heavy rain fog and cloud coverage - "historically correct" procedure?

Schwuppes · 01-23-08, 10:41 PM

Hi!

I'm just wondering what a U-Boat captain would have done in heavy fog and bad weather.

My guess is that during night they would submerge to 30 meters and run at 3 knots or so until dawn, then resurface and recharge batteries.

Because in heavy fog and pitch black its gonna be a bit difficult to evade a vessel thats running straight at you 50 meters from your bow...

Anyone want to share some knowledge on this issue with me?

cheers!

Reece · 01-23-08, 11:23 PM

I usually just wait it out, sometimes submerged, sometimes on top using high TC can be quite lethal, TC drops to 8x the crew reports ship spotted, and it could easily be a destroyer only 150 meters or so away! ALARM!!!

GoldenRivet · 01-24-08, 12:16 AM

they would have submerged to wait it out for as long as possible. Poor weather increases fuel consumption and makes for a chaotic experience onboard. Seasickness could become an issue. Not to mention allied radar can find you regardless of the weather. There is no worse feeling than a destroyer rushing out of the fog and rain with guns blazing right on top of your boat

Reece · 01-24-08, 12:27 AM

Quote:

There is no worse feeling than a destroyer rushing out of the fog and rain with guns blazing right on top of your boat

Your not wrong ... there goes another set of undies!!

CapZap1970 · 01-24-08, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reece

Quote:

There is no worse feeling than a destroyer rushing out of the fog and rain with guns blazing right on top of your boat

Your not wrong ... there goes another set of undies!!

:rotfl: :rotfl:
CapZap

Graf Paper · 01-24-08, 02:16 AM

The only thing I hate more than destroyers are destroyers in foggy weather!

There was once an occasion where a thick fog had rolled in during the daytime and my visibility had been reduced to less than 500 meters. I had my TC cranked up to 128 to hurry my way along toward my patrol zone when suddenly I hear...

"Ship spotted! Bearing 293!"

It turns out that ship was a Hunt I destroyer running abeam of my course at 300 meters!

He was so close I could actually see their eyes without my binoculars as the DD sailed past by my starboard. They must have been as surprised as I was because it took a few seconds for them to react. There was no chance to do much at all. The time it takes for even a crash dive would have been suicide.

I ordered ahead flank as two shots whizzed past my aft section at point blank range while I offered a prayer of thanks for getting those GKW turbo diesels installed after my last patrol. My only chance was to outrun them and disappear back into the cover of the fog.

I kept expecting my u-boat to be torn asunder by the DD's guns but, much to my relieved amazement, I got away with only a few scratches from machine gun fire as I saw the destroyer fade away into the fog.

I should be grateful their course was opposed to my own as the time it took for the destroyer to turn around threw their guns off track and allowed me precious seconds to run beyond his visual range and make some abrupt course changes to evade pursuit.

That was definitely the scariest moment of my entire career! Forget filling my undies, I could have filled a pair of fisherman's hip waders!

01-23-08, 10:41 PM	#1
Schwuppes 中国水兵 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 279 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	heavy rain fog and cloud coverage - "historically correct" procedure? Hi! I'm just wondering what a U-Boat captain would have done in heavy fog and bad weather. My guess is that during night they would submerge to 30 meters and run at 3 knots or so until dawn, then resurface and recharge batteries. Because in heavy fog and pitch black its gonna be a bit difficult to evade a vessel thats running straight at you 50 meters from your bow... Anyone want to share some knowledge on this issue with me? cheers! __________________ E8400 @ 4.00Ghz standard vCore, Gigabyte P35C DS3R @ 445 Mhz, Leadtek GTX 280, 3 x 1GB Kingston DDR2 800 @ 890Mhz, 250GB +160GB HDD, Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96, Silverstone ST60F 600W, Logitech Z-5500 THX

01-23-08, 11:23 PM	#2
Reece CINC Pacific Fleet Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Down Under Posts: 34,696 Downloads: 171 Uploads: 0	I usually just wait it out, sometimes submerged, sometimes on top using high TC can be quite lethal, TC drops to 8x the crew reports ship spotted, and it could easily be a destroyer only 150 meters or so away! ALARM!!! __________________ *Sub captains go down with their ship!*

01-24-08, 12:16 AM	#3
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	they would have submerged to wait it out for as long as possible. Poor weather increases fuel consumption and makes for a chaotic experience onboard. Seasickness could become an issue. Not to mention allied radar can find you regardless of the weather. There is no worse feeling than a destroyer rushing out of the fog and rain with guns blazing right on top of your boat __________________

01-24-08, 02:16 AM	#6
Graf Paper Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest United States Posts: 1,146 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 2	The only thing I hate more than destroyers are destroyers in foggy weather! There was once an occasion where a thick fog had rolled in during the daytime and my visibility had been reduced to less than 500 meters. I had my TC cranked up to 128 to hurry my way along toward my patrol zone when suddenly I hear... "Ship spotted! Bearing 293!" It turns out that ship was a Hunt I destroyer running abeam of my course at 300 meters! He was so close I could actually see their eyes without my binoculars as the DD sailed past by my starboard. They must have been as surprised as I was because it took a few seconds for them to react. There was no chance to do much at all. The time it takes for even a crash dive would have been suicide. I ordered ahead flank as two shots whizzed past my aft section at point blank range while I offered a prayer of thanks for getting those GKW turbo diesels installed after my last patrol. My only chance was to outrun them and disappear back into the cover of the fog. I kept expecting my u-boat to be torn asunder by the DD's guns but, much to my relieved amazement, I got away with only a few scratches from machine gun fire as I saw the destroyer fade away into the fog. I should be grateful their course was opposed to my own as the time it took for the destroyer to turn around threw their guns off track and allowed me precious seconds to run beyond his visual range and make some abrupt course changes to evade pursuit. That was definitely the scariest moment of my entire career! Forget filling my undies, I could have filled a pair of fisherman's hip waders! __________________ Still sailing the high seas, hunting convoys with those who join me.

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