[DasLimpet]

Let me begin by saying that this is my first post, and I'm really thrilled to have found such an ardent group of fellow simmers.

I finally ponied up and bought a new comp capable of running of SH4 (damn game has been sitting in the box for over a year... my old Gateway couldn't handle it).

Over the last week, I've been playing stock SH4 (I'm not savvy enough with addons). I tried playing the American campaign, 1941, based at Pearl Harbor. My first mission was to drop a spy off on the Japanese mainland. I chose a Tambor class submarine, because it was the newest fleet sub at the time.

Here's where the problem begins. I was chugging right along, diving during the day and surfacing at night, running at Standard speed (optimum for speed vs range, I believe). By the time I reached the mission area and dropped off the agent, I checked my fuel; lo and behold, I'm barely at 1/4!!

I try to head back home since I'm new to the game, I wasn't sure (and still don't know) if I can fire off a mayday for a resupply, but I got sunk by Japanese aircraft before I ran out of fuel.

I've tried the U-Boat Expansion and had a blast. Just for the heck of it, I sailed all the way from Singapore to San Diego and raised hell in the middle of the harbor and had ample fuel to get back and refit before proceeding with my missions.

Here are my questions:

1. In the Tambor class, I was running at Standard speed on the surface until I got a full battery charge and dived until I was at 10% before resurfacing to maximize fuel efficiency. Was I doing something wrong by running out of fuel?

2. Is it possible to send mayday calls if I run out of fuel?

3. What's so special about all these addons I keep hearing about?

Thanks for any assistance you might lend. Again, I'm really happy to be here.