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Originally Posted by finchOU
KDB does work in conjunction with the GHG...but not on the surface. I don't know the specs on the GHG's ability to be used on the surface....tho I would suspect it would be less effective then being deeper....which I dont think is modeled. The KDB is sticking out of the deck (read: above water) while the sub is surfaced (you can see it rotating on forward of the bridge whiled on the surface (should be stowed), while the GHG was a series of microphones build into the side of the boat...under the waterline (on the surface)...hence it's ability to 'hear' while on the surface.
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I don't think the regular GHG had the ability to detect contacts while surfaced. Rössler says the GHG could detect single ships at 20 km and convoys at 100 km with "crude" bearing accuracy. However, when he describes the Balkon Gerat (the improved GHG in balcony arrangement), he says this:
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At the beginning of 1943, an attempt was made with a Type IXC boat to determine whether receivers set lower down would be more effective and whether listening would be possible in a surfaced boat. Initially, the receivers were simply built into the ballast keel, which was made somewhat wider at this point, but subsequently 2 x 24 receivers were collected into a special gondola (balcony) in front of the keel. This arrangement proved extraordinarily successful, and critical bearings could be obtained from all directions with the exception of an angled segment aft of 150-210 deg. (p. 144).
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If my reading is correct, one of the reasons for developing the Balkon Gerat was to allow U-boats to use their hydrophones on the surface. The implication is that the original GHG could not do this.
I have not looked into hydrophones extensively, so if anyone has contradictory information, I would be very interested in it.