what is the most days for you to not see a ship?

[Alpha Von Burg]

Well as the title asks, "What was the most days you have not seen a ahip?"

Just wanted to know, because recently, ever since I started the patrol, I have been sailing for about 13 days in game and have yet to see a single ship.

currently patroling Grid AM29
5th may, 1941.

[sublynx]

13 days doesn't seem too odd to me. 21 days or a month would be more suspicious.

However you being at grid AM29 with no traffic at all does seem curious. I should think any of the AM grids should be busy. Historically AM grids in May 1941 were packed with action:

http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDUKTB30288.htm

And from my game experience (GWX) I would say that those AM grids are always very busy, no matter what the situation or year. If you don't get any contacts in a week or two, I would think that you are having some kind of mod trouble or a bug.

My longest dry season has so far been about a month, but on retrospect I think that it was caused by my laziness in making regular hydrophone checks and lots of using a TC of 512 or higher.

[irish1958]

I can think of a few possibilities. If you are using high time compression you may miss all contacts. You may also have loaded the wrong campaign files.
For example, if you loaded the Mediterranean files or the far East, you will have no action in the Atlantic, etc.
Are you playing unmodified SH3 or a major mod?
There is a mod "sh3Contacts" which will increase your traffic.

[Pisces]

It depends on what sort of weather you experience. In heavy fog your crew won't be able to see much. That severely reduces your detection area on the surface.

Do you by any chance have the Black Sea campaign mod option or the Indian Ocean campaign mod option enabled (last)? That would explain the lack of traffic in the Atlantic area. But I'm not sure if you would have been able to leave port at all in that case.

Well, your hydrophone detection range is the best sensor (if you listen yourself instead of the crew). If you do that regularly, and still don't find anything then there really does look like something is amiss.

[HW3]

I've gone as long as 3 weeks without detecting a ship using GWX. It is highly unusual, but can occur if you just happen to be unlucky at that time. Now if it happens in AM52, then you know something is wrong.

[Salvadoreno]

The "merged campaign" files will fix that if you want action all over the atlantic.

Ive gone about a month without seeing a ship, it was when my VIIC was sent to canada/newfoundland. I sunk 2 ships in convoy in atlantic, then headed to newfoundland and didnt spot nething for a month (that was including the passage plus the cruise at about 5-6 knots to conserve fuel).

[RGA]

3 weeks without contact. The first one came in a storm. I got the message: Kontakt, geringe Entfernung und could barely see something. After a while I see a lone tanker passing cross our path, 300m ahead All stop immediately and let it go. If I went a bit faster, I would have ended crushed by a clueless tanker. That's how U-bootmen fought before radar was invented

[Bakkels]

Thirteen days in AM without a single ship?
That can mean only one of two things; either bad weather and you never submerge and use the hydrophones, or your time compression is too high.

[Missing Name]

2 weeks, but not in any AM patrols. I'm talking about in the middle of the Atlantic.

On my last Capetown patrol (1944) there were no contacts for 3 months.

13 days without a contact would not be unusual, by historic terms.

AM29:
You may not see any single ships at all, as you are in the convoy lanes between Halifax & UK.
If you hang there long enough, you will in all likelyhood make contact with a convoy, or be directed to one via radio.

Option 1: Patrol your grid on a north-south line.
You are useless to BDU if submerged. So remain on the surface as much as possible (weather permitting), and maximize your ability to recieve (and send) radio reports on convoys.
(Remember: If you are submerged, for whatever reason, when BDU sends a radio dispatch, you miss it, permanently).

Option 2: Bored? Go to AM53, surfaced by night, submerged by day.
If the want to go to England, they have to pass you.

Option 3: Patrol north-south along the east side of Rockall Bank in a VII, or the west side in a IX.

[ediko]

A month, after that I simply gave up and went back to port. BDU didn't mind since I did nail the Nelson during last patrol. Those Brits were probably afraid to send their ships out to sea after that.

[postalbyke]

any ships, or just ships you could shoot at?
i once went 45 days in AN... umm, it's right next to the opening next to norway and denmark, i kept chasing down merchants only to find out they were our own right before hitting enter...
that patrol took forever... (also, i was in a type II)

[Alpha Von Burg]

Its ok now.
a day later I set up closer, Grid AM55.
And got my first kill in the sector.

All your help was much appreciated, however when I meant 13 days out at sea, I meant 13 days from the last time I saw a ship throuhout the patrol, not 13 days in sector AM.

Sorry for any misunderstanding in this matter.

I just got frustrated I guess.

But thanks for all your help.

[Canovaro]

Alpha,

A bit late response, but you might be interested in the webiste linked in my signature.

An updated map by sh3 players for sh3 players.
Hope you find more targets now.

[max-peck]

About 3 weeks is the most I've gone without seeing anything.

But that only happened to me once.
My average 'dry spell' is usually about a week to ten days.