[Ashikaga]

1. Never save with other ships or aircraft in the vicinity. Range I do not know but I generally ask the 1WO for nearest visual contact and the hydro operator for nearest sound contact. No contacts, I save

2. Never save when in port. I did once try a layover in a French Port and while that seemed to function, I did get a ctd later on.

3. When returned to base and ending your patrol, as soon as you are in the bunker save the game as a "bunker_save_(insert whatever you like here).
Then delete the Autosave_enter_base file (you can do that from your boat when you press escape and then "save game". Only load from your bunker save when starting a new patrol/mission, that way your campaign process is not messed up.

I do a bunker save every time I end a patrol.

4. Never save your game in the patrol area. Finish the objective first. Ie:
Primary objective, patrol cJ7552 radius 200km, 48h, when finished after 48h (tc might help here), you can save. Move your boat out of the radius of the mission area. Same for orders 2 and orders 3, if they are sent by Bdu.

That is about it I think.

Oh yes if you keep your own log via the Ship's log by making entries and not having the clutter of all messages from the message box in there, always end the game by exiting to main menu so your hard work will be saved in the Ship's log.