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Hooston · 07-05-23, 05:56 PM

There;s an old RN training film on ASDIC here. It's not very exciting but shows how it was used (in 1943).
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qjuo7

I've found a good overview of escort tactics here:
https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/fil...317/408475.pdf

The passive side of the ASDIC system was sometimes used to detect submarines, but the performance seems to have been poor compared to the Uboat equipment. The allies never achieved an instant "detect+direction find" system like they did with their HF radio detectors and I think you would need a continuously noisy uboat and a slow moving escort for it to work. I'd be interested in more information on this.

The escort positions around the convoy were designed based on the capabilities of ASDIC in its active mode, and I think most convoy escorts pinged more or less continually. The operator would need to sweep manually when searching, so a uboat would only hear a couple of pings every minute or so as the operator swept the system past the uboat's direction. Once a target was detected the operator would "lock on" and the pings would be continuous. Some US systems were ultrasonic and were perceived as a rattle noise rather than a ping.
So does SH3 model this correctly? I don't think so. However the perception from the uboat is probably not so bad - you only hear continuous pings when you are very likely to be detected. Also the reluctance of the escorts to ping sort of simulates the various problems ASDIC had (I'm thinking of HMS Jervis at the sinking of HMS Barham). I'm of the opinion that the game is irretrievably broken but somehow works if you don't look under the hood.

07-05-23, 05:56 PM	#2
Hooston 中国水兵 Join Date: Jun 2020 Posts: 282 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	How can something so wrong be so right? There;s an old RN training film on ASDIC here. It's not very exciting but shows how it was used (in 1943). https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qjuo7 I've found a good overview of escort tactics here: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/fil...317/408475.pdf The passive side of the ASDIC system was sometimes used to detect submarines, but the performance seems to have been poor compared to the Uboat equipment. The allies never achieved an instant "detect+direction find" system like they did with their HF radio detectors and I think you would need a continuously noisy uboat and a slow moving escort for it to work. I'd be interested in more information on this. The escort positions around the convoy were designed based on the capabilities of ASDIC in its active mode, and I think most convoy escorts pinged more or less continually. The operator would need to sweep manually when searching, so a uboat would only hear a couple of pings every minute or so as the operator swept the system past the uboat's direction. Once a target was detected the operator would "lock on" and the pings would be continuous. Some US systems were ultrasonic and were perceived as a rattle noise rather than a ping. So does SH3 model this correctly? I don't think so. However the perception from the uboat is probably not so bad - you only hear continuous pings when you are very likely to be detected. Also the reluctance of the escorts to ping sort of simulates the various problems ASDIC had (I'm thinking of HMS Jervis at the sinking of HMS Barham). I'm of the opinion that the game is irretrievably broken but somehow works if you don't look under the hood.