Anybody ever even SEEN a Capital ship?

[Schnee]

Here I am, on my second campaign game, Jan '45 in a XXI and even to this time and about 46 patrols have never seen a carrier or battleship.

Where should I be looking?

[Ducimus]

Have i ever seen a battleship? Oh yes indeedy!

21 Feb 1940 ,0555
Patrol 2
U-128, 2nd Flotilla, Karl Schmidt
Left at: February 21, 1940, 05:55
From: Wilhelmshaven
Mission Orders: Patrol grid DH99
01 Mar 1940
1005 AM 49 Ship sunk! S.S. Gustaf Adolf (C3 Cargo), 5630 tons
1447 AM 73 Ship sunk! S.S. Rankin (C2 Cargo), 5322 tons
09 Mar 1940
1318 DH 93 Ship sunk! S.S. Gettysburg (Small Merchant), 3215 tons
19 Mar 1940
0932 CG 27 Ship sunk! S.S. Schie (Small Merchant), 3216 tons
20 Mar 1940
0126 CG 24 Ship sunk! S.S. Grado (C2 Cargo), 5323 tons
22 Mar 1940
0822 CG 24 Ship sunk! S.S. Crow Wing (C2 Cargo), 5324 tons
06 Apr 1940
0924 CG 15 Ship sunk! S.S. Algier (C3 Cargo), 5632 tons
10 Apr 1940
2357 CG 14 Ship sunk! S.S. Empire Kumari (Coastal Merchant), 2805 tons
17 Apr 1940
0702 CG 16 Ship sunk! HMS Revenge (Revenge Battleship), 28000 tons
0742 CG 16 Ship sunk! HMS Fiji (Fiji Light Cruiser), 10725 tons
0749 CG 16 Ship sunk! HMS Nelson (Nelson Battleship), 36000 tons
1025 Patrol results
Crew losses: 0
Ships sunk: 11
Aircraft destroyed: 0
Patrol tonage: 111192 tons

The story of how it occurred:
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46558



I *think* improved convoys also improves the spawn rate of capital ships, so if your not using improved convoy's you may consider it. In 1940, you'll often enough see task forces coming from skap flow giong through gibralter, to port said i think, and from there to skapa flow.

[Wulfmann]

I am guessing you do not play 100% and when killed you do not start over?!? :rotfl:

I have run a patrol almost every day for 8 months. Except for adding R-class BBs to my RND file for some convoys that had them early, I have seen a Nelson in Lock Ewe once and a KGV at long range once and 2 R-class in a task force, again at long range. That is it
I have seen escort carriers in that same period once in a convoy and the other I accidentaly torpedoed with a homming fish I shot at a DD and it disabled the CVE which I later sunk after the escorts left.
I am safe to say that is it out of at least 250 patrols so you are experiencing the typical and understand why I am more excited about a new cargo ship in the game than a new battleship I will never see.
Fact is most Kaleuns never saw a big prize either so this would be very typical.

D, that is more BB tonnage than was sunk by all combatants in the Atlantic theater in the whole war and no U-Boat ever sank that much tonnage on one patrol in the war either.
But, it depends on what you enjoy. For some reality is just too boring!

Wulfmann

[Ducimus]

That was the 2nd patrol from an old character who got killed by a plane attack. It was total luck. The fates were smiling on me that day, pure and simple. It was PURE luck from start to finish. I couldnt do taht again even if i tried to. That is probably the 2nd time ive ever come accross a task force. (first time was at night, 15 winds, heavy rain and seas, and all i could do was listen)

That said, i have never seen a carrier of any kind.

If you have a rough idea of their routes, are in the general area, and get a lucky contact report (lucky meaning not so far away that you'd have to 2nd guess the task force, but not so close as to not give you time to react) You will see them, but for the circumstances to set themselves up in just the right way is really rare.

EDIT:
>>I am guessing you do not play 100% and when killed you do not start over?!?

Acutally i play DiD, but your right i dont play at 100%. Im around 80% because I just coudnt give up my weapons officer's assistance for those moments when i just don't wanna miss :rotfl:

[VonHelsching]

I have to say that I was rather lucky:

1) In my first career (~50 missions) @ about mission 45 I saw my first capital ship and sank it with my XXI. It was an escort carrier

2) In my second career (22 missions so far), in the 2nd mission I was assigned to the grid of Scapa Flow. Surprise-surprise, I went in, found a stationary Revenge Battleship and sank it with a salvo of my last three topedoes. That was with a Typ IIA

3) In the same (second career) after 20 missions I finally transfered to La Spezia. After my partol to the assigned grid I went with my IXB for a harbour raid in Valetta, sank 2 DDs and went out ~50 kms...only to find a big task force of 5-6 DDs plus Neson BB plus Revenge But I couldn't get close to them. DDs were all over me.

As I read in the forum, the Med looks very promising for capitel ships encounters, especially near the staits of Gibraltar.

All these encounters were out of pure luck. I do not use RuB or Improved Convoys mod.

If you really want to see a capital ship, I would suggest that you search for old topics. Some people have already posted what is scripted in the campaign with specific dates and places where BBs hang around...

[Marhkimov]

Capital ships are not meant to be sunk. Hence the name "Hunter-Killer" group.... Not "Hunt me" group.

But jokes aside, warships are almost always travelling at high speeds. Otherwise, you'd sink them too easily. I'm pretty sure that the British Admiralty wouldn't appreciate that.

[thasaint]

sailing out of norway, a day out of port, had an illustrious task force cross within 500m of my bow, so lucky, sunk her

same patrol sunk a KGV in a convoy... this is all late war btw, apparantly some of the late war convoys weren't updated by improved convoys, and that's why the KGV was in it

besides that early on not playing on high realism the illustrious and revenge at scapa, and the nelson at loch ewe

[gdogghenrikson]

does an aircraft carrier count...other then that nope...and ive never seen an aircraft carrier till '44

[Kalach]

I've sunk a few Bogue escort carriers, but I don't class them as 'real' capital ships.
I almost rammed a Nelson that came out of the fog at me, but that's been my only contact with a capital ship out of ~90 patrols

[Highbury]

first patrol on my current career I sunk a Revenge BB and an Auxiliary Cruiser in Scapa Flow. This is a bit of cheating however, there are many lists floating around showing where and when to find 'stationary' capital ships.

[STEED]

Sunk two Nelson class Battleships but no Aircraft Carrier yet one day I hope to

[kiwi_2005]

Sunk a carrier early in the war, theres a taskforce that runs from the Gib to England around 1941-42 making speed of 20knots best way to catch it is be inline with it and just wait. She travels in the CG to BF lanes