IX Coning question: can this be correct

[HundertzehnGustav]

the IX-2 Coning tower becomes available .. when was thet i dont rememebr off the top of my head ... like Januar 1940?

i mean the IX B boats were IIIRc jhust out of trials and testing, and already they get a new coning tower? whereas the other ones, VII and II series need to wait till Januar 1942 or even Januar 43 (badsic.cfg) to get the new towers... what the feck?


is this correct?

i have doubts, but no info... anyone?

[Ducimus]

Here you go:
http://uboat.net/technical/flak.htm

[HundertzehnGustav]

Hmm so... the IX Series were fitted with the second tower in late 42...

HAH
jhust what i thought.

gotcha Ubisoft

thanks for the hint, i am gonna adjust my basic cfg now...

[Ducimus]

well Uboat.net says,

Two 2cm C/38 were fitted on bridge and on the additional platform which became known as the Wintergarten. The Turmumbau II was only an interim solution and was first installed in November 1942. The first boats which were rebuilt were the IXC40 boat U-193 and the VIIC boats U-237 and U-955.

So tower IX/2 isnt there until nov of 42. My question now is twofold:

When did the IX/3 become avialable and does anyone know how to fix the periscopes in it? They ride out of the shears a good 2 meters when they should sit flush.

[Ducimus]

17 May 43 , U 128 a IXC
one 37-mm. (1.5-inch) anti-aircraft gun abaft the conning tower, one 20-mm. anti-aircraft cannon on after part of the bridge, four demountable C-38 machine guns on bridge, one on each end and side.

Sounds like an IX/1
--------------------


31 July 43, U199, an IXD2
One 37-mm. Aft. One 20-mm. On Platform
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-199INTPlates.htm

Definatly an IX/1 (this suprises me)
-----------------

14 Aug 43, U185, IXC/40
One 20-mm. Anti-aircraft gun on Platform I and one on Platform II.

Definatly an IX/2
------------------------


5 nov 43, U848, an IXD2
Looks like an IX/3 tower:
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-848.htm
----------------------------------------.


13 Dec 43, U 172, an IXC
1 – quadruple mount AA gun on Platform II, fitted with two armored shields.
2 – twin mount AA guns on Platform I.
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-172PlateA.htm

Definatly an IX/3
---------------------


I guess from this we can assume that the IX/3 tower didnt appear until the later end of 43.

[GT182]

Ducimus, great links. Thanks

Robert Mullen's report was a great read on Oberbootsmann Hans Schade. The account of the 521 was also good reading.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Great find guys. Could you post the entries you need to change in the basic.cfg to make things right?

I have a modified basic.cfg already and would really appreciate some help with this.

Cheers mates!

[HundertzehnGustav]

lemme get back to you tomorrow...
i did it, but cant remember the exact spot now.
i ll post ya a "stock" edited basic cfg and as an extra, the line to alter...
Cheers

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Thanks HundertzehnGustav! I am looking forward to it.

[HundertzehnGustav]

RUB or IUB 1.03 idea...

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

Great find guys. Could you post the entries you need to change in the basic.cfg to make things right?

I have a modified basic.cfg already and would really appreciate some help with this.

Cheers mates!

its not that big of a deal really.

First we establish some kind of hard timeline for the tower to appear. Now the thing to keep in mind is, the info present in one of my posts above is a small sampling of uboats that were sunk, and their crews captured to be interrogated. Very small sampling to work with. So its not 100% accurate. But according to uboat.net we can saftley assume that:

- IX/2 Conning tower doesnt appear until Nov, 1942. Or in basic.cfg terrms Month 11, year, 1942.


Second is to establish when the IX/3 tower appeared. Now what suprises me is an IXD2 didnt have IX/2 or IX/3 towers. You would think a boat that operates by itself, that far from home, you'd install such weapons as a preventative measure. However its clear that they didn't. Whats also intresting to note is that (according to uboat.net) boats in the med were experimenting with varients VII/2 platforms, that only appear those boats. THey're not realy modeled ingame. So from this (and other technologies that entered the war late) we can assume that the German Navy followed the mentality of "Need to have" or "If it aint broke, dont fix it". Kind of logical really in a war where materials will be limited.

Anyway, we have two boats as a sampling, one in aug of 1943 with a IX/2 tower, and one in november of the same year with (presumably by picture) an IX/3 tower. The thing to keep in mind here is that these were boats already on patrol, how many days out of port is anyones guess, i would venture on 30 days, just as a stab in the dark.

It could be that IX/3 towers became available after U185 left port (sunk on 14 Aug 43). We can assume that IX/3 towers became available BEFORE U848 left port (sunk on 5 nov 43)

AUG (1943, U185, IX/2 tower)
SEPT
OCT
NOV ( 43, U848, IX/3 (presumably) )

^ By Dec of 1943, we know for a fact they had them. So This is our timetline. So i would venture to guess that IX/3 towers became avilable sometimes in Sept or Oct of 1943. In basic.cfg terms thats month 9 or 10 (take your pick, in my example im going to use month 9, cause im a wuss)


As for the basic.cfg, its really easy.

[CONING_TYPE10] ;IX/2
Idx=10
Year=1942
Month=11
SubNb=4
SubType0=2
SubVersion0=0
SubType1=2
SubVersion1=1
SubType2=2
SubVersion2=2
SubType3=2
SubVersion3=3
M01=0
A01=7
A02=7
Renown=1000

[CONING_TYPE11] ;IX/3
Idx=11
Year=1943
Month=9
SubNb=4
SubType0=2
SubVersion0=0
SubType1=2
SubVersion1=1
SubType2=2
SubVersion2=2
SubType3=2
SubVersion3=3
M01=0
A01=7
A02=7
S01=2
Renown=1500

[Ducimus]

Oh ya, almost forgot.

Theres a bug ppl should be aware of. I was experimenting with the IX/1 tower and flak guns. (mainly cause i find it hard to beleive that they used a singleshot flakgun up until 11Nov42)


With the IXC and IXD2, the IX/1 tower is bugged with the crew requirements. You have 3 crewslots for flak. One goes on the heavy flak, and two jump on the light flak. (supposed to be the other way around) When you go to operate the heavy flak, you'll get "Not enough crew". I found that if you remove the crewman from the middle slot in the crew manager, BOTH guns will work fine, with just 2 crewman.

This does NOT effect the IXB, it works how it should.

Personnally i think Ubi ran out of time to fix small bugs like this, so intentionally lowered the dates on the IX towers, and started all IXC and IXD boats with the IX/2 tower - problem "solved".


While im on the subject of bugged towers, Not only is the heavyflak bugged on the IX/1 tower for the IXC and IXD boats, but the periscopes ride out of the shears a good meter or two. This also occurs on the IX/3 tower. ONLY the IX/2 tower seems to be unbugged in this capacity, as its periscopes sit inside the wells as they should be.

On a side note the VII/3 tower is bugged in that one crewman is rendered larger. Its a rendering bug, your crewman really isnt a giant, and your watch officer really isnt a miget.


Now if anyone has any ideas on how to fix the perisopes IX/1 and IX/3 towers id love to hear about it.

[HundertzehnGustav]

i was jhust about to post this Picture...

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Ducimus and HundertzehnGustav you guys are GREAT!!!

Thank you very much.

[HundertzehnGustav]

heh i am always a little late, not online at home but have to do a 10 mile journey for the next internet cafe...

you re welcome!