[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by RickR

3. SSS? What’s ‘SSS’? I know what SOS is but SSS? Getting it on the radio…perhaps that's just static?

Those messages are for immersion only, but they are actual messages sent by stricken ships during the war. 'SSS' means "I have been attacked by a submarine"

During the Second World War, additional codes were employed to include immediate details about attacks by enemy vessels, especially in the Battle of the Atlantic. The signal SSS signalled attacked by submarines, whilst RRR warned of an attack by a surface raider, QQQ warned of an unknown raider (usually an auxiliary cruiser), and AAA indicated an attack by aircraft. They were usually sent in conjunction with the SOS distress code. All of these codes later switched from three repeats of the letter to four repeats ("RRRR", etc.).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS

Are there really Allied (enemy) subs modeled in the GWX? Has anyone seen or sunk one? (Got a radio message about one…)

I haven't, but several folks have posted pictures of British 'S' class submarines.

I recently ran aground in trying to sneak in a port. Scared the heck out of me! The ping from ‘Depth under keel’ command is about the only way to truly determine depth but I’m afraid to use it as broadcasts my location. What does one do? Always stay in deep water?

In the real war there were only two harbor raids by u-boats. Some players do them for fun. I pretend my life is really on the line, and I stay away from things like harbors, English Channels, and other places where there's nowhere to hide

Reference #5, in a crash dive (70 meters at Flank) won’t I smash into sea floor if and possible end my career if water is too shallow? Back to pinging again? I found the depth related coloring of map not very accurate in places.

Go to flank speed. Order 20 meters. It's the next best thing, and pretty fast in a pinch.

I think I got a distress call (SSS?) but gave location (Lat/Long) in degrees and minutes…how do I convert that to something I can find on my map?

As said, those are real calls included for immersion only. There's nothing there anyway. SH4 has latitude and longitude lines, plus KM grids if you're playing the u-boat version. SH3 doesn't.

I sank a neutral by mistake…sure wish we had those star shells of old SH3… then almost sank myself trying to confirm a contact ‘neutral or enemy’ in bad seas ~100 meters away… Is there any sure way to determine enemy or neutral from a distance? I’m afraid they will court martial me next time!

No court martial, in the game or in real life. In real life neutrals were off limits, but if they were in a convoy they were fair game. A couple of German captains accidentally sank their own ships. A subsequent court martial showed that in every case the German merchant was outside of its designated area, and disguised as an Allied ship to boot.

In the game, you lose the same amount of renown for sinking one that you would gain if it was an enemy, and ten times that if you sink a friendly. I went into Data/Cfg/Basic and edited mine so if I sink a neutral it gives me zero renown, and if I sink an enemy it gives me -1 rather than -10. This way I don't get hurt by sinking a neutral, but I don't get credit for it either.

Also the stock game has no lighted ships. Many are included in GWX, but by no means all. Just because it's not lit up doesn't mean it's an enemy. Always check the flag if you can.