I have tried through SH2,3,4, and 5 to be as realistic as possible. To date I have not completed any campaign due to the slow pace. Today I us 32x with the automated scripts by Trevally and others. (New UI by DarkWraith) that allows me to let things run knowing a search will be done after each 2 hrs at 32x speed.
I also have a baby monitor set up so I can roam the house and listen to the sounds and hopefully catch the alarm calls before getting sunk. So far so good.
My other method is to run at 1 TC until I get fed up and then zoom ahead for a few minutes before saving and shutting down.
Welcome to the forum, and enjoy the game!