Silly question - How do you...uh...patrol... in 1944?

[mookiemookie]

I've retired Gunter Nitschke, my type IX captain. I figured 9 patrols and 400,000 tons was enough to earn him a teaching job at Murwik or something.

So now Bruno Cleves is out there in January '44 with his brand spanking new VIIC. I now have a snorkel...something I've never had the luxury of, being an early war player up to this point.

So this brings me to my question. What do I do? Do I run surfaced? Since my patrol grid out of Bergen is in the middle of the North Sea, I'm thinking that the Brits will be covering the skies like a blanket. Do I patrol submerged with the snorkel raised at all times possible? Or do I dive when I need to? I have the latest radar warning gear (Naxos) but I don't want to get jumped by Hurricanes or anything.

What say ye, late war captains?

[applesthecat]

Not that I know from experience, but patrolling at the end in that area was more like hiding for your life, from what I gather historically. The allies had planes with radar that would see you day and night. I would think running with a snorkel at night is your only safe bet. Spend the days on electric with the periscope and snorkel down. Spend the nights with the snorkel up.

[TarJak]

Schnorkel and ob scope to cruise. Be ready to dive at any time. Lots of enemy planes and radar.

If you are brave surface for a bit and hope your radar detection is working.

Other than that it's much the same routine as early war if you can get close enough to take a shot at something.

[GoldenRivet]

VERY CAREFULLY

[Leandros]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

I've retired Gunter Nitschke, my type IX captain. I figured 9 patrols and 400,000 tons was enough to earn him a teaching job at Murwik or something.

So now Bruno Cleves is out there in January '44 with his brand spanking new VIIC. I now have a snorkel...something I've never had the luxury of, being an early war player up to this point.

So this brings me to my question. What do I do? Do I run surfaced? Since my patrol grid out of Bergen is in the middle of the North Sea, I'm thinking that the Brits will be covering the skies like a blanket. Do I patrol submerged with the snorkel raised at all times possible? Or do I dive when I need to? I have the latest radar warning gear (Naxos) but I don't want to get jumped by Hurricanes or anything.

What say ye, late war captains?

I went through a couple of careers with the XXI from July '44 to the end of the war. What I found out very quickly was that it was extremely dangerous to cruise with schnorkel in daylight. You are obviously easily spotted. During night airborne radar can spot you, too - without you getting a warning. If weather is bad you are fairly safe both night and day. After a while I cruised surfaced for most of the time. Then RWR works and the aircrafts can be spotted visually in time.

I don't know about the VII but the XXI is actually faster (on diesels) submerged with extended schnorkel than when surfaced. Which can be handy when you want to pull out of a skirmish. Operating on schnorkel should give a higher noise level as well as less sensitive passive sonar.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Leandros

I don't know about the VII but the XXI is actually faster (on diesels) submerged with extended schnorkel than when surfaced. Which can be handy when you want to pull out of a skirmish. Operating on schnorkel should give a higher noise level as well as less sensitive passive sonar.

Sadly, this is one of the unrealities of the game because a U-boat was unable to travel in excess of 5 knots with the schnorkel raised for fear of the vibration shearing it off.

[Kubryk]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Sadly, this is one of the unrealities of the game because a U-boat was unable to travel in excess of 5 knots with the schnorkel raised for fear of the vibration shearing it off.

Really? I've read that they couldn't use periscope while moving fast submerged because of vibrations, but I didn't know they couldn't use schnorkels to full extent. Do you know where can I read about this issue?

[sharkbit]

Originally Posted by Kubryk

Really? I've read that they couldn't use periscope while moving fast submerged because of vibrations, but I didn't know they couldn't use schnorkels to full extent. Do you know where can I read about this issue?

Try this:
http://www.uboat.net/technical/schnorchel.htm

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kubryk

Really? I've read that they couldn't use periscope while moving fast submerged because of vibrations, but I didn't know they couldn't use schnorkels to full extent. Do you know where can I read about this issue?

There are references made in quite a few books on U-boats.

Here is a quick link to an online reference:


http://uboat.net/technical/schnorchel.htm

Schnorchel Problems

There were several problems with the Schnorchels; first it turned the attacking/patrolling U-boat into a slow (6 knots was the max speed for the VII and IX types, otherwise the air mast would break off)

[AVGWarhawk]

To be honest, I do not know how to patrol in 1944...just getting through 1939 was trials and tribulations for me. Seriously

[Kubryk]

Shark & Jim, thanks!

[Puster Bill]

From what I understand, they generally spent about 20 hours out of a day on batteries running at 2 to 3 knots, and about 4 hours of snorting at a slightly faster speed, 5 or 6 knots. Above that speed, vibration made using the periscopes impossible, and there was the chance of damaging the schnorkel itself.

You want to minimize the amount of time you have the schnorkel up because it can be spotted by radar (and visually, during the day).

The North Sea is a cast iron female dog late war. I've had many a patrol there ended suddenly by either a surprise attack while I was schnorkeling (especially by planes), or by running into one of the 1,348,234,023.5 mines planted there. The water is shallow, which means if you get detected by a destroyer or frigate you are pretty likely to get pounded into the sea floor. Your only hope is to pop them with a Falke or Zaukonig, or to try and evade. Either way, make sure your will is up to date and that your life insurance is all paid up.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Good luck MookieMonkey.

1944-1945 is tough, but we didn't design it in such a way that there is no hope of survival.

You probably won't be able to pull down the level of tonnage you may get in earlier years... but it does make the simple act of sinking a ship... and getting away with it... much more rewarding.

There is LOADS to see in late war patrols too. Even leaving port may get your blood flowing... especially at night when the search-lights come on and the air-raid sirens begin to wail. It can be quite surreal... slipping past burning wrecks amidst the fading sound of ack-ack batteries.

Surviving a patrol, having known that any given minute may be your last... and limping home on one diesel... is an entirely new brand of COOL... because you feel as if you've done something meaningful.

I wish more people had the courage to sail in '44 and '45. They really are missing out on a wild experience.

You must be more careful than before naturally, but it can be done.

[Leandros]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

Good luck MookieMonkey.

1944-1945 is tough, but we didn't design it in such a way that there is no hope of survival.

You probably won't be able to pull down the level of tonnage you may get in earlier years... but it does make the simple act of sinking a ship... and getting away with it... much more rewarding.

There is LOADS to see in late war patrols too. Even leaving port may get your blood flowing... especially at night when the search-lights come on and the air-raid sirens begin to wail. It can be quite surreal... slipping past burning wrecks amidst the fading sound of ack-ack batteries.

Surviving a patrol, having known that any given minute may be your last... and limping home on one diesel... is an entirely new brand of COOL... because you feel as if you've done something meaningful.

I wish more people had the courage to sail in '44 and '45. They really are missing out on a wild experience.

You must be more careful than before naturally, but it can be done.

Amen to that! Almost every time leaving Bergen in late '44 or early '45 you shall "see" (I keep the outside view as it gives a lot of entertainment) B-17's attacking the port. They even spray the area with their .50 calibers. And you better follow the VP-boot out otherwise you might end up on one of the magnetic mines spread around by the Allies.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Leandros

Amen to that! Almost every time leaving Bergen in late '44 or early '45 you shall "see" (I keep the outside view as it gives a lot of entertainment) B-17's attacking the port. They even spray the area with their .50 calibers. And you better follow the VP-boot out otherwise you might end up on one of the magnetic mines spread around by the Allies.

I had this experience while leaving port. I manned the flak guns as I thought I would be their next target after they had their fun with the port!

Luckily they continued on their way, seemingly oblivious to me.

And thanks for the tip about allied mines. I was unaware of that!