A couple year corrections for your basic.cfg

[Ducimus]

Lately ive been reading Han's Gruebers, "Steel boats, Iron hearts" and if his book is to be considered a reliable source then:


The IX/3 conning tower didnt come about tell 1943, (not 1942):
While i already sort of "knew" this, Han's memior only correlates to other information ive read. If you want to guess at a month, read through the uboatarcheive.net's interrigation reports. (intrestnigly U505's tower would seem to be an IX/1 towr in 1942 since it had a 3.7 cm gun attached. Presumably the earlier model flak gun)


Heavy flak.
According to Hans, his boat was first equiped in 1943 (whilst in dock for major repairs) wtih the 2 CM 4-barreled heavy flak gun. Upon returning to port early due to sabatoge, his boat was then equiped with one of the "newer" (his word) 3.7 single barreled automatic flak gun. Which was on U505 until she was captured. That means the double barrled 3.7 cm didnt come tell much later. So the chronology is really

1.) 2 cm heavy flak
2. )3.7cm single
3.)3.7cm double


Another intresting note, he says it took them 7 days to install a RWR. (Metox or borkum i forget which)


I mention all of this because while looking over some other mods basic.cfg to see what date entries they were using, much to my amazement some of them seemed to be stock. (Ie IX/3 tower in 42.)


If anyone really wants, i can try to cite the passage this info comes from. Finding out what month it is, is kind of hard, as the only clue as to the month he's currently in, is like 5-10 pages back. . But even then, just because U505 got something in one particular month, doesnt mean thats when it was first avialable.

[Der Teddy Bar]

Ducimus,
Thanks for the heads up.

Keep it coming...

[andy_311]

So which is better the 4 barrelled 2cm (which I always go for)or the 3.7cm twinned?

[Ducimus]

3.7 is better, i beleive the range is longer, and its continious fire. Where as the 2cm your vulneruable when it has to reload.



Ok this is for Der Teddy Bear:

The background on this, is U505 is in port for repairs after being bombed by Silcock's plane. (read here for details: http://www.uboatwaffe.net/books/books.cgi?a=4 )



Page 132,

By late may of 1943, the modifcations and Repairs on our boat were almost complete. Gone were the large gangs of shipyard workers in their thick brown wielder suits. Only a few technicians were to be still found aboard finishing small details.

U505 sported a totaly new sillhouette. We were espeicaly excited to stand on the spacious Wintergarden with its deadly looking Quad barrled flak gun. Combined with the two Twin-barreled 20mm guns on either side of the conning tower, our boat now boasted a total of eight guns for anti-aircraft defense. At least now, we thought, we would have a fighting chance against an any enemy bird trying to drop an egg on us.

That was before u505's next patrol. Of which it had to return early because it was crippled by sabatoge. This is after the return of that patrol:

Page 145

For the next two weeks, our boat underwent repairs. They also replaced our huge four-barrled 20mm anti-aircraft gun with a newly designed single -barrled Oerlikon 37mm automatic canon. The trim little flak weapon worked flawlessly for us until the very end.