The Unfinished Patrol
 

Hello friends: In my first experiences with Silent Hunter, after testing the SH3 reloaded with numerous mods that improve it noticeably, I am testing SH4. This version is obviously dedicated to the US Navy submarines, but curiously the game screen also says "Uboats Missions" and an image of a Type IX Uboat appears. Actually the SH4 brings a single mission from the Kriegsmarine, although there is a mod that adds some more and also some patrols. One of them caught my attention because of the difference: "Agent Insertion", in which an agent of the axis had to be transferred from the port of Singapore to the vicinity of Fremantle in Australia. The route from Singapore through the strait of the same name, and through the Java Sea to go out to the ocean between it and Sumatra, was very quiet since it was an area populated by Japanese bases. I searched the map for the deepest waters I could find, in case I had to submerge, and in fact that was as a precautionary measure since my mission was to go unnoticed until I reached my destination. It was not easy, submerged at periscope depth the rocks on the bottom caressed the belly of the submarine. Finally in open water and leaving behind the dominions of the rising sun, there were some distant crossings with convoys and warships, who knows which side. Sailing on the surface at night, or in bad weather, and submerged during the day, I finally reached the Australian coast. My plan was to get as close to land as possible, avoiding shallow waters, to drop our agent no more than a mile from shore. I expected to see the lights of Fremantle in the distance, and guide myself through them to find a less crowded place to emerge, but in my periscope I only saw a deserted shoreline with palm trees and some vegetation. Was I wrong and came to the Fiji Islands? But the cards do not lie and that is the Fremantle coast, if the city is not there it is not my fault, orders are orders and I went to the surface for the agent to do the rest of the way rowing in a rubber boat. I turned the sub around and sped out onto the open sea while radiating my situation. He expected to receive a message saying, "Well done Commander, mission accomplished." But the response was always the same to the last messages sent: "Continue with the mission and keep radio silence for two hours." Having completed the mission entrusted, and with my supply of torpedoes intact, I was supposed to receive new orders. Finally I got tired and left the patrol, a laconic message on the screen read: "The mission was not accomplished." Hahahaha, after so much effort I laugh so as not to cry.

I have to ask...Did you get the "pop up" message to insert or did you just "insert" when you thought you were close enough?

This is a common error for a lot of players that haven't performed the insertion mission(s) before. You'll only get the "pop up" option message if all the conditions have been satisfied.... Being close enough, surfacing, slowing to very slow, etc. Occasionally, you even have to resubmerge and resurface to trigger the message. Not sure, but submerged might mean 40 feet or more or the equivalent in meters which gets kinda dicey in very shallow waters.

Hello Gray Lensman!
 

I didn't know that I had to get that final message to insert the agent. Now let me explain why the patrol ended so badly, having complied with the orders. I downloaded a mod that supposedly makes the Fremantle naval base appear, I don't know if the city too. Now that you give me this valuable information, I am tempted to try again and see if this time it suits me better. I want to assume that at the end of my mission, I will be assigned another task since I am with the torpedo load intact. Thank you very much for your advice, every day I learn something new! Greetings!

Glad to be of help. By the way, there's also an insert supplies mission which I assume might also have the pop-up message. I've never been assigned this mission however.

It does have a pop up message as well.