Refueling of Patrol US Boats

[Cathy Howat]

Historically, Pearl Based boats heading to patrol off the Japanese coast would often refuel at Midway. Is this option available at the start of the 1941 campaign? I tired going to within 25 miles of Midway and hitting escape to go inot port, but all I got was the normal menu options

[james_nix]

Get close enough to Midway and you will see the icon that will allow you to refuel flashing on the screen. Click it.

[Cathy Howat]

Thanks, will try that now

[TorpX]

Any Allied base should have a Anchor symbol there.

Your home base will have the fouled (tilted) anchor symbol.

Sometimes, bases can change abruptly, like Manila or Surabaya.

[Hambone307]

Be sure if you are out of manila to keep a "surplus" of fuel available... I learned that the hard way my first time out in a porpoise class. Unknowingly had my base change while heading back to manila. Arrived there to find the "friendly" shore guns firing on me and not enough fuel to make it to my new base. Needless to say, that was a short career!

[TorpX]

Yes, that is rather unfair.

I wonder how much notice was given to the ships and subs at sea. The decision certainly wasn't a spur of the moment deal.

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Yes, that is rather unfair.

I wonder how much notice was given to the ships and subs at sea. The decision certainly wasn't a spur of the moment deal.

The submarine base at Manila had been shifted to the Corregidor/Mariveles area at the mouth of Manila Bay, after Manila was declared an open city by General MacArthur. However, they were only able to rescue about 300,000 gallons of fuel in barges and barrels before the Japanese arrived. Between that, having only on the old sub tender, Canopus to rely on, the primitive docking facilities and constant harassment from Japanese air attacks the decision was made seven days after leaving Manila, to move the submarine base of operations to Surabaya in Java. This was on New Year's Eve, 1941 which I believe is about the time when the game takes Manila away from you as a base.

So historically, there was plenty of warning and wiggle room for submarines to pick up fuel (and evacuate personnel) if still operating in the area. US submarines continued to make supply runs in, and take passengers out until Corregidor fell in May of 1942. I was surprised those special missions never made it into SH4.

[Crannogman]

You have to be within 10 nm of the port to rearm/refuel - the prompt should pop up automatically, also an anchor icon the upper right corner that you can click upon

[torpedobait]

Manila ceases to be an available base on December 25 according to my experiences with a Manila start.

[TorpX]

Looking back at my log for the first patrol, I recorded Manila base down on or about Dec. 23. This with RSRDC, RFB version. One day it's there, the next it's not.

Obviously, it was a chaotic period for the USN, but it seems like Corregidor could have supplied enough fuel to get you to the next base. The game doesn't try to distinguish between a forward fuel stop, and a fully equipped, full-service shipyard.

[SSI01]

How about an add-on mission duplicating the money-run made by one US boat that took the Philippine gold reserves and, I think, some silver coin from Corregidor before it fell.

I have read massive amounts of US silver dollars and other silver money was sunk on barges near Corregidor to keep it from Japanese hands. Was that ever recovered post-war?

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by SSI01

How about an add-on mission duplicating the money-run made by one US boat that took the Philippine gold reserves and, I think, some silver coin from Corregidor before it fell.

I have read massive amounts of US silver dollars and other silver money was sunk on barges near Corregidor to keep it from Japanese hands. Was that ever recovered post-war?

Indeed it was--
http://corregidor.org/chs_trident/salvage/medina_01.htm