What do you do if you see enemy aircraft?
 

In one patrol I have my sub at 98% hull integrity. I crippled a small merchant ship and waiting for it to sink, and it is on its way down. Then my watch crew spotted aircraft(s). I didn't see anything, so I simply armed my flak gun. Planes are not difficult to shoot down in the naval academy. I think of it no more as I can't spot them. A little while later, suddenly come a splash and explosion and screaming. Oh I know something isn't right. I lost my flak gunner and my hull integrity come down to 68%, and that would mean I will lose a whole month just to repair to boat. I want stay on patrol as much as possible during happy time. I was really pissed. I drag the lost crew's body into the fore torp room and put up the next cannon fodder to arm the gun. My new gunner eventually shot the 2 swordfish out of the sky.

What do you do if you see enemy aircraft?
What does the flak gunner qualification do? It it worth to upgrade a crewman to a gunner?

Thx

I only engage planes when i have no other choise, in your situation i would have crash dived and continued the wait underwater.

Naturally,it depends on the immediate situation.
Against 1 or more planes you might be able to shoot them down,if you have the twin flak guns.Against more than say 2,I would increase speed to flank and crash dive to about 50m,then as you descend turn towards the plane's last known position.What this will do is give you a good chance to undercut the bomber's run as he comes in.
If the planes are already on you and crash diving is out of the option (due to a fall in speed as you dive) shoot it out with them,and allow them to make their bombing run,trying to also zig zag as they are shooting you.Then as they pass over in front of you immediately bellow "ALAARRRRRM!!" and then make your dive.
I would also recommend staying down until darkness,and if all is clear blow the tanks.
Using this info is probably only useful up to a certain point,as allied aircraft strength increases massively as the war grinds on.
Also,its a good idea to turn on any radar device you have,even Fumo 29,as its intended to detect aircraft.However,having said that,if your course is not facing towards the nearest allied air base then Fumo29 would be a bad idea as it only detects objects to the front and a little to the sides,you are blind everywhere else.I generally use Fumo29 radar during the night and during low visibility,like heavy storms,where it would allow me to still detect things and may also give me SOME cover just in case I was also being tracked by radar.
And probably most important of all,is to have 2 skilled flak gunners and a flak officer to direct them.
You are a wise man indeed to fear planes,they will make your life hell before long!

:ping:

Normally I restart my PC. You must remember that planes very lethal for subs so if you wanna play on realistic level you should avoid fighting with them- but if you cannot submerge safely you must man AA.

Looks like this has been well answered. :up:

Last nite I was rereading Iron Coffins and the Bay of Biscay in the later years was a death zone for uboats.

Even with twin barrel aa guns.

There's even a part about 3 uboats well armed leaveing in a group. BdU thought this a good tactic against air attacks.

WRONG.:D

I've set the option to submerge when aircraft are spotted. Aircraft are just too fast for me to deal with & I don't trust my flak gunner (even if he's been qualified) to handle them either. I used to stand & fight sometimes when I played stock but I won't try that with GWX. I did it once & got very badly beaten up...:o

If I spot the aircraft on time, I crash dive. If they surprise me and I dont have time to dive, I try to shoot him, and as soon as he's above me, dive before he turns back.

With the stock SH3, I manage to do this :D. Once.

@Paul Riley
Regarding the use of the radar, I like to pretend that it's been thrown overboard, because turning it on will attract all RAF and Royal Navy directly at you. :)

I dive if at all possible. Although I must admit, with my new pair of dual rapid 20s, and my quad 20, I am feeling rather tempted to try them at least once. Maybe on the way home sometime.

Well,as soon as I run into problems with the radar maybe I will do the same,and lob it in the sea.As I say,I dont use it during daylight hours and when vis. is good.

Thanks for the tip anyhow. :rotfl:

Do planes fly and find you in heavy storms? That would seem odd.

I am still in 1940 ATM so i dont know yet :)

Dive.....every time. A punctured pressure vessel is no longer a submarine.

Obviously flack qualifications increase the accuracy of your gunners.

I concur with jimbuna. Dive as soon as you get the warning "aircraft spotted". Aircraft are worth very little renown in return for the serious damage thay can do to you. Even in 1939-40, when they tend to be Ansons, Swordfish or Hurricanes (GWX) you only have the slow firing, single, C/30 20mm, plus the even slower-fiing 37mm on IX's. It's not enough. By the time the Kriegsmarine flak had caught-up, Coastal Command had moved ahead several notches...

"Dive, dive, dive..!" Discretion is the better part of valour. You don't have to "crash dive" all the time. That can be a little embarrassing, especially in the North Sea or just off the coast of France. Keep the 'shallow depth meter' up while surfaced and go to 'ahead flank' (F5 IIRC) and select 25 metres to start with, and take it from there. You'll get down almost as fast as a 'CD' and without the risk of 'bottoming-out'.

I think bad weather prevents planes early on,but I think as radar improved and with the addition of the leigh light then maybe that allowed planes to find a uboat in such conditions.I may be wrong.

Shat your pants and hope for the best as you crash dive.

:rotfl: Steed! Well said!

For me:

"Fluegzeug geschistet!"

"ALAAAAAAARRRRRMMMMM!"

I keep mine set for 'Maintain Current Orders', but only because I can hit the 'C' key a lot faster than the AI will take it down on a normal dive. I've expressed the wish in the past that 'Crash Dive' was one of the options.