Enough already!!!

[Stingray67]

So there I am in my Type IID W of the Hebrides when the lookouts spot a ship.
Turns out to be two; a Town class Destroyer and an unidentified escort.

Since the sea was like glass and I was making too much noise they detected me and steered towards me. No matter I thought and dove to just above the sea bed (80 odd metres in this case).
They pick me upp easily enough and through two accurate depth charge salvoes destroys my AA gun, radio, hydrophones and both persicopes. The torpedo tubes are all damaged but repairable and the batteries are destroyed.

So I am dodging what turns out to be two elite escorts in reasonably shallow waters. I am at the bottom end of my battery power and can only coax my electrical engines to give me 3 knots. Being deaf as well as blind (no external camera) it is not so easy to handle the geometry of this particular fight. After a while they run out of depth charges but still keep at it.

Three hours into this cat-and-mouse the depth charges start rainig down again damaging my diesels. I think they just got reinforced! I keep evading and soon they are out of things to throw at me again.

This all started at 19:30 and it is now 05:59 game-time. I am seriously tired of the situation. The battery level is decreasing, although slowly. I have three-quarters of my compressed air and the on-board air is ok...so far.
I think there is only one escort left, but he is both persistant and uncanny in his ability to find me time and time again. I have been toying with the idea to make a run for it on the surface, but I don't think my chances are very good in my Type II. Besides I would need to do that soon if I want cover of darkness.

I'll keep evading, I think. I have run out of tricks to loose him with and I am pessimistic about the outcome but I will be damned if I am going to roll over just like that.

[meduza]

I guess everyone here were at least once in the similar situation. Maybe a weak or two ago, I was depth-charged for 7 hours (real time!). I finaly managed to sink the destroyer with a 4 torpedo spread when she run out of the depth charges.

I stayed up until 4 a.m, and next morning came to work looking (and feeling) like a zombie. I told my boss that I was at the birthday party, because I don't know what he would have said if I told him I was evading a destroyer all night. :rotfl:

I hope you will get away alive.

[PappyCain]

I guess everyone here were at least once in the similar situation. Maybe a weak or two ago, I was depth-charged for 7 hours (real time!). I finaly managed to sink the destroyer with a 4 torpedo spread when she run out of the depth charges.

Yes. I have been there a few times. That is the beauty of this sim. It imitates real situations that calls for clear thinking, endurance - good for us immersion players who appreciate how well the programmers did their research and work!!

[Kapt Z]

Originally Posted by meduza

I guess everyone here were at least once in the similar situation. Maybe a weak or two ago, I was depth-charged for 7 hours (real time!). I finaly managed to sink the destroyer with a 4 torpedo spread when she run out of the depth charges.

I stayed up until 4 a.m, and next morning came to work looking (and feeling) like a zombie. I told my boss that I was at the birthday party, because I don't know what he would have said if I told him I was evading a destroyer all night. :rotfl:

Forget the boss! My wife would have made things mighty cold in the house after a night like that! :p

[Graf Paper]

Keep your boat at silent running, do not go faster than 1 knot. this helps to make the DDs "deaf" to your presence. I know the Type II boats can remain silent at 2 knots.

Steer your boat toward deeper water, making random turns from time to time, to avoid being tracked on a straight line.

Unless you're flooding, I'd suspend repairs to keep the noise down and do not exceed 2 knots in speed or the destroyers will pick up your engine/propeller noise. You can use bursts of speed to draw their attention and then immediately set all stop while making a tight turn, drifting away from where they think you are.

Too many kaleuns here have lost their lives because they lost their nerve and tried to use speed to get away. Kind of pointless, when you think about it. Even if you could get away with flank speed, that's a max of 7 or 8 knots submerged vs. the destroyer's max speed of 25-34 knots.

You have to be as quiet and elusive as a ghost.

I once endured being hunted by four escorts for 14 hours, game time. There's a certain satisfaction in finally being able to surface and limping home in your battered and leaking u-boat, knowing you'll live to fight another day.

[Schöneboom]

Jeepers, I didn't know such extended encounters were possible in GWX! I've only had to tangle with convoy escorts who, if they lose contact with you, give up after about 1-1/2 hrs. Those DDs you're dodging must be independent hunter-killer groups, right?

In a sick way, I almost envy you. I would be amazed to be in a tight spot with my air & battery power running out! To add to Graf Paper's advice, I would add only:

1) If there is no thermal layer to protect you from the DD sonar, then you might need to jump to full speed as soon as your sonarman yells, "Wasserbomben!"
2) The explosions mask your noise for ~30 seconds, so soon after the last explosion, switch back to 1 knot & change course. Then stay silent until the next attack.
3) If you are under a thermal layer (can't hear the pings), then you stay at 1 knot until the explosions start.

Viel Gluck!

[Stingray67]

Thanks for the advice people.

I am doing all of the above, but speedwise I am limited to 3 knots at about 200 rpm.

The situation si still undecided, though.

One question. I thought thermal layers weren't modelled? Are they?

[Graf Paper]

Unfortunately, SH3 does not model thermal layers or ASDIC being disrupted by depth charges detonating.

Albrecht von Hesse did create a decent mod that does mimic the behavior of depth charges interfering with ASDIC, but I do not know if he ever worked all the bugs out that caused escorts to zero in and attack their own depth charge noises.

You will be "in their baffles" when you hear the splashes of the depth charges but only if you know by the sound that the ship is directly above you. ASDIC is completely deaf within a 40 degree arc of the ship's stern because of their propellers. The downside to that is, when you're facing more than one ASW vessel, the other ship will assume a position to keep you within the search radius of their ASDIC. Hunter-killer groups like to have one ship hang back as a "spotter" to zero the other ships in on your position. Then they swap to a new spotter after each run, depending on who is in the best position to listen for you.

Don't assume because the enemy is pinging you with active sonar that you've been spotted. Sometimes they use active as a "flashlight" to search for you. You'll know when active sonar has a lock because the enemy is making a beeline right for you at full speed for a depth charge run while they ping away at your hull. Active sonar cannot find you if you're deep enough to be under it. Imagine it as a cone or wide flashlight beam that shines forward and down a bit, sweeping back and forth. The closer you are to the ship that's pinging, the less depth you need for the sonar "beam" to pass over you. The downside is that the closer you are to the ship, the better they can hear you on their hydrophones so you'd better be as quiet as you can manage.

If you can't get under enough to avoid the active sonar, always keep your boat's bow or stern pointed right at them to give as small a surface to reflect the sonar back to them. You face yourself broadside at an active sonar and you're just a well off to surface and pop the hatch with a white flag in hand.

Convoy escorts do give up after a short time because their job is to escort the convoy and protect it, hence their naval designation of DE instead of DD. It does not prevent them from radioing for help and calling a hunter-killer group onto the scene, though. HKs do not give up until you've been destroyed or they lose contact with your u-boat long enough that they assume you have been killed.

Stick to the plan. Use silence, depth, and cunning to your advantage. Make unpredictable changes in course and depth but always ending each maneuver to place yourself as far to the edge of their search radius as you can until you finally slip through their net.

It can be a great deal of fun, filled with plenty of tense moments, but facing an HK group after 1941 will likely mean the end of your career unless you're extremely smart and have ice in your veins.

[Red Heat]

Well for me its a perfect and normal situation...if you are playing a naval simulation and commanding a U-Boat it will happen sometimes the hunter be hunted!

[Brag]

200 RPM will give away your position. Use 100 RPM or less if you hope to lose the bugger.

[Stingray67]

Well I got to the end but not in any way I imagined.
I was too tired to keep on so I left the game paused overnight...as I have done on many other occasions.

When I got up this morning I was greeted with a "Silent Hunter III has stopped working" windows message.

How is that for an anti-climax!!! Now I will never know if Kurt Rössler would have found his watery grave or if he would have limped home to glory.

I guess I have to start over from the last save.

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess it wasn't meant to be. :-)

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Stingray67

Thanks for the advice people.

I am doing all of the above, but speedwise I am limited to 3 knots at about 200 rpm.

The situation si still undecided, though.

One question. I thought thermal layers weren't modelled? Are they?

They are mimicked by SH3 Commander in the sense that the escorts sensors are randomly set to be effective at differing depths.