First Thread - Questions on instant death.

[CherryHarbey]

Hi folks,
I've been reading on the forum for a while now but thought it was time to surface and try to get some answers to what just happened to me.
Left Kiel through the canal in feb 40 (my 5th or 6th patrol with this career) so heading in the North Sea about 50km south east of Heligoland doing 10 knots on 1024 TC. Then without any warning.
Instant death, U-boot destroyed by flooding. Have a nice after-life.

only things I can think of are mines and ship collision but would either of these killed me instantly?

I'm playing on GWX3.0 so I know mines are in the game but the handy guide on the Nav screen detailing friendly ports with mines doesn't mention Heligoland and don't seem to go that far out anyway.

If it was a ship, why didn't my watch spot it?

Finally I know the answer to this, but need someone else to tell me.
This isn't an excuse to break from my dead is dead policy is it?

Hope these aren't too annoying questions from a newbie.

Cheers,

[frau kaleun]

Generally speaking, bad things happen on 1024 TC.

Or to be more specific, when potentially bad things happen in 1024 TC, by the time the game drops out of TC it is already too late to respond to whatever it was with something that might save you and your u-boat. Because of the high TC, a lot of valuable reaction time is lost between the moment A Potentially Bad Thing first becomes an issue and the moment when you hear "ship [or airplane] spotted" or "we're taking damage."

For instance, if your watch spots a ship/plane and you're at high TC and it turns out to be a fast, armed enemy craft which has also spotted you, by the time the game drops to 1 TC to tell you about it the craft may have already closed to attack range and be dropping bombs or lobbing shells on you. If you are running at 1024 TC, so is the enemy and so are all their weapons and the effects of any damage they cause.

General consensus seems to be that 128 TC is about the highest "safe" TC, especially if you are in any location where contact with armed enemy craft is possible, where mines are likely to be an issue, or where heavy traffic (enemy or otherwise) is expected.

I once tried to rush a homecoming by zooming into Wilhelmshaven at 1024 TC. Something happened near the mouth of the harbor, still not sure what - but I returned from a peacetime patrol where I had seen no action with reduced hull integrity. Best I can figure, I collided with one of our own speedy little patrol boats and never saw it coming.

[CherryHarbey]

Thanks for the advice on TC. I guess I need to think about limiting my 1024 time.

[Herr-Berbunch]

At high TC it can be anything like mines, land, another vessel (there is a lightship in the area), sometimes at such high TC you really don't see it, and your crew are very delayed even if the watch officer is on the bridge! You start taking damage and by the time you know about it it's too late.

I'm sure we've all done it, and we'll probably all do it again - it'd be nice to go slow sometimes but pressures of RL just take over (nagging wife usually...!)

Welcome aboard and sail safely.

[frau kaleun]

Yeah, you know, I never really worked it out before, but I'm assuming "1024 TC" means that 1 second of real time = 1024 seconds of game time.

1024 seconds = about 17 minutes!

And it's not like the game clock pauses when a threat is encountered so it can drop back to real time and let you know what's going on. It keeps ticking away. And if it takes even half a second of real time to drop back to 1 TC, then you've already lost over 8 minutes in game time, during which your boat continued along on its merry way while any enemy around was free to close and attack you with zero consequences and any damage you took went unaddressed.

[Jimbuna]

There is a British minefield in the area until Dec 40.

[RConch]

Thanks for the map, I thought they were on the West side.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Rconch

Thanks for the map, I thought they were on the West side.

I've only shown the area being referred to....Top Secret and all that

[CherryHarbey]

yeah, I was heading straight through that area, but have done so many (luckier) times before.

at a lower TC would my watch have spotted the mine
would I just have had time to do something about it repair wise,
or was I doomed anyway once I hit the mine.

thanks for the info, I'll be more careful in my next life.
cheers,

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by CherryHarbey

yeah, I was heading straight through that area, but have done so many (luckier) times before.

at a lower TC would my watch have spotted the mine
would I just have had time to do something about it repair wise,
or was I doomed anyway once I hit the mine.

thanks for the info, I'll be more careful in my next life.
cheers,

Your watchmen won't call out mine sightings....besides, they're mostly beneath the surface.

You usually receive terminal damage when hitting a mine but even if your lucky enough to survive it always requires a swift return to base because of the systems and hull integrity damage.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by CherryHarbey

at a lower TC would my watch have spotted the mine
would I just have had time to do something about it repair wise,
or was I doomed anyway once I hit the mine.

They wouldn't have spotted it, and usually hitting a mine will take you out - but occasionally the damage is not fatal IF you are able to react quickly enough to put men on damage control and begin flooding recovery and repairs. Your chances of doing that at a high TC are pretty much nil, even if the damage wasn't immediately fatal it will have become a lost cause by the time you can respond.

[CherryHarbey]

Somehow believing it was just an unlucky accident and surviving it wasn't very likely makes me feel better.
I think I'll start myslef another career now, a little wiser.

what is the form with the thread do I need to close it to avoid appearing rude by not repsonding to further posts? if so how

or do I just leave it so see if anyone else wants to take it further?

thanks for the advice it has been most helpful
cheers,