Stricken/Burning ships encountered.

[Raticon]

Questions and debate concerning SH3 with GWX-supermod!

Allright, so i was reading This thread about AI subs when the thought came to me. These burning/damaged ships you encounter sometimes, more often in a convoy or not, is something i encounter from time to time as others do and that made me remember some observations i hope someone wise will help me interpret.

These are the occasions i have met them:

Case 1. Fiji-class warship burning and running low in the water, escorting one undamaged and one lightly damaged troopship in the company of some 2-ish DD's outside Dunkerque.

German artillery was present at the coast and duking it out with these ships, theory is that there are more artillery to the west from where they approached that has allready damaged these ships. This is a plausible scenario but i'm not entirely sure.

Case 2. A very stormy day with heavy rain and waves higher than hills. I encounter a small convoy outside the British east-coast defended by a lone DD. Some of the ships (mainly smaller ones) are burning or runnig a bit low. One even has the cargo-boxes on the deck blown away from an earlier occasion.

Does storms really cause this heavy damage? I mean, it was damage equal to several hits from a deck-gun on some of the merchants. If so, what's the formula and conditions for damage to take place on these ships? Is it a constant of small damage to all ships in storms or is it random in occurrance and/or level of damage?

Case 3. Approaching towards the western channel approach. Large convoy with some ships showing heavy damage and even one of the escorts straggling behind with many fires aboard. One of the tankers even had a rather nasty oil-slick leaving behind.

Is this also a case of randomized damage or evidence of an earlier storm? Weather was fine so Luftwaffe is plausible, but unlikely. Year was 1940 and i had gotten the radio message that some german cruisers was lurking around in the high seas looking for convoys... Could they be the culprits in this?

General questions:
How rare/regular is Luftwaffe strikes on ships and convoys?
How rare/regular are german warships engaging convoys or ships?
How much damage can ships take from storms and is the damage always there as a constant or is it a randomized chance for any ship in a storm to take damage from the storm itself?
Can storms sink a previously undamaged ship?

I have already learned from the thread mentioned above that AI-subs only use their deck gun and no torpedoes, so sadly, they are excluded from this scenario.

I'm very thankful for any contributions to this, even if it's another question or just thoughts on the matter from wise old skippers .

[Sailor Steve]

It depends. If the convoy is represented on the map by a circle then it is being stalked by AI u-boats. If it's a square on the map then there are no u-boats nearby.

There are no AI boats in the stock game, and yet many burning ships are encountered. This always happens in bad weather and the cause is ships that can't deal with the waves, so they catch on fire because they are programmed to do that rather than just flood and sink.

[Raticon]

Thanks for the information. I have never encountered a circular convoy-symbols on the map, but that's perhaps just me not being veteran enough. Will keep an eye out.

These stalking U-boats, do they attack with deck guns or just follow the convoy and lurk patiently? Do they act in any other sense like, diving or spotting ships for the player?

I figured storms could damage ships, and i reckon that burning ships should be easier to take out then? I will try to use the storms better in the future, instead of despising them like i do now... So hard to aim with UZO/Scope when it bounces all over the place

[Sailor Steve]

The convoys don't actually generate until it's time to sight them. At that point the u-boats attack with their deck guns.

Yes, the burning ships are easier to destroy. There is a chance they will already be sunk, but you'll know that because you won't be able to lock onto them at all, and they'll show up on the map as sunk.

[maillemaker]

I've found foundering ships several times in one of my last campaigns. I always found the Aquitaine in convoy struggling, almost sunk. If I waited long enough I could find her alone behind the convoy. Can't wait too long though or she'd sink on her own and I'd get no credit!

I actually downloaded a mod that supposedly adds fire damage to burning things. That is, as they burn, they take more and more damage. But I'm skeptical as to whether it is actually doing anything or not. Just the other night I watched a burning B-17 fly on until it was gone, and I've seen many burning ships carry on just fine also.

Steve

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by Raticon

Case 3. Approaching towards the western channel approach. Large convoy with some ships showing heavy damage and even one of the escorts straggling behind with many fires aboard. One of the tankers even had a rather nasty oil-slick leaving behind.

Is this also a case of randomized damage or evidence of an earlier storm? Weather was fine so Luftwaffe is plausible, but unlikely. Year was 1940 and i had gotten the radio message that some german cruisers was lurking around in the high seas looking for convoys... Could they be the culprits in this?

I've seen many Luftwaffe attacks on British shipping in 1940, so I wouldn't say it was unlikely to be the cause. I have yet to see German surface ships attack convoys, but hopefully I will see this happen one day.

Nemo

[Missing Name]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

It depends. If the convoy is represented on the map by a circle then it is being stalked by AI u-boats. If it's a square on the map then there are no u-boats nearby.

This isn't always the case. I've intercepted many 'square' convoys, only to see a shootout between escorts and uboats.

[Jimbuna]

The icon on a convoy is depicted by whatever vessel is the lead one in the central column...so if it is a square diamond, it's a surface vessel.

if it is sunk and the vessel behind is a submarine, the icon will change to a circle.

[GT182]

If you happen upon these burning ships and torpedo them, will they sink and you get the credit?

I'm just getting back into SHII again.... starting from scratch with the Starforce free dvd I found at CompUSA today. SHII is even included..... both for $9.99.

[Kapt Z]

Yes. You can get credit for sinking the damaged ships.

I always looked at them as victims of other u-boats. Not believing the AI u-boats actually 'damaged' them, but that GWX was simulating a convoy that had already been attacked before I made contact.

Not sure if there is any real truth to this, but it works for me.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by GT182

If you happen upon these burning ships and torpedo them, will they sink and you get the credit?

I'm just getting back into SHII again.... starting from scratch with the Starforce free dvd I found at CompUSA today. SHII is even included..... both for $9.99.

Provided your responsible for destroying the last damage point you should receive the credit...problem being some are already out of damage points before they eventually succumb.

[GT182]

Ok, got it. Thanks Jim and KaptZ.

[Jimbuna]

No prob