War Diary

[GoldenRivet]

So my wife comes home from Target with this small 5" X 8" Journal with a 3 1/2" X 5" window opening in the front with a clear plastic cover behind which you can place a photo.

So what nerdy thing do i do?

I start a new career in 1939 out of Kiel with the 1st Flotilla on 100% realism playing as a Kaleun i frequently play as (Jon Wintergarten)... then i print off a slip of old yellowed card stock emblazened with the swastika and eagle which reads...

"The War Diary of Kapitanleutnant Jon Wintergarten"

I have been making notes during my patrol just to see how interesting this thing reads when it is filled with patrols.

notes like....

"02 March 1940
1300 Hours

Departing Kiel by way of the Kiel Canal bound for assigned patrol grid BF15. Our route takes us past Helgoland light, then traversing the North Sea toward the Shetlands, then southwest toward the Rockall Bank in hopes of meeting a large convoy. From there we will continue to the assigned area. We expect to pass the Helgoland Light in just under seventeen hours. It will take another five days to pass the Shetlands... full provisions on board with 14 torpedos and 220 rounds of HE shells for the deck gun, hopefully we will get the chance to make good use of them!"

including occasional notes on the weather conditions, important or historical radio messages, ship sightings etc.

it really adds to the level of immersion IMHO, especially at the 100% realism settings.

anyone else do this war diary thing? or even a "ships log" sort of thing?

kinda fun

[Chock]

I think it's kind of a fun thing to do and is probably one of the elements that ought to have been in SH4, especially since you don't get the captains bunk like you do in SH3 and you've got to find something to do on those long transits.

On a long patrol in any sub sim it's probably not a bad idea to note stuff down like that, as it can help you keep track of your plan for the mission. That you can turn it into a roleplaying element is great fun and not at all 'nerdy' in my opinion, after all, we are all pretending we're sub skippers, so why the hell not!

An interesting thing you can do is keep track of your crew and their abilities with such a journal and that could actually prove more useful than simply for a bit of fun.

[Telgriff]

Fantastic Idea. I think I might have to take a leaf out of your book and try something similar on this campaign or the next.

[Reece]

If anyone is interested I have a layout for Front & rear cover plus page layout:

Download link:
http://files.filefront.com/SH3_Krieg.../fileinfo.html
The date title maybe "not correct" but I'm too lazy to change it!!

[GoldenRivet]

Latest entries into the war diary:

25 March 1940
1350 Hours

Surprised by a group of swordfish bombers, and attacked en route to Kiel. Managed to crash dive but the boat still suffered bomb damage. resting at 60 meters now - damage control underway.
=======================
29 March 1940
0825 Hours

U-83 arrived in Kiel today... Entries into maintenance log are as follows (numerous omissions)

Bomb fragments found embedded in aft deck plates. dry docked u-83, repaired damage.
repalced all high pressure air lines aft of the conning tower structure.
serviced propeller shafts and seals.
overhauled electric motors.
replaced compressor.
Port Diesel Engine overhauled, all fluids drained and replinished, engine run, no leaks.
Replaced entire starboard diesel engine.
Aft Batteries removed and replaced.
Flak gun replaced.
Deck Gun removed, forward deck repaired, deck gun serviced and reinstalled.
All torpedo tubes - General Maintenance.
Fuel tank drained and inspected for corrosion, none found.
Periscopes serviced.
Command Room instrumentation removed, bench tested, reinstalled.

U83 should be out of dry dock by 29 April 1940.

Also got to thinking that SH3 commander would be cool(er) if it had a function that listed all the general maintenance issues with the boat after each patrol :hmm:

[Brag]

A war diary certainly adds realism and it is fun to read about almost forgotten patrols

[Kptlt. Siegmann]

I've done a similar thing by writing in the Captain's Log in SH3 Commander.

http://www.isaf.us/

Click on the patrol # to pull up the captain's log. I think it's something fun to do, and like the general consensus here, adds to the immersion factor.