Tactical decision: what would you do?

[MKalafatas]

Trying to penetrate Rabaul harbor in an S-boat, in February '42. The time is 1900 --- quite dark. Enemy destroyer (type as yet undetermined) patrolling 3000-4000 yards outside the harbor in deep water.

The harbor itself, of course, is shallow. I don't know what, if anything, is inside.

My options:

(1) Confront the destroyer in deep water outside the harbor, and then penetrate.

(2) Sneak around the destroyer, get into the harbor, and deal with him on the way out.

My inclination is to go with option (1), as the risk is relatively low. If I fight the destroyer first, should I:

(a) ambush him with a spread?
(b) ping him to provoke a charge, and shoot down-the-throat?

Haven't had much luck ambushing destroyers.

Curious to know how everyone deals with this problem.

[TorpX]

Personally, I would just stay out of the harbor.

You don't say if the object of the operation is photo-recon, or to attack shipping. If recon I would just try to avoid alerting the destroyer. If attacking, I would try to torpedo him at night when he is unaware and more vulnerable.

[Hinrich Schwab]

Originally Posted by MKalafatas

Trying to penetrate Rabaul harbor in an S-boat, in February '42. The time is 1900 --- quite dark. Enemy destroyer (type as yet undetermined) patrolling 3000-4000 yards outside the harbor in deep water.

The harbor itself, of course, is shallow. I don't know what, if anything, is inside.

My options:

(1) Confront the destroyer in deep water outside the harbor, and then penetrate.

(2) Sneak around the destroyer, get into the harbor, and deal with him on the way out.

My inclination is to go with option (1), as the risk is relatively low. If I fight the destroyer first, should I:

(a) ambush him with a spread?
(b) ping him to provoke a charge, and shoot down-the-throat?

Haven't had much luck ambushing destroyers.

Curious to know how everyone deals with this problem.

I wouldn't even consider your course of action unless I was in a Gato class boat. I wouldn't try it unless I was in a Balao class boat. An S-Class is out of the question. That thing can't run deep enough to get away if something goes wrong. I would creep away and find a softer target.

[HW3]

I would slip around to the North of Rabaul to where the the straight just starts to open up into the Bismarck Sea, and set up shop there. Something is bound to come along there shortly.

[WernherVonTrapp]

I've raided the harbor at Rabaul numerous times, though I don't recall ever attempting it in an S-Boat. I did go in with a Porpoise Class though. The problem with Rabaul is it's isolation. You never know what you'll find until you're actually in there. Sometimes, there is an additional patrol boat inside the harbor, but I guess that depends on the mod you're running, if you're running any.
Usually, I enter and exit from the shallow inlet to the SE. There's always a DD, a Mine sweeper or subchaser patrolling the outer perimeter. I always take this patrol craft out as stealthily and expeditiously as I can by sneaking up and torpedoing from a high speed range. You have to lead the target since they usually speed up just prior to impact, so aim slightly ahead of center. Once that boat has been dispatched, you have to go in at just below "decks awash" depth (or just deep enough for battery power) just prior to hitting the harbor's shallows and WATCH OUT for the shore guns. You may not always see them, but they're there!

You may also run into a Sampan or Fishing Boat once inside. Ignore them, unless they get too close or are blocking your approach. You won't be able to see everything that's in there until you clear the bend on the right. Since the ships are docked, you can use a long range attack to avoid getting any nearer to shore installations. Usually, I find the harbor replete with fat juicy targets. On a couple of occasions, I wasted a lot of time and effort to find a few low tonnage targets.
Good Luck sir. In an S-Boat no less, you got big 'uns.

Oh yeah, you always run the risk of getting caught in the middle of incoming/outgoing traffic. I once narrowly missed being mauled by five (5) DDs that were on their way out. It was all a matter of happenstance timing that saved me.

[donna52522]

You don't say what your using, stock, TMO, RFB....w/without RSRDC?

Do you have mission orders, or do you want to just raid the harbor?

If your just raiding it I wouldn't even try it, wait until you get a better boat and if you have RSRDC raid Truk, easy to get in and out and always a good bag.

Last time I went into Rabaul on a raid, I was setting up for a shot when the U.S. Navy flyboys showed up and sank everything worth sinking !!!

[Diopos]

Mr MKalafatas (Greek descent?)
Just save and give it a go. Regardles of the result it will be an excellent exercise on:

1. silent running
2. trying to establish the patern of the DD and see if you can "time" your maneuver to minimize the possibility of being detected.

Again this is just an excercise. I'd never do it. Attacking the DD and then entering the harbor well ... sounds somewhat unrealistic. You would have informed everybody of your presence. Bypassing the DD, getting some kills and then trying to exit you would still have to deal with an alerted DD and probably in shallow waters.

Of course if Hirohito is visiting ...

.

[MKalafatas]

Great comments --- thanks to all.

I took Torp's advice and slinked away .... but may go back. Some background: (running stock game --I'm a newb --- will upgrade to TMO/RSRDC at end of career), I finished a patrol in the Celebes and got the OK to patrol elsewhere. Although early in the war, I thought the Bismarck Sea would be interesting, but it's a long journey. I made it to Port Moresby, thinking I could top off fuel there, it being a friendly port. But, no. Barely made it to Brisbane and refit fuel and torpedoes.

I have no mission in Rabaul but it is now March 12th --- it has been a month since I sank a ship! Missed one convoy interception north of the Bismarck Sea and am presently engaged in what appears to be another futile attempt to intercept a radio contact along a similar track, from my patrol area closer to Rabaul, some 280 nm away.

Fuel down to 50%.

