SUBSIM: The Web's #1 resource for all submarine & naval simulations since 1997 |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
08-26-15, 02:42 PM | #1 |
Seaman
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 42
Downloads: 51
Uploads: 0
|
Is it not possible to accurately portray the German Type XXI?
Apologies if this belongs in a different subforum. My brain hurts a little trying to unravel the mess of subforums for this game. Not enough coffee today perhaps.
I tried out the U-Boat addon with a handful of mods that make the Type XXI available, but it does not appear to be even remotely the same as the real thing. The Type XXI was supposed to be able to run off it's electric motors for days, and charge them within a few hours with its snorkel. In SH4 it seems to just be a normal submarine with nothing special about it at all other than a cool model. There is no snorkel, the batteries run dry very quickly, and it takes ages to charge them. Is something wrong or is it just not possible to accurately portray this sub in this game? |
08-26-15, 10:54 PM | #2 |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,975
Downloads: 153
Uploads: 11
|
I've never played the german side, so I can't be positive. |
08-27-15, 01:02 PM | #3 | |
Navy Seal
|
Quote:
And the American Fleet Boat with Guppy III upgrade outperformed the Type XXI U-Boat in all performance areas. The Type XXI was just a reversion to US S-boat technology, optimized for higher underwater speeds and otherwise not too special.
__________________
Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS |
|
08-27-15, 01:52 PM | #4 | |
The Old Man
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,658
Downloads: 14
Uploads: 0
|
Quote:
The entire, rather detailed, report can be read here: http://www.uboatarchive.net/Design/D...iesTypeXXI.htm |
|
08-27-15, 09:32 PM | #5 | |
Seaman
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 42
Downloads: 51
Uploads: 0
|
Quote:
It also mentions nothing about the length of time required to charge the batteries. From the constant complaining about the low performance of the diesels I could imagine it taking a fair long while, but it doesn't say. |
|
08-27-15, 10:39 PM | #6 | |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,975
Downloads: 153
Uploads: 11
|
Battery recharge: Quote:
As far as maximum snorkeling speed, I doubt they could go above 6 kn., as greater speeds would likely damage the snorkel/linkages. |
|
08-28-15, 01:40 AM | #8 |
Seaman
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 42
Downloads: 51
Uploads: 0
|
Ah. Fair enough. Would it be standard practice then to run the battery down with the electric motors, stick up a snorkel, recharge them, take it down, run the battery dead, etc etc? This seems like it would be a problem if you were near the end of a cycle with low battery and suddenly you had to dive. On that note, would the electric motors be propelling the craft even while the diesels were charging the batteries while submerged? Or would you just have the diesels doing both and the electric engines off for the duration of the snorkel?
This doesn't even have to be a theoretical question: what do modern diesel-electric submarines do? Sorry if this is getting wildly off topic. I've never really understood how the snorkel was used. |
08-28-15, 06:46 AM | #9 | |
Navy Seal
|
Quote:
So all we're left with is the grandiose stories the originators used to sell the products to a military starving for stuff that worked! "Crap! We need some weapons bad. Weapons that work." "Hey we have a future weapon that MIGHT work!" "Here's the last of our dwindling resources: build it." A fair plan, executed today, beats a perfect plan to be executed tomorrow. And the perfect plan is only perfect while it's just a dream. And it might not start tomorrow. And....we'd best go with the fair plan and work it to death. The Type XXI was full of undiscovered flaws and a few of them would have been fatal. A big one was that the snorkel was one incredible radar target. So they'd be sitting there at snorkel depth, deaf, dumb and blind and the bombers would just have a party at their expense. The U-boat would just vanish and the Germans not a bit wiser for the experience. Fortunately for them they were unable to train enough crews for the boats to see action.
__________________
Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS |
|
08-28-15, 03:31 PM | #10 | ||
Seaman
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 42
Downloads: 51
Uploads: 0
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
08-29-15, 12:35 AM | #11 |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,975
Downloads: 153
Uploads: 11
|
More about Snorkeling: |
08-27-15, 08:46 PM | #12 | |
Let's Sink Sumptin' !
|
Quote:
All in all, I'd say the boat was a mixed blessing. The disadvantages I recall with it are the lack of a deck gun, and the shorter range. I seldom use aft torpedo tubes, however I still liked them for defense(One tube with a homing torpedo certainly takes care of close escorts) The Walther Turbine is definitely useful for evading escorts, and also getting into position to attack a convoy.
__________________
--Mobilis in Mobili-- Last edited by Torplexed; 08-27-15 at 08:55 PM. |
|
|
|