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Originally Posted by Pumbaa
and why on earth I would want active sonar if I dont have too much to worry about enemy subs?:hmm:
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never actually used it, but I would say that this allows you to get complete TDC data for a submerged attack under periscope level. The most stealthier attack you can wish for, except for the emissions you are forced to send in order to get the needed data for an accurate shot.
With each sonar "ping" you will have a bearing,and you have a range. with the 3.15 minute rule or any of its variants, you will have speed, heading and AoB too. With just two pings. Those are all variables you need for an accurate manual TDC firing solution. And as you can open tube doors at depths under 20m, you can do it at, say, 19 metres, which gives you a nice head start for going deep after you fire the salvo at your target and so increase your chances of avoiding detection by escorts. You never use periscope either, and as scopes can be detected by radar (and this is very likely as the war goes on with centimeter wavelenght radars), that means you won't be detected this way either.
In type XXI with torpedo launches possible at much deeper depths, its even more useful.
Of course active sonar is that, active. There's a chance you give away your position by doing this. But as I see it the more latewar it is, the more likely is that they will spot your periscope with much more ease than a couple of single pings. If you know how to set manual TDCs up, this can give you an efficiency boost you wouldn't have otherwise.
I repeat that I have never actually used sonar in-game (mostly because I never reached that far in my campaigns, and also because I SUCK at manual TDC), but far for being worthless, it gives a world of advantages, at least as I see it.
Radar, on the other hand, is something I'll never fit on my submarine. Even fitting the 360º set it's suicide, IMHO (at least if you use it, and if you aren't going to use it why would you mount it on?).
That thing does send a continuous stream of E/M emissions and the allies have RWR sets, so a radar emmitting u-boat is broadcasting to everyone nearby that there's an u-boat in the neighborhood, and the general direction of it. If more than one allied escort picks the emission's signal (which is a highly likely event), they will triangulate it and then you will be broadcasting not only your presence and bearing, but also your position with a few meters of error.
Sailing with that thing switched on is sailing with a homing beacon which says "KILL ME", in capital neon-light letters. As someone else said, hydrophone detection its way better, if only because it's a passive detection tool and won't ever give your position away.