[Penelope_Grey]

Hi there, welcome aboard, a lovely first post too. Ok GWX 2.1... lets see.

-Up to how many meters away can your pinging be heard? If I ping for depth, say in Scapa Flow, and a destroyer is in the vicinity, how far does he have to be to hear me pinging for depth calcs?

Its active sonar that ping which you send to the bottom. The main thing is what condition the enemy ship is in. Is it in Alert condition (actively searching for you) or is it in Standard condition (i.e. going about its normal business.)

If the destroyer is searching for you its listening and or pinging, which means if you send a ping of your own they will hear the origin of said ping. The nearer they are to you, the more dangerous a move this is. Generally speaking when a destroyer is within 2km of your current position then under no circumstances should you ping.

if however you are in the baffles of the destroyer its a different story. Generally speaking, it varies. Also what point in the war are you at? GWX 2.1 simulates advancement in equipment and technology... the later it is in the war the better asdic and hydrophones they have to find you.

That doesn't give a definate answer to your question but its probably the best one can be given. there are a number of factors
Alert status
weather conditions
distance destroyer is to you
whether or not they are listening in your direction
are you behind them

so many variables with this.

Anyone know how currents and slack water work in SH3 GWX 2.1?

Last time I checked, currents and slack water in SH3 are not modeled. If they are and I am mistook, I apologise in advance.

-Is night proper possible with any moonlight at all? What times are best time for night proper in N. Atlantic?

If I am understanding this correctly
It depends where you are.... If you are up by the Denmark straight in summer time, daylight will be practically perpetual except for maybe a couple of hours of moderate dusk.

Other than that the best time for night is when the sun decides to set. lol

Does anyone know of any good articles on how the different torpedoes in SH3 GWX 2.1 work and possibly different scenarios to use them? 90 AoB shots are easy, but how do I set up 0 or 180 AoB shots? Salvo or single shot? Magnetic pistol? Depth level? All my torps bounce off the hull? (One torp hit stern and bounced back hit the stern again, bounced back, hit the stern again an veered off!! Also trying to find info on Flachenabsuchender torped = area searching torpedos.

The best advice I can give you is to look in the GWX Manual, there are sections on the different types of torpedo, and also a manual targetting tutorial. I can manual target (am probably rubbish at it now through lack of practice), but I prefer not to because I find it fiddly and frustrating. I miles prefer to let the computer do it.

If you are going to shoot at the ship head on you need to use magnetic detonators. As far as depth of the torpedo goes. If the ship has a draught of say 10m you need to set the torpedo to run at 11.5 or even 12m Too much and the torp won't detonate.

Too little and well... BOING!!!

-Can unescorted convoys radio in your position after you have attacked and/or made your presence known? If so, will you see enemy aircraft of ASW vessels show up because of this?

Short answer: yes.

Especially in later war this becomes a problem for you. In early war, try sailing through the English Channel. A plane sees you and wait for it, you will have Torpedo boats maybe a frigate looking for you then.

-What is the critical depth for Type VIIC in GWX 2.1? I can't seem to get past 210m. Anyone else getting better depths in the VIIC

Depends on two things, if you are using SH3 Commander 3.0 or later... and you have random crush depths selected... it could be anything... your type VIIC could only manage 180m before crushing, or it might crush at 290m there is no depends with it.

However if you are not... then it could be you have a slight bit of hull damage maybe which is stopping you diving? A VIIC should theoretically be able to cope with a touch more than 210m. Not much though, so 210m sounds about accurate.

-Do water temperatures matter when it comes to critical depth levels? i.e. can you go deeper in warmer waters, etc.?

Water temperature is not modelled as far as I know. If I am wrong I apologise in advance. But from a physics/chemistry point of view, colder water is actually slightly denser than warmer water as the particles are closer together.

-Do merchants and/or armed merchants have Hydrophones or ASDIC? Can I flank submerged unworried around unescorted merchants without being detected?

you can go as fast as you can underwater. Merchant detection capabilities are done visually, if they can't see you they don't know you are there. Just don't stick up your periscope at ahead flank, they will see the wake of it.

-I've heard that if I manually move all seaman in the bow in SH3 crew management screen that I can get better crash dive times, is this true?

Myths and wives tales... Sorry.

-Whats the "Crash Dive record"?

A type IID at 25 seconds.

-Can escorts hear my torps? At what depth meter and what type of torps are commanders using for destroyers?

Yes they can.

In terms of torpedo to use. Varies.

In early war a T1 at fast setting is your best bet, set for a reasonable depth. Destroyers have low drafts anyway, so you need to set it based on what the recognition books says.

In later war an acoustic torpedo with magnetic pistol set to run about 1.5/2m under the keel. just make sure your sub is not making too much noise or else it will come and try to torpedo you... believe me I know. lol Fire it, then submerge to a safe depth.