This must be my all time shortest career.

[Subnerd]

April 1st 1940, it's early evening and U-122 a Type IXB is readied to sail from Wilhelmshaven on her first war patrol.

The engines are started but without setting a course. We will sail straight out and once in the bay adjust our heading.

Everything is going fine and in RL I need to Google for some info, I figure that U-122 can be safely left alone for a couple of minutes.

After about an hour and totally forgetting about U-122 I return to find most of mt crew dead and U-122 beached on the far side of Wilhelmshaven

I think I feel a Court Marshall coming up soon

At least the guy's on the bridge faired well.

I ask myself am I really ready for manual targetting?

[Laufen zum Ziel]

You can not forget this game for a moment. Too many things can happen. You were very close to your Death Card.

[Subnerd]

Originally Posted by Laufen zum Ziel

You can not forget this game for a moment. Too many things can happen. You were very close to your Death Card.

Yep I just discovered this! I guess that Googling when leaving port for a war patrol would be the equivalent of sitting down at the radio and listening to the Goon Show whilst leaving the crew to run amok and doing whatever the heck they want?

I'll be pretty surprised if the Death Card is not delivered personally by the firing squad!

[UnderseaLcpl]

Don't feel too bad about it. I once rammed my flakboot escort using a plotted course.

I ask myself am I really ready for manual targetting?

Playing on low realism settings, huh? Imo, either you take the plunge into high realism or you don't. There is very little you can learn from auto-target and noise-meters and all that junk that will help you once they are turned off.
The one exception is map contact updates. By leaving them on and using the map contacts to check your manually-gathered data, you can make yourself more effective at manual target data collection.
There are tons of helpful guides on manual targetting right here in the SH3 forum if you need some pointers for determining AOB, target speed, and target course. Come to think of it, people have posted guides for just about everything else, too.
Whatever you may think of your captaining abilities, you might want to reconsider your realism settings. I find it makes the game a lot more rewarding (and addictive).

[Subnerd]

UnderseaLcpl you have convinced me!

This was actually to be my first patrol with manual targetting switched on, however I never made it out of port due to forgetting to pause the game before deciding to surf the WWW.

However I am going to turn the noise meter off as well as you suggest and throw myself in at the deep end.

After playing the game for a few weeks with auto targetting switched on I am starting to feel it's too easy to sink the enemy and will be much more challenging to do it the hard way.

Anyhow I'll need to start a new career, as whats left of this crew is a bunch of stressed out nervous wrecks!

Who can blame them?

[UnderseaLcpl]

Glad to hear that you're ready for the challenge, Subnerd. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or anything. I might not be very helpful, though. I have a fairly odd method of conducting attacks.

Good Hunting!

[Torplexed]

I guess the lesson is never start a patrol on April Fools day...going by your screenshot.

But don't feel bad. I once started the second patrol of a promising career by running smack into a minefield---a friendly minefield-- planted just outside of Wilhelmshaven harbour. I made the mistaking of disregarding the marker buoys. The sub was sunk. It was a short swim to shore and early retirement.

[Sailor Steve]

Don't feel too bad. There have been whole threads on things like "Your Stupidest Death", with most of us contributing one thing or another.

If you're bound and determined to do it yourself, here's a helpful and realistic tool that leaves Map Contact Updates on but gives you a more lifelike view of what's happening around you. Observer's Assisted Plotting Mod makes a huge difference.
http://www.bts-mods.com/?page=sh3user=sailorsteve

Oh, and just FYI, it's "Court-Martial".

[Brer Rabbit]

It looks like you may be joining me at the military's russian language school. Ive been told I might be lucky enough to get assigned to the German Consolate in Stalingrad.

I hear the summers are great there, but the winters are rather harsh.

Former commander of U-9 sunk by stationary dock in Kiev.

[Subnerd]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or anything.

UnderseaLcpl thanks very much for your very kind offer of help. I am slowly making my way through a couple of tutorials and should I get stuck I sure will fire any questions over to you.

[Subnerd]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Don't feel too bad. There have been whole threads on things like "Your Stupidest Death", with most of us contributing one thing or another.

If you're bound and determined to do it yourself, here's a helpful and realistic tool that leaves Map Contact Updates on but gives you a more lifelike view of what's happening around you. Observer's Assisted Plotting Mod makes a huge difference.
http://www.bts-mods.com/?page=sh3user=sailorsteve

Oh, and just FYI, it's "Court-Martial".

Thanks for the mod link!! Will download and install today.

Yep I don'tt know how Ernst Youller ever got into the U-boat Training when he cannot even spell correctly.

Brer Rabbit I'll see you in Stalingrad!