Uboats in the Suez Canal - late 1942
 

After being told the Suez Canal was controlled by the British in late 1942... I just had to try and sneak through. I refueled at Messina and then entered the canal at port Said around 16:40 and arrived at the Red Sea 3 days later. Picked up multiple radar warnings by Port Said - but the canal itself was thankfully empty all the way down to As Suways and the Gulf of Suez.

http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/suez1.jpg

I ran wide open - 17 knots - all the way down to the Gulf of Suez. Making the transit at night proved a smart choice as I did not have to worry about finding any undiscovered shore emplacements. The Great Bitter lake passed without any sightseeing at all.

http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/suez2.jpg

When I came out into the Gulf of Suez by As Suways I picked up several merchants docked at the port... but decided not to make a ruckus... and it was a good thing too because the north end of the Gulf of Suez turned out to be thoroughly patrolled by Elco torpedo boats and armed trawlers. Transit time for the canal itself was just under 8 hours at 17 knots.

http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/suez3.jpg
http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/suez4.jpg

The canal itself and the Gulf of Suez were mostly empty... with the exception of several troublesome fishing boats and armed trawlers as I got closer to the Red Sea. But then once in the Red Sea there was nothing but open water to the Gulf of Aden.

http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/suez5.jpg
http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/suez6.jpg

I left St. Nazaire in the wee hours of October 7 1942... and arrived in Penang on November 15, 1942 - with only 4% fuel remaining. Running wide open as often as possible to transit the canal ate up a lot of fuel. I am not sure I would want to make it a regular route... methinks luck and good karma played a large hand in my completing the transit safely. But anyway... there ya go - it can be done.

Your turn, Ivank! :smug:

Nice report, it seems like an exciting trip.

But I'm a bit disappointed that "someone" isn't using my German map labels mod :D.

Then you should have said - 'Ich bin ein bisschen enttäuscht', I suppose :D
I play German language version by myself for better immercion. Btw, where can I find this mod?

Congrats Akula! Now if you can transverse the Panama Canal on your way back to the Vaterland, you get the coveted Iron Cross with crossed sluice gates. :salute:

Im interested in your german map labels mod :D where can i download it from mate? cheers

Ich würde es auch mögen. Bitte. Danke.

My dear friend, Big E... I made the Suez Canal trip using my OM "testbed" installation and not my "regular" OM install. Your German map labels mod is a core ingredient of my primary OM install and to be honest... I have no idea how I survived so long without it. It is only through my own laziness and neglect I have failed to add the delightful German map labels mod to my testbed iteration. I can only beg your humble forgiveness for being so inept and unthoughtful... :oops:

Big E's fantastic German Map label mod can be found here... and might I say it is truly the cat's meow when it comes to adding a deeper sense of immersion to the game:

Download:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=1372

etheberge's release post:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=156896

WoO-HOo! Once I have the coveted Iron Cross with crossed sluice gates in my possession... all the frauleins will swoon with sensual delight whenever I walk into the room... oh boy, Panama Canal here I come!!

http://www.jimdeadman.com/images/beerbabes.jpg

Wow! :o looks like soon you'll be exploring...um..uhh...your way into five new...uh..umm...varieties of beer! Yeah, that's it. Beer. Don't forget to post the maps for these. :D

It would be the first trip around the world in Silent Hunter :arrgh!:

No I have done it with one of my ocean liners... it is very boring, not having guns.

LOL Yeah... but did you go thru the Panama Canal? :hmmm:

Akula,

How shallow was the canal? Was it even possible to submerge if you'd come under shore battery fire?

I'm a daring sub captain, but that seems beyond my acceptable risk. I salute your intestinal fortitude!

:salute:

no around it,

You are far too kind, good sir... whats the old saying? "Only fools rush in where angels fear to tread" (? - anyway something like that). The canal itself was seriously shallow and I doubt I could have submerged completely even in the deepest of spots. In places I would have sworn I was kicking up mud because of the way the boat reacted... I tried to check the depth with the external camera a time or two when I felt like I was dragging bottom... but it was such a dark night I could not see my hand in front of my face underwater - which thankfully also created great cover for me.

However once you got into the Gulf of Suez there was 30 +/- feet of water to hide in. Quite truthfully if it had not been for perfect timing as far as darkness and good choices on my part... I definitely would have been toast a couple of times with the Elco boats and armed trawlers which were patrolling the north end of the Gulf of Suez - by the south exit of the canal. I obviously had good luck... one of the Elco boats was patrolling back and forth E to W slowly working his way south (ESE > WSW > ESE > etc) and good fortune smiled on me as I found myself in a perfect spot to slip past him as he started working his way back up the Gulf... and a light fog in the southern end of the Red Sea didn't hurt my feelings either.

I had several distant warship warnings in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden... but never made visual contact with anything but the Elco boats and armed trawlers just below the south end of the canal.


Well I guess if we can go through the Suez Canal... it would only seem logical the same is true of the Panama Canal too.

Suez is possible, but panama.. :hmmm: :haha:

http://www.panamacruise.com.pa/image...sssections.jpg