[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Wolfar

I had to reload from when I picked up 4th survivor.

Because I went to Guadalcanal to refuel then every survivor I came back to was not working.

Grabbed a 5th one before logging off the game last night.

This is like a never ending mission.

i just completed what is probably the same mission but i am playing GFO.
here are some tips for you to consider.
Firstly, the mission may have survivors defined for a particular date range and, if your mission is outside of that date range, then you will see no survivors. There is nothing you can do about that. Go anywhere you have fuel for and sink some ships. If you are near Guadalcanal head towards Rabaul as there is always traffic there. Or head towards Truk island.
Next, I found through experience that rescuing survivors is a lot easier if you have a key defined for Rescue_Survivor. The Mods forum should have jimimadrid’s excellent SH_Keymapper. It might be listed under SH3 but it is functional for SH4 also. Find an unused key and define it for Rescue_Survivor.
The 3000 yd Bearing Tool for your screen def is also invaluable in helping you determine how close/far you are from your target.
The keys of equal (=) and dash (-) also invaluable for rescuing survivors. The former matches your heading to the heading in your binocs and the latter matches your binocs to your heading.
Use your binocs and not the TBT/UZO during rescue operations.
The Gameplay option of NoMapUpdate=false is also a great help. If you really want to struggle with rescue missions then set it to true. Since you know beforehand when you are going out on a rescue mission, you can always make the change before the mission and then change it back when the mission is completed.
Once you are in the vicinity of the lifeguard mission, look for blue boxes on the Nav Map and head for them. Use your binocs and head for the Red Dye markers. When you get close enough, you will see a graphic of a man bobbing up/down in the water. Move the crosshairs, which are normally golden, to the man-in-the-water and they will turn to red. This will be important in the next couple of steps.
Head to the red dye, use the nav map and the 3000 yd tool to maneuver head-on to your target. When you close to 500 yds, order all stop, put the pipper on the target such that it turns red, and start banging on the rescue key you defined before the mission with the SH_keymapper. With the key defined, you can use one hand on the mouse to keep the pipper on the target and your other hand to bang the rescue key. So much easier than trying to do both with the mouse.
When the rescue happens, the man and the red dye disappear and you will see a message in the orders box “Survivors rescued”. On to the next……..

it still takes practice but the hints i have given you (above) will make the task easier for you to succeed.