Can't bear to return to port with 12 torpedoes so ---- if I miss this convoy, I'll go back to Rabaul.

One note: very surprised not to have run into enemy air anywhere around Rabaul. Surely that changes later in the war....

@ Capt von Trapp: excellent ideas from an obviously-experienced skipper. Didn't know about the shore guns --- that might be a TMO thing. I'm using Mark X torpedoes --- no "fast" setting --- but your idea of leading the destroyer on ambush might be just the thing...

@ donna: lol @ your experience in the harbor during a US air raid. [Edited to add:] My ex-grandfather-in-law (if that makes sense) was a B-25 pilot who raided Rabaul IRL.

@ diopos: aye, Greek-American!

Thank you, friends, I will update my adventure....

Edited to add: While @ periscope depth outside Rabaul, I was watching the destroyer, trying to gauge his routine and decide what to do. Suddenly he turned onto a track directly at me (although still @ 13 knots). Got to within 2000 yards --- it was a Fubuki --- I was scrambling to arrange a down-the-throat shot --- until finally he turned away. That was scary, and that's why I left.

[SuperEtendard]

in what moment are you in the campaign?

i dont know when the japaneses take rabaul but is different evading a japanese destroyer in december 1941 than in july 1942, for example.


im going to try it right now, just for see what happens, begining a campaign at brisbane, 1942 with the S sub

by the way, what s the difference between S-18 and S-42? the only thing i know is they have the aa gun in different places (later cunning towers)

* Edited 5 secs later i posted the above text

oh, i got my post late by 4 minutes... (Damn you F5, why i didnt push you earlier..)

Well... im using stock 1.4 like you, the shore guns are real, they arent a tmo thing, believe me... like we say in this part of the world:
"Lo aprendí a las malas..." I learned the hard way...

ambushing a DD with the MK 10 torpedo is interesting, you can trust them they will explode most of the time, but they are slow, easy to evade...

when i fire a mk 10 to a DD at my 12 o clock, closing, I do it at short range (500mts), so the dd has less time to detect it, but when i fire i immediately Crash Dive, if you keep waiting to see what happens and it goes wrong, you are in very very trouble

[MKalafatas]

Thanks, SuperEntendard. I don't know the difference between the two S-boats. This is my first career with manual targeting. Good luck to you! --- Would be interested to learn how you fare.

[WernherVonTrapp]

What you'll find on a lot of harbor raids (if you choose to conduct them), is that the ships that patrol the harbors sometimes will come to a complete stop if they somehow become aware of your presence (apart from detecting you themselves, that is). This makes them easier targets for torpeoing. For example, on my last harbor raid at (Hsia-liu, Formosa) I sank a nearby Raked Bow Split freighter about 6nm from the port. This brought the patrol boat at Hsia-liu to a complete stop, where I suppose he was listening, much like one or more of the DDs do after attacking a convoy. BTW, I always conduct these raids at night. Like another member said, try it as an exercise by saving prior to the attack. I've attacked ports, especially Rabaul, more times than I can remember. Unrealistic, yes, but so are a lot of things with this sim. That shouldn't preclude you from attacking any potential target.

[SuperEtendard]

i just came back from the raid to Rabaul...

i started the patrol in june 1942, from Brisbane, with a S-42...

Although the coral sea battle had been won, there was a lot of enemy aerial activity, I almost spent all of my batteries charge in crossing the coral sea (there i realized how long it takes to the S sub to recharge , it takes 5 hours to recharge 1/4 of the batteries....)
When i entered the "Rabaul Bay", i did it at 00:00 and waited the rest of the night surfaced to finish the recharge of batteries.
In the middle of the night i spotted an allied airplane heading for port moresby, also a pilot in parachutes, but landed on the beach...

When the sun came out, (5:45) I went to PD and headed for Rabaul.
No patrolling DD was there. When I rised the periscope at 2 km from rabaul, the sky was full of fast yellow lights... it was an AIR RAID
This time it wasnt the navy, it was the air force. 2 or 3 USAF Lancasters (yes, i know. but the game is that way...) bombed the ships at Rabaul, most missed, but an oil-carrier merchant was damaged...

I waited for the aircrafts to go away and then started my attack. I launched 4 torpedos to a heavy merchant in front of me, at 80° from me. sunk in 1 minute, later i fired 2 torps to a medium oil merchant, but both torpedos hit the dock before reaching the ship. then i recalculated and fired 2 more to the same ship, they hitted the bow of the merchant, but it stayed just fine . I change target and fired 2 torps to the damaged oil carrier, it exploded and sunk with the stern out of the water, like titanic, but it stayed there... stucked in the shallow bottom.

Finally i fired my 2 last torpedos to a big oil merchant, hoping the would hit the center of the ship and explode the oil and tear in half the merchant, but they hit the bow and the ship didnt sink ...

Then i tourned back at 17:00 (i waited all the afternoon for the damaged ships to sink, but it didnt happened) and retourned to brisbane without problem, i sank 2 ships and damaged 2 others, just 1 remained untouched, a medium freighter that was too far away... I was lucky because the DD went somewere out of rabaul or it was sunk by the planes, but it wasnt there... (no mines nor sub nets-----> Stock ver 1.4 )

Good Luck raiding at Rabaul

[nikimcbee]

I'd stay outta the harbor. If you tangle with the destroyer and miss, then....

[I'm goin' down]

Approach with decks awash, accompanied by Nikimbee's sleek PT boat, with their "girl' posing on its bow. That will get their attention. When the enemy starts shooting, flip 'em the bird and get the hell out of there. Take the gril with you...!

[MKalafatas]

@ SuperEntendard: Great job!

@ I'm goin' down: lol! Women and children first!