had problems,I personally think it's ideal for harbour raids.

Is it possible to raid harbors in unmodded SH3?

Nope. Almost every harbour is empty. I think NY might have some ships but I don't really remember.

As a minor historical point of interest, isn't the problem with sinking them in harbor that they can be raised and eventually repaired? How does that fit into Doenitzes tonnagewar? Should one prefer to sink them outside the harbor where they cannot be dredged, or do the enemy use more resources raising the hull etc. from the harbor than they would fabricating the ship from new parts?

I honestly don't know enough about shipbuilding etc. in those days for an answer, but I do know some sunken BBs from Pearl Harbor were raised to fight, as well as the Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier, which the Soviets raised and refloated in 1946.

I'm not an expert but I think it's all about money and time. If a ship has received so much damage that will cost a fortune to raise it and a huge amount of time to fix it, then there is no point really. You just raise it (to unblock the harbour), you scrap it and use the metal to make a new one.