What's this hole in the conning tower for?
 

I recently upgraded to VIIB and I noticed this big hole in the side of the conning tower. Anyone know what it's for? Is it a cupholder for my large soda? :haha:

https://i.imgur.com/jkqn7Ui.jpg

I believe for the biscay cross radar detector? I believe.

radar detector i would say but the biscay cross was made out of wood and had to be rotated by hand but we are talking about a sub game from ubi but you found my beer cache so have to find another hiding spot

Nope!

Quote:

This rudimentary antenna, known as the Biscay Cross consisted of two pieces of wood tied together into a cross, with wires wrapped around where it had to be carried through the hatch every time the boat surfaced or dived. It was installed into a bracket on the conning tower and periodically the position had to be rotated by hand. The operator would constantly tune in across the frequency band and the device generated an audible warning which was broadcasted on the boat’s loudspeakers when signals were detected in the coverage band. Metox however could not differentiate between radar and non-radar signals, neither could it provide the bearing of the source of transmission.

.http://uboataces.com/images/biscay_cross.jpg the later wanze and naxos radar detection circular mesh antennas on retractable watertight rotating poles, controlled by the radio room, look to fit that port conning tower aperture, which on later uboats, was/ became a large narrow rectangle to accommodate a large rectagular retractable radar screen. Neither of the radar detectors gave ample warning in any case. I'm still trying to find decent pic and any literature on the topic...sucks too! Here's the only one aboard U-952 port con tower>https://i.pinimg.com/564x/09/b1/6e/0...aaba1e1454.jpg The 'Bali' FuMb 5 carried aboard U-505 was
omnidirectional and fixed to the portside con> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tenne_Bali.jpg as opposed to the standard U-boat radio direction finder(ring) retracted in it's customary starboard aperturehttps://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...submarines.jpg And this shot of a captured Uboat and several advanced radar detectors (with radio direction raised & Naxos to the left) is a reflection of the German continual dissatisfaction with radar detection which basically was poor against 10 centimeter equipped B-24 Liberator!https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...is_antenna.jpg

The radar detector? Ah, that could be it, because it's June 1940 in my campaign and I don't have the radar detector yet.

Funny, I did a search for VIIB conning towers and found that same picture which seemed to be in the location in question, but wasn't sure what the device was.

the better wizard won the war
 

I thought it was weird to have a hole for the Naxos since it's not even available yet in June 1940, but I found another clue as to what this is when I dove to periscope depth and looked at it:

https://i.imgur.com/0E95gv0.jpg

Appears to be some kind of radio antenna that extends when you dive and retracts when you surface.

ALL I see is: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/vB...-no?authuser=1 on both of your posts

Thanks so much for letting me know! I had no idea my image hosting wasn't working for anyone except me (because I was logged in). Anyway, I've set up an Imgur account and edited the screenshots above so they should be visible now.

BETTER! now show it with the antenna raised?? My old eyes cannot see anything! Meanwhile traveling back in time I found this required reading!:yeah: http://www.silenthunter.cz/tgw/Manual_V3.0_Final.pdf Sections A5--A15... all in one site location!:Kaleun_Thumbs_Up: And you're right about the naxos, I mislabelled the U-952 antenna: it also is the 'Bali"...

Haha, sorry, I know it's hard to see due to the murky water and the image compression. I've circled it here, but it basically looks like a thin straight antenna like you'd see on a car in the 80s/90s:

https://i.imgur.com/RsRaMeB.jpg

As I'm finding out, pictures of these German antennas and detectors are rare!

Top-secret hush-hush, we'd-have-to-kill-you kind of stuff most likely wiped-out by the sensors - er censors :roll: (sorry, won't happen again, until the next time) back then. Look at most of the US sub pics from then, and they "erased" the radars usually from the pics. Finding info on Japanese subs is even more difficult. :salute:

That would be a cool upgrade. Aha, there we go! The antenna circled in green is what seems to pop out of the hole when submerged, although it's in a different location on the conning tower:

https://i.imgur.com/a9ocwOi.jpg

I think you're right. Probably an improved radio antenna for communicating when submerged.