Call me a nerd, but.....

[aj906]

I have just spent the last four and a half hours glued to the computer watching a quadrant of AL33....

I play with full real (except externals, cause I like the screen shots) and decided I should try and do a stint on watch to see what it was like. Dentist appointments are annoying. Mother-in-laws are painful. This was agony. And I was sitting in a chair out of harm's way and not being sprayed with February's North Atlantic spray!

So, call me a nerd, but the challenge is out there

Find a space of ocean to call your own. Cut the watch crew to just a single sailor. Turn up the speakers and turn off the iPoooood and gramaphone and see how long it is before you loose the will to live. (And remember, it matters what you scan because with just a sailor, you don't get a fail safe!)

It really hit home just how boring it must have been for a real life crew simulating the run to AH 12 no less (above New Foundland and in the Hudson Straights, thank you very much Mr Dönitz!) I did on a previous patrol for 15 weeks and heard nothing but destroyers off Reykjavik and managed just 81 tons of a fishing vessel via gunfire (the crew of which I took pity on, surfaced beside the boat, counted to 100 for real life evac, sunk, hung around to grab the half a dozen guys then chuffed off back to St Nazaire).

[Bakkels]

kaleun AJ906 reporting for duty


I wish I had the patience for that. However after a few of these patrols you must get really excited when you do spot a ship I imagine.

[She-Wolf]

dear 'Nerd' I admire your dedication! I would die of boredom in 15 minutes I am sure!

[Fish In The Water]

Takes an immense amount of patience, enough to make a sniper seem like a kid with A.D.D!

[Sailor Steve]

YOU'RE A NERD!

Well, you told me to.

Nothing wrong with boring yourself pretending to be a sub captain. Many of us qualify for that title.

[STEED]

I would have fallen asleep out of shear boredom.

[postalbyke]

And just think, the real navies of the world still do that, day in and day out...
on a US submarine, we would spend 6 hours on watch every 18 hours, and it's pretty much the same thing, staring at a computer screen with nothing going on most of the time...
hate to think what skimmers must feel like, i hear they do watch the sea directly every once in a while...

[Osmium Steele]

My first post. Been lurking for a while now. Playing SHIII/GWX/SHIII Commander. Bought the game upon initial release, played for a bit, then discovered Everquest. Don't feel bad, I'm cured now.

I've loved subsims since Silent Service, so much so I played a submarine radioman in real life for 6 years. '85 - '91.

Originally Posted by postalbyke

on a US submarine, we would spend 6 hours on watch every 18 hours, and it's pretty much the same thing, staring at a computer screen with nothing going on most of the time...

Staring at the gauges and readouts not move on the reactor control panel is an analog equivalent. (The very definition of tedium)

I hear modern submariners do most everything by computer or digital display. I wouldn't know, I still had to learn Morse Code for goodness sake.

Cheers!

[Jimbuna]

Many U-boats never come across a thing in a whole patrol so you could say your recent gaming experience was quite realistic.

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

My first post. Been lurking for a while now.

Hey, welcome to non-lurker status!