Limited Fuel
 

Just added a new challange for myself by playn with Limited Fuel selected. I made it to my asigned patrol area ( BF 17 ) from Wiliamhaven with lots of fuel to spare accorden to the fuel gage , if I'm readn it rite. Infact its hardly moved. Now the Navigator's report clames I have 4000+ km's of range left. I been cruzn about 7kts and have been submerged here and there asto use batteries and comserve fuel. Any suggestions on inputs are welcome. THANX

The best procedure for long range cruise performance in the type VII is to set the speed to 8 - 9 knots.

This should yield the longest range and best fuel economy.

The best way to get an accurate measure of your remaining range is to set time compression to about 512x and ask the navigator to report the remaining range about every 2 or 3 seconds until you have 4 or 5 reports.

you can do the math by pencil and paper or just guess at an average of the 4 or 5 numbers. this average is your best estimate.

usually his first estimate is in error by a large margin, so it is best to ask for 4 or 5.

If you are in any kind of rough sea, this will affect the reported range substantially.

hope this information helps! :salute:

I don't think running on electric to conserve diesel fuel will do any good since you have to use the diesel engines to recharge the electrics.

Did you submerge before asking Mr. Navigator for your sub range?

Actualy no I didn't

This is a true statement.....:up:

There's a fuel economy mod on the link below my sig - it replaces the '2' speed setting with the most economical speed for your u-boat.

I find 7 knots to be ideal in my type VII to go most anywhere but if Im staying around England ahead standard works just fine even going around the top of her to the Rockall bank area.

I usually use Standard speed to get to where I want to go then 1/3 speed to patrol. SHIII does not simulate supplies on the boat and most type VII usually were out on patrol for 4 to 6 weeks despite how much fuel remained. A lot even came back with all there eels still on board.
:)

Does anybody know what the average time per patrol per sub type per year? Also the average time at sea or number patrols until being destroyed or retired per sub type per year?

I had compiled this information quite a while back using patrol history of a couple of the U-boat Aces in a type VII U-Boat. I had determined that the average for a Type VII was anywhere from 2.5 - 4 weeks

so you should expect to spend about a month out at sea.

if you launch out of a french base for a short patrol around the channel... considerably less than a month

also... ill mention that the number of patrols before death or retirement varied greatly, however 8 to 12 patrols seems to be a fair number.

Thanks, GR

Could you please expand on this a bit. Why does 512x TC improve the estimates? I have been getting estimates at 1x TC thinking they were close to accurate.

Also, my navigator advises me that we get much better range at 3kts than we do at 7kts. Does range jump higher at 8-9kts from what it is at 7kts or is do I need to replace my navigator when I get back to port?

it improves the estimates because you get multiple estimates over a longer period of time versus getting the same number of estimates over a period of a minute or two.

here is why.

your navigator will give you the estimate at the current speed... not what you have ordered.

so for example - if your bow is burying itself into a roller when you give the order to report range, and at the exact same time your speed is dropping due to hitting head first into the wave... your navigator is giving you an estimate based on that speed... not what you have ordered.

i have seen as much as a 50% margin or error in his estimates because of rough weather.

he once told me something like 6,000 KM and in the very next report some minutes later told me 11,000 Km (give or take)

so getting multiple reports spread out over the span of say 30 minutes to an hour in game is the best practice IMHO.

my process is to order the 4 or 5 estimates over the span of an hour.

then i will average them and subtract 1,000 km

this will give me an estimate with a 1,000 km reserve

Thanks. Good explanation.

What about the my navigator, though? Is he incorrect in advising me that I get better range at 3kts?