I have had some success with grounding the boat on the sea floor. SH3 will not recognize the tactical advantage of doing this though so it is pointless.
the trick to grounding the boat and sustaining minimal damage is to slow the boat to an absolute stop about 20 meters above the sea floor.
once you are absolutely still, press the "D" key to order a dive.
the boat will slowly settle to the bottom. you may still suffer damage, but it will not be near as much as when you are moving, or closing on the sea floor at a higher sink rate.
I know your new, and you have read about how some skippers had success with this in real life... but i can assure you, SH3 was never programmed by Ubi to simulate any tactical advantage to practicing this tactic.
good luck out there!
