GWX - Early war Smerly war

[Stoli]

Ever been lured into a False sense of security?

October, 1939 - I found a convoy off the england coast line and setup a flanking intercept. All contacts were small costal merchants and one troop steamer. I'm thinking its dawn, shallow water but it's early war and these DD's are not going to be a problem... I waited till the lead screen pasted me by, ahead full in his baffles. At 900m, let the fish fly. Hard to starboard, flank speed, dove to 22m (one meter above the sea floor). Went to silent running, 2kts. Steamer sinks to the bottom and I'm recieving active pings... Iv'e being DC'd for over 2 hours of real time now. The DD has pursued me over 30nm from the convoy. Out of desperation I went to periscope depth, took a 360 degree looksy... There are THREE DD's pounding the tar out of me.

The boat is still 50nm away from deeper water and we will certainly not make it.

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by Stoli

Ever been lured into a False sense of security?

October, 1939 - I found a convoy off the england coast line and setup a flanking intercept. All contacts were small costal merchants and one troop steamer. I'm thinking its dawn, shallow water but it's early war and these DD's are not going to be a problem... I waited till the lead screen pasted me by, ahead full in his baffles. At 900m, let the fish fly. Hard to starboard, flank speed, dove to 22m (one meter above the sea floor). Went to silent running, 2kts. Steamer sinks to the bottom and I'm recieving active pings... Iv'e being DC'd for over 2 hours of real time now. The DD has pursued me over 30nm from the convoy. Out of desperation I went to periscope depth, took a 360 degree looksy... There are THREE DD's pounding the tar out of me.

The boat is still 50nm away from deeper water and we will certainly not make it.

Hehe, stay away from shallow water.

Ok, to get yourself out of trouble, get to your max depth (area permitting) & drop to 1kt, still at silent running & make a 10 degree course change. Keep turning for 1-2 mins and then rudder amidships, continue like this for 5-10mins, then conduct another 10 degree course change in the opposite direction to the first, then straighten up.

You might think the DD's still have you but they will still be pounding you last known position. Try to keep your aspect silhouette to a min. FYI when you drop to 1kt you will rise a couple of meters, that's why you need to be at depth before starting this maneuver.

Good Luck

[HunterICX]

Hehehe,

Shallow water convoy attack = Suicide

really, if you could
stalk the convoy till in deeper waters

[_Seth_]

Originally Posted by danlisa

Hehe, stay away from shallow water.

I TOTALLY AGREE!!! Just like a plane's best friend is altitude, a submarine's best friend is depth!

[gord96]

now if you were in a type IID i think you would be sipping cognac in port by now......

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Going to flank speed in the presence of ASW forces will wake up even the dumbest escort. Its like waving a big fat "shoot me" sign.

Even the less effective early war escorts will punch your ticket if you make a big mistake.

Avoid such errors... and you are as safe as a house.

(spoiler warning.)
As far as hunting behavior in SH3 is concerned... each time you are detected a timer starts. When the timer runs down to zero without your being detected... the hunt ends.

[Brag]

The evasive tactics mentioned above do work.

Good luck and Stay out of shallow water! Aaarrgghh!

[robbo180265]

What they said

[nikbear]

Mind you,saying stay out of the shallows is all very well,but I never new how shallow the east coast of england was till I played this game,frightning even in a typeII.

[Umfuld]

I have to stress what Kpt. Lehmann said about going to flank speed being the most important factor with defended targets.

In the game, it can be a lot of fun to crash dive out of battle area. But avoid it at all costs.


Actually, when planning any attack you should ask yourself - Is there a good chance I'll be forced to crash dive / go at flank speed? - If so, don't attack.


Last patrol I attacked a task force and sunk a battleship. Soon after I'd fired the torps I begin to suspect that thanks to SH3Commander's malfunction option (love it!) my diving controls weren't working very well. I'd go down, but it would take a VERY LONG TIME.
So after like three minutes of diving from peri depth (at a knot and a half) I'd gone down about half a meter. Not good considering there were 9 destroyers looking for the guy who'd just sank their big buddy.
Yeah, 9.

Finally I couldn't take it and I ordered ahead full. After about 5 seconds I thought - this is stupid - and I went back to silent running.
The few seconds of extra speed probably did help me get down a little be quicker, but I'm glad I came to my senses.

Slowly but surely I got down. And after about 20 minutes all 9 DDs were circling the spot I'd fired my torps from, while I was a good distance away (well, a good distance for 1.5 knots).
There were plenty of cans dropped, and we were rocked a bit - but no damage at all. No evasive manuevers needed.

I'm talking early war here, before the escort detection improvements. But yeah, save crash diving/flank speed for planes and extreme emergencies. Not as a standard manuever to get away from a convoy.

[Kaleun Volk]

Originally Posted by gord96

now if you were in a type IID i think you would be sipping cognac in port by now......

Agreed, although im an avid fan of the VII, ive gotta hand it to the little II as far as sonar signiture and agility

[Telgriff]

*shudder* Ahh yes, the horror that is the first DD hunt in GWX. Took me 2 hours to shake one off, after he recruited FOUR of his friends outside Gibraltar and aircraft and speedboats...in 1940.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Concerning crash diving... You should use it whenever an aircraft is detected...

Also, when you KNOW you've been detected by an surface vessel that poses a threat... and he's coming to punch your ticket... DO crash dive and get some depth... then go silent and make a big direction change to begin the process of evasion. Following initiation of silent running... keep descending to throw off the depth set on the DC's.

Read up on "aspect ratio" as well. The GWX manual has an entire section (appendix C) dealing with how to survive.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Originally Posted by Telgriff

... Gibraltar ...

Nuff said. ASW heavy area. I ran it a couple of times successfully in testing... but it was a bitch.

Dead batteries and crew gasping for air.

[Telgriff]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

Nuff said. ASW heavy area. I ran it a couple of times successfully in testing... but it was a bitch.

Dead batteries and crew gasping for air.

Well then I certainly picked a near suicidal location for my first GWX hunt!

Incidentally, I did manage to sneak out alive, after several days of evasion tactics all the way up to neutral/axis waters! Am still amazed I survived coming from the shallowish waters of the straight, to open ocean to heading up the coast!