External tubes and weather
 

Are the external reserves really mounted on the outside of the hull, and when they are needed they are somehow loaded into the interior of the sub? Just wondering as in vanilla SH3 we can't man the guns due to bad weather, but the crew will run outside to reload from those externally loaded fish.

I'm wondering about that, too. I've always had this absurd and comical image of the crew trying to manhandle the torpedo down the conning tower hatches:lol:.

lmao yeah in high seas, i can see how that could be seen as funny

You are correct on all counts - calm seas are actually needed more so than they are with the deck gun. At least with the deck gun, the ammo hatch can be closed in short order and you can bail. With a torpedo half into a loading hatch, just spotting a rogue wave would be cause for mild panic - warm up the pumps ! Diving away from aircraft is no longer an option either...

I limit myself to calm seas and slow speeds for loading externals. I often return to port without loading them, they are more risk than they are worth in my estimation.

It only takes about an hour and if you are worried about airplanes do it at night.
As for not being worth it I guess you never took an IX boat accross the Atlantic. When you meet those unescorted tankers across your bow trust me you will have a different opinion of external torpedoes.

I would agree with you Immelman, but I think U-bones, by the tone of his post, plays a historically acurate game which is rather different to you and I.

The external reserve torpedoes are in a special 'well' under the deck. A small crane is rigged to take them out of the well. They are placed into the boat via a specialized torpedo loading hatch.
http://img64.imageshack.us/my.php?im...itled317dz.jpg
http://img64.imageshack.us/my.php?im...itled322pp.jpg
These pictures were taken in port, so of course they are being loaded using a larger shoreside crane, but you can see the hatch clearly.

Radar=No night. And yes, I have been across the pond, it just didn't make me greedy, my crew and boat still come first. There will always be more targets. Thats just how I play, nothing wrong with your way either.

I am sorry I ment no offense U-bones. There is no right way to play only what you enjoy most. I like to think myself as a carefull skipper too. But no matter which kind you are (carefull or gun ho) until you get snorkel you must surface to recharge anyway so why not reload from externals? With a green crew you can do it in 65 minutes with a more experienced crew even faster. You have ot stay up longer then that to recharge. And yes they can still attack with radar at night time and you are stuck on the surface but it is a calculated risk the odds are slim.

No offense taken ;) As a skipper, you would without a doubt be promoted faster, and achieve more. And I would be proud, even after I heard of your untimely demise, and hoisted many beers in your honor !

LOL :rotfl: you are probably right I can't resist a calculated risk and the truth is they don't always pan out... But when they do!!! :arrgh!:

Tell tou what I shall keep track of my newest career and we will see how it goes I am in the middle of my second patrol. I'll keep you posted. I am using the vaunted NYGM for the second time lets see how I fair.

P.S. Learned alot of valuable lessons my 1st go with NYGM I am sure I have more to learn but os far I am off to a great start!

Well if it wasn't historic to have external tubes why did they include them in the sim? :hmm: The real boats, at least the type IX did use them as in the remote areas they operated in, it was not a huge risk to heave to during good weather and bring the torps below. I "think" a lot of boats stopped carrying them later in the war just because they were too risky to bring below. Another thing to consider is refueling and especially taking on torpedos from a milch cow would have been just as risky if not more so. Fortunately in the game we never have to worry about being attacked from air or sea when we meet up with resupply u-boats. In fact little did the KM know it was actually more risky as the Allies through ULTRA cracks eventually found and sunk all the milch cows.

External reloads were abandoned due to the high risk of the containers being damaged during depth charge attack. They would fill with water and unbalance the sub, possibly to the extent that control would not be regained and the sub would be lost. They were kept on the long range boats who were going to areas thought to have less anti-sub measures.

I can't remember off-hand when this was done, 1943 or 1944.