Realistic Loadouts

[Pebble Monkey]

From reading posts here I've learned that Uboats never sailed with electrics in the external storage, so I only load steamers in those slots, but what of the internal storage? Is it realistic to sail with all electric eels in the tubes and internal storage? Now that I'm using manual TDC I's like to stick to typical wartime loadouts.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Pebble Monkey

From reading posts here I've learned that Uboats never sailed with electrics in the external storage, so I only load steamers in those slots, but what of the internal storage? Is it realistic to sail with all electric eels in the tubes and internal storage? Now that I'm using manual TDC I's like to stick to typical wartime loadouts.

and to load a tube, so it will take at least 16 minutes,time and may increase or decrease depending on various factors,so how long it usually take for you....

[Mittelwaechter]

Externals were allways G7a until (iirc) 1943, when they stopped to carry externals at all.

They had a mix of G7a and G7e aboard, as some special eels when/if available (acoustic, FAT, LUT).

Mix in 30% of those you don't prefer and you should be realistic. :

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Mittelwaechter

Externals were allways G7a until (iirc) 1943, when they stopped to carry externals at all.

They had a mix of G7a and G7e aboard, as some special eels when/if available (acoustic, FAT, LUT).

Mix in 30% of those you don't prefer and you should be realistic. :

good to know so I will answer right,

[BulSoldier]

Im not sure about the internal load of torpedoes, but it is safe to assume that the faster speed of the g7a (the steamer IIRC) would be prefered in attacks in poor weather conditions or night attacks (hard to see without the wake)

I usualy load around 50/50 electric/steam eels.

[K-61]

The reason why electrics were not carried externally is due to the fact that the batteries required regular recharging, to top them up. If they were stored externally, the batteries would run down; I'm not certain how durable they were or if they were "deep cycle" batteries, but allowing them to run down was probably a concern. Electrics, like steamers, also required regular maintenance. If they were already in the tubes, they would be hauled out, worked on and then returned. Items like batteries and compressed air flasks required check ups; if the ship had endured close depth charging, the torpedoes would be pulled and checked for damage to more delicate mechanisms like the gyroscopes and depth keeping hardware. These concerns are not modelled into the game.

My own practice is to never store electrics externally and to do away with them when Allied air cover makes their reloading problematic or practically impossible, like the deck gun.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Pebble Monkey

From reading posts here I've learned that Uboats never sailed with electrics in the external storage, so I only load steamers in those slots, but what of the internal storage? Is it realistic to sail with all electric eels in the tubes and internal storage? Now that I'm using manual TDC I's like to stick to typical wartime loadouts.

Come late 42/early 43 electrics were more commonly available therefore, sticking steamers in external storage and keeping electrics below decks is pretty much accurate enough.

In RL it depended on what eels were available at time of loading and the logistics for each base varied widly, even to the extent that some boats would often go out without a full load.

It would be pretty hard to assess with certainty what was totally realistic because of the wide and varied dynamics involved....other than interrogation reports etc.

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

In RL it depended on what eels were available at time of loading and the logistics for each base varied widly, even to the extent that some boats would often go out without a full load.

I've been thinking about this recently. Don't often make it to 1942 and beyond...but from now on, I'm going to roll a couple of dice to determine load out number (Have an old 12 sided dice from AD&D as a youth).

If I ever make it to '44 and Norwegian bases, I reckon a normal six sided one would be realistic. They must have been really scrimping at that stage.

[K-61]

I'd hesitate about letting the 12-sided die dictate your loadout. Are you really going to head out if you roll is a two or three? Unless you find a historical reference, who's to say your idea is realistic? From what I've read in many books, it wasn't a shortage of torpedoes that crippled the U-boat effort but a shortage of crews and boats and actual opportunites to get into firing position on a target, due to the highly effective ASW efforts of the Allies. Even fuel was getting pinched in the last year of the war, but they could get some by draining the tanks of laid up surface vessels.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Gaijin

I've been thinking about this recently. Don't often make it to 1942 and beyond...but from now on, I'm going to roll a couple of dice to determine load out number (Have an old 12 sided dice from AD&D as a youth).

If I ever make it to '44 and Norwegian bases, I reckon a normal six sided one would be realistic. They must have been really scrimping at that stage.

Personally speaking I always go out with a full loadout....it's the type of eels I'm more careful in selecting.

[Mittelwaechter]

There must have been some shortage - maybe for a limited time - because (afair) outgoing boats transfered surplus torpedoes from homecoming U-Boats at sea.

Why should they do that but for shortage reasons?

[pickinthebanjo]

I incorperate preheating/maintenance when I play. After I fire my first torpedoes I have two free slots, I load one of them so that one tube is empty and one internal storage is empty. every now and then I will pull out one of the torpedoes and then put it back in again (maintainence) repeating for any electrics in the tubes.

For preheating I load a tube (since I had that empy tube mentioned earlyer) which pretty much simulates the time to preheat a torpedoes battries

[Pebble Monkey]

Well I'm going to try going out with the loadout that the game gives me in future I think, see how that goes, and if I make it to 42 I'll stop loading the external storage.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Pebble Monkey

Well I'm going to try going out with the loadout that the game gives me in future I think, see how that goes, and if I make it to 42 I'll stop loading the external storage.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Mittelwaechter

There must have been some shortage - maybe for a limited time - because (afair) outgoing boats transfered surplus torpedoes from homecoming U-Boats at sea.

Why should they do that but for shortage reasons?

On some occasions it would be because the outward boat had some luck in meeting victims enroute to they're patrol area....but not always I agree.