Enemy warship& merchant ship visiual range
 

when on patrol; being that the sub is running on the surface most of the time, what is the visual range of the enemy warship or merchant convoy or at what range should you order a dive so you are not spotted?

Depends on many factors. day or night? Dawn or dusk? Fog no fog, light fog. Time of day. Mods or stock game?

I'm using the TMO 2.5 Mod with the RSRD Mod, and I'm doing a night patrol of the Luzon straight. Its my first Patrol in 41.

I give 'em five miles, 10,000 yards. Even then you might be spotted once in a hundred times, but it's pretty safe.

Now, if you wanna get seen at 18.5, and shot at (and hit) by 16k, load up FotRSU... :lol:

let' say best conditions possible, no wind, clam seas, at noon. What would be the maximum distance you could be spotted by escorts? :hmmm: :ping:

6-7 miles in daylight , optimal conditions.

What about at Night???

everything worst than perfect conditions during the day should be less than that and the best way to find that out is playing night missions and just find out :O:

Not putting SH4 down, it's just that if you wanted it, in Silent Hunter (the original SSI / Aegis version), you could have the chief tell you his estimation of the boat's visibility. In other words, he'd say like "I estimate our boat bow-on is visible from approximately 2750 yards. 7200 yards broadside." or something to that effect. I don't remember if that was a text message that scrolled across, or if you had to go into the Captain's Cabin to see it on the weather report... Like LCQ_SH says though, sometimes ya just gotta find out for yourself... You could create some Quick Missions in the Mission Editor, different weather conditions, different times of the night with different moon phases by date, and see what you see, if you see it... or they see you :up: The enemy vessels' crew settings matter too, whether they'd be poor, novice, competent, veteran or elite... the higher their skill level, the better they are at seeing things.

So I was omw to Cam Ranh to intercept IJN landing force heading to Java & Singapur when I spotted the task force almost at noon, no wind, calmed seas. Radar (16 km range) spotted the first escort and at 14.5 km, fireworks started. I don0t know for sure if Feb. 1942 IJN DDs were equipped with radar capable of spotting subs or they could actually were able to see me 14Km away (a tiny conning tower, really?=). :ping:

The questions is if that would have been a radar or visual ID from the IJN? :hmmm:

I'm on TMO_RSRD_OTC (Tokko's) using Ralles mod pack.

I wasn't joking about that earlier. It has happened to me under similar circumstances that you describe. I've been "seen" and shot at ~AT NIGHT~ (spongebob) from the 9200+ range, and hit on the 2nd or 3rd shot from a shore installation, through the conning tower, absolutely ruining my first patrol in early 1942 - no radar. How did they "see" me?... difficulty mod.

I would say what you describe is "normal" for that mod combination. I believe there is a ReadMe in the Tokko's Revenge folder about what's been altered as far as AI goes, but TMO is a "difficulty" mod, with additional "difficulty" mods added in - and not just the Tokko's Revenge part. RSRDC adds in its own little tweaks, and then Bleiente added his own "mix" to the mix... just remember that 14.5 range when it's clear and calm in that mod, and do not push the envelope, as they say. Just track them, plot them, chase them, and then bide your time for an opportunity, which may or may not happen in that area, due to sea depth - or should I say, lack thereof...

Sounds like a visual sighting to me! The Japanese were masters of visual targeting--much better than American ships, especially at night.

You were in perfect conditions for them: no wind, calm seas. Then you can expect trouble. That's a pretty extreme case there! 9 miles is a long ways but barely possible.

TMO 2.5 How about 5km distance submarged, periscope down, rig for silent running, no pinging, pitch black night and few waves and still I can't get any closer to any convoy. Destroyers spotted me from submarged radar probably?

Somebody in the crew sneezed, or else the cook is hammering the pipes with a wrench...

But seriously, more info please. Were you at periscope depth, or maybe attempting to be below the thermal layer? Were you at All Ahead One Third, Silent Running, or slower? Or maybe you were at All Ahead Standard, with the 8-track tape deck blaring away, grooving to the tunes? Another factor would be your "profile". Were you parallel to the enemy, presenting them with your bow (or stern), or more "sideways", lining up for a shot, giving the "listener" a broadside? Did you hear any "pings"?

Sound probably gave you away, and TMO has things like that cranked-up to make it more of a "challenge"...