Quote:
Originally Posted by Gargamel
While the VIIb and up was regarded as very nimble and effecient boat, the IX's were, at least in Donitz's mind, a very cumbersome, akward boat. In game though, I feel while they may maneuver a little slower, the extra ammo and fuel is a huge bonus.
Just stack up the renown, and when you can afford one without killing your renown total (you'll want to outfit the new boat!), pick one up. 10k+ should do it. You should earn plenty in time for Drumbeat.
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Donitz did eventually see the major value in the type IX's with Drumbeat. Most captains would return home with 40,000-60,000 tons per patrol; granted you are at sea for almost 3 months sometimes. VII's are like a P-51 without a drop tank. It's very effective within its operating range, but w/o the drop tank (or in this case larger fuel tanks) it can only go so far before it has no choice to turn back regardless of what potential targets it could line up. With the VII's being quicker and nimble the could potentially do 2 patrols in the same amount of time it took for a single IX.
IX's were notorious for sinking tankers or large freighters, they might not sink as many ships per patrol as a VII but the tonnage would be significantly higher. After ASW got up to full speed evasion with a IX was much more difficult than a VII. Just them being wider was enough that they were easier targets to pick up with active sonar. When you take into account planes it makes transfering torpedoes from their cannisters to the torpedo rooms a much more intense and stressful operation.