First off it is nice to see another SH3 commander operating in the late war period. I find it far more of a challange to sink 10,000 tons and survive in 1944 than 100,000 tons in 1940 using GWX but to each his own.
RoaldLarson wrote:
Quote:
|
How much data does Randomizer have to go on? I have run about 40 patrols in snorkel-equipped subs. I'd have to say that detections per unit of time snorkeling is between 75% - 90% of encounters per unit of time surfaced. ("Encounter": my crew sees aircraft; "detection": aircraft attacks me) Given that about 10% of surfaced encounters do not involve the aircraft actually detecting the sub, that means the detections of snorkeling subs occur about 85% - 100% as frequenty as detections of surfaced subs. Tarnmatte can reduce the detections by about 10%, but it wasn't commonly available on operational u-boats.
|
I have 25 or 30 late war patrols, all except one were in the shallows of Western Approaches, the North or South Channel, Irish Sea or Western English Channel areas. To be honest I have zero interest in collecting SH3 statistics but consider that my overall success and loss rate after August 1944 compares very favourably with that of the actual inshore U-Boat operations as related by V.E. Tarrant (who uses Rohwer's numbers).
While snorkelling I have frequently spotted aircraft and not been attacked as well as often being attacked by aircraft that were never spotted, both entirely reasonable events. My subjective experiance to date indicates that snorting is best done for short periods when visibility is at its best, allowing the periscope watch a better opportunity to spot non-radar equipped aircraft often found over coastal waters. If the mast-mounted radar detectors detect a signal it's time to vanish and become a hole in the water. Snorkelling in the presence of a known enemy is foolhardy and doing so generally results in a well deserved virtual death and the loss of another boat.
The figure of 3 kts for submerged transits will usually result in a daily run of 70-100 nm, about what was expected of a Type VII snorkel boat according to the few anecdotal accounts from late-war patrols.
My experiance has been that the snorkelling system in SH3 GWX is not as broken as some around here insist but it is not worthy of an arguement.
Late war patrols in the shallows around the UK are tough. Expect few victories and an excellent chance of being sunk but that is what makes them a challange. Historically many of the U-Boats that actually managed to sink something during the inshore campaign were lost soon after and in my opinion SH3/GWX reflects this nasty reality pretty well.
************************************************** ***
Insert any profound and probably apocryphal quote by some dead guy here.