Correct interpretation of pingers

[Eichenlaub]

I regularly hear the sound of pingers looking for me. But does hearing the sound equate to being detected? And what about the message "Enemy is pinging us sir!", does that mean we've been discovered already?

Main question: when does hearing the sound of pingers become the certainty of being detected?

And if there is a difference or time-frame between hearing the pingers and actually being detected, what are the best counteractions?

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[HW3]

When you get the message "Enemy is pinging us sir!", you have been detected. Up until then your best course of action is to try and turn your bow or stern toward the ship that is pinging, to present the smallest profile to it.

[tycho102]

Your hydrophone guy is just that awesome. He only tells you when the active sonar actually gets enough reflection off your boat. He's just magical. So, any time he says that line, the enemy has detected you.



Counteractions include:

Running at periscope depth. The sonar only works within a cone underneath the escort.

Get underneath the thermocline and go slow.

Don't use alcohol torpedoes that leave a bubble trail back to your boat (i.e. don't get detected in the first place).

[zzsteven]

Originally Posted by Eichenlaub

I regularly hear the sound of pingers looking for me. But does hearing the sound equate to being detected? And what about the message "Enemy is pinging us sir!", does that mean we've been discovered already?

Main question: when does hearing the sound of pingers become the certainty of being detected?

And if there is a difference or time-frame between hearing the pingers and actually being detected, what are the best counteractions?

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

You regularly get pinged? Wow, it seldom happens for me. Of course I keep my boats speed to 3kts or less and rig for silent running if in danger. Faster speeds if avoiding DC's for a brief period. Hearing the sound means they picked up something funny on their hydrophones and their checking it out on active. Do they have you? Not usually but it depends on what year you're in. From my understanding, the faster the pings the better the certainty is of your doom.

zz

Originally Posted by tycho102

Your hydrophone guy is just that awesome. He only tells you when the active sonar actually gets enough reflection off your boat. He's just magical.

Maybe, if he listens very intently, he hears the ping, then a very short time after he hears voices coming from the hull of the zerstörer . . . "Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rules the waves . . ."

Like the line from The Hunt for Red October,

"One minute, he was steady 4,000 yards off the bow and . . . then he was gone. And for a second, I thought I heard . . ."

"Heard . . . what?"

"I thought I heard singing, sir."

[Eichenlaub]

Thank you for explaining this to me. So, whenever I get the message we're being pinged, I am already discovered...in that case, I might as well go ahead flank and do a hard rudder turn for a few seconds. At least that would give me some speed before the DC's start coming down.

I didn't know running at PD would help me here, and frankly I am somewhat skeptical since I often operate at PD with the periscope down. I'll try this and see if it really makes a difference. Maybe infiltrating a convoy head-on with periscope down but at PD will still work?

How does one know when the thermal layer is reached? I also never dare to dive below 160m because of the nervous message "We're close to critical depth, sir!" my crew bleats out. I have a Type VIIC.

As for torpedoes, well, sooner or later I do have to unleash those! My torpedo load is becoming more and more dependent on magnetic pistols. I now have FaT and TIII as my main weapons, though a few TI's are stocked for use in rough weather.

You regularly get pinged? Wow, it seldom happens for me. Of course I keep my boats speed to 3kts or less and rig for silent running if in danger. Faster speeds if avoiding DC's for a brief period. Hearing the sound means they picked up something funny on their hydrophones and their checking it out on active. Do they have you? Not usually but it depends on what year you're in. From my understanding, the faster the pings the better the certainty is of your doom.

I'm now in early 1943 and from the end of 1942 onwards I found that the enemy has finally gotten the hang of it. They do not always pursue to kill, but their actions are often enough to ruin any chances of catching the convoy again. Doing an end-around is difficult since the enemy ships and air units are equipped with HF/DF and superior radar. For the first years my tactic was usually to infiltrate a convoy from up front, then turn 90 degrees and end up perpendicular to the columns of the convoy. Now however, the front escort is often capable of detecting me at depths ranging from PD to 50-60 meters. I only rarely get by him now. Infiltrating from the sides is also difficult because of the speed difference.
I usually travel 3 knots or less when submerged but I have even been found while running silently at 2-3 knots at depths of around 140-160m!

In the early years, all counteractions I needed to take were simple: go deeper, run silent and make a slight course alteration - you'll get away eventually. Now, in 1943, this is no longer enough! Whenever I'm aware of DD's in attack runs I have to go to ahead flank and do a rigorous turn as well as change my depth somewhat. After one minute I slow down again as the disturbances in the water caused by the explosions from the DC's are wearing off.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[Khayman]

Originally Posted by zzsteven

You regularly get pinged? Wow, it seldom happens for me.
zz

You've just been lucky I guess, because your tactics are the same as mine and I get pinged a lot. In fact it seems such a regular part of escort behaviour that I'm kinda baffled it seldom happens to you

[Puster Bill]

You know, I wouldn't worry too much about getting pinged. There are countermeasures you can take, as have been mentioned above. However, the Allies have one secret weapon that makes all u-boat commanders quake with fear.

That's right, Das Limpet:

[Kapitan_Phillips]

They could've used an LP of Kraftwerk back then. Transmit beeps and weird sounds out into the water to freak out the destroyer crew

[HEMISENT]

Originally Posted by Eichenlaub

How does one know when the thermal layer is reached? I also never dare to dive below 160m because of the nervous message "We're close to critical depth, sir!" my crew bleats out. I have a Type VIIC.
Eichenlaub

You will only encounter randomly chosen thermal layers if you are using the latest SH3 Commander. The mod is included in Commander but is not actually implemented in the stock game. There are 5 seperate TL layers which may be encountered. As for knowing when you've found one using the noise meter + experience will tell.

[Eichenlaub]

You will only encounter randomly chosen thermal layers if you are using the latest SH3 Commander. The mod is included in Commander but is not actually implemented in the stock game. There are 5 seperate TL layers which may be encountered. As for knowing when you've found one using the noise meter + experience will tell.

Thank you for that information! I currently run stock version with patch, but nothing else. Before I upgrade to NYGM/GW and SHIIICommander, I shall have to buy a new pc as my current rig just can't deal with the game comfortably as it is now. Too much lag.

I'd like to try a NYGM/GW campaign at 100% realism though...in a Type IX!

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub