Patrol techniques and conventions

[mrbannon]

(Forgive me if there's already a thread on this.)

OK, here's the deal. It's Aug. 1, 1939. 7/13 flotilla out of Konigsberg. I've been ordered to patrol AO98 (which is only a few hours away). Here are my questions.

- How far would a u-boat be from shore when navigating towards its patrol sector?

- Once in the patrol sector, what speed would the u-boat keep?

- What makes a good patrolling pattern? (AO98 is special because less than half the sector is water.)

- I'm assuming one should switch between sonar (periscope depth) and visual (surface) during the the patrol. At what frequency should these legs change?

- Are there depths that are NOT safe to submerge in? (For example, a depth of 12 meters could quickly become less than that. How would a captain know?)

- If a contact is made, does one immediately surface to report it, or wait? (I assume one waits, unless it's a special circumstance.)

- SH3-specific question: do the crew automatically rotate shifts, or is that the player's responsibility?

- Anything else I should know?

Tx,

Ryan