Like everyone says, Scapa Flow is very shallow. Once you get past the shore batteries (assuming you are approaching the harbor), one or two meters make a difference in whether you are scraping the bottom or not. You cannot rely on the simple dive and periscope depth commands as you have a high chance of bottoming your boat.
Scapa Flow is heavily defended with competent destroyers with good sonar. Here are some tips to get through.
1. Order Silent Running
(this kind of goes without saying)
2. NEVER go faster than Ahead Slow/Kleine Fahrt Voraus
(If you have not been detected or pinged, you can risk Ahead 1/3 IF you turn on your grammophone beforehand to confuse the destroyers. The other advantage is you have roughly 8-9 hours of charge on the batteries at this slow a speed versus 30 minutes at Ahead Flank.)
3. Keep an eye on your crew and rotate out fatigued crewmembers.
(Tired crewmembers, the ones with red exclamation points next to them, make noise. One tired crewman can mark your boat. Believe me.)
4. Keep your periscopes down. Raise them only if you need to.
I have run through Scapa Flow in most of the game's boats ( I refuse to use Type IIs) Following these tips should help you out.
|