[REL] Webster's S-Class Mod

Webster's S-Class Mod for v1.4 & v1.5
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This mod is my interpretation of what the s-class boats were really like in real life. It is what I feel is a fairly accurate portrayal of a WW2 S-Class submarine. My goal was to give you the realistic feeling of being in a 20 year old very fragile boat with limited range and little armor that was unable to dive deep and can be sunk very easy without needing a lot of damage to do it. I also added a lot of rust to make them look more like you would expect a 20 yr old obsolete boat that was about to be scrapped at the beginning of the war to look like.

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My understanding of the American S-Class Submarines of WW2


These were the oldest of all the American submarines to ever see combat action in the Pacific Theater during World War 2. They were built between 1918-1925 and weren’t anywhere near up to the standards of the newer fleet submarines being built when the war started and were being replaced as obsolete.

The American S-Class submarine was a submarine built after World War I and this old obsolete boat was certainly not in any sort of condition for going to war against Japan.

When the war started these boats, while still able to do their jobs, were better suited for heading to the scrap yards then for going into combat.

They were very old and slow with very thin armor and their diving ability was limited due to the weakened rusty 20 year old hulls. Sub commanders knew the depths you could reach with any degree of safety was a guessing game at best.

Because of this, most commanders stayed well above the recorded test depth of 200 feet which was the recommended test depth for a brand new s-boat.

After the war started these "Pigboats" were reluctantly pressed into service during the early days of the war against Japan due to the U.S. Navy's severe shortage of fleet boats.

They were old, obsolete, underpowered, and the hulls were riveted together and not welded so that riveted construction along with the 20 years worth of rust, made the sub hulls very weak and unable to withstand very much damage by the time the war started.

They often suffered from numerous mechanical failures and frequent equipment problems along with limited fuel and battery ranges in addition to being inadequately armored to defend themselves against being attacked.

Sailors on these boats did their best to maintain them but they truly were “at risk” just by being at sea in one of these old, slow, worn out, obsolete boats.

These boats were often purposely assigned to some of the least important patrol areas or given recon or spy insertion or pickup missions. Even with their diminished roles however, the S-class submarines still accounted for sinking 14 Japanese ships.

Although these boats were relegated to being nothing more than a submarine training vessel by the latter stages of the war, they served their country valiantly and with distinction against tremendous odds and many were highly decorated for their actions.

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Warning: This mod makes it very hard to stay alive if attacked, but I think it gives you a realistic feel for how dangerous these boats were to serve on in real life. With this mod a destroyer dropping charges does not need to be on target, if he gets close to you it is usually good enough to sink you so use extreme caution in planning your attacks and don’t take any risks you don’t have to, just as it was in real life.

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Changes made by this mod:


S-Boat Skin:

Stock had an early war dark skin with a little rust and a late war silver skin with a little rust on it, I took the darker early war skins and I added a lot more rust to it and I added a more dirty weathered look so the skin really looks like a rusty 20 year old boat now. The early war and late war boats will now both use the same dark colored rusty skin.


Crush Depth:

Stock crush depth is 300 ft and in this mod I reset the crush depth to only 200 ft to simulate the 20 year old weakened hull


Hull Strength:

To simulate the 20 years of wear and tear and rust, along with riveted design construction, this mod reduces hull strength and armor levels to about 25% of the stock levels so it doesn’t take much to sink you.


Dive Speeds: (I couldn’t do much with the dive times but I did what I could to make them longer then stock times)

Crash dive from 6 kts @ ahead std - stock time was 20-22 seconds, my mod has it at 28-30 seconds

Dive to periscope depth @ 10 kts - stock time is 70 seconds to the level off point, my mod has it at 100 seconds


Fuel Range: (wikipedia data says new s-boats had a surfaced range of 5,000 nm)

Using my mod, flank gets a range of 1,900 nm

Using my mod, ahead std gets a range of 4,700 nm


Speed Settings:

Diesel - flank 10kts, ahead full 8 kts, ahead std 6kts, 2/3 4kts, 1/3 2kts

Electric - flank 7kts, ahead full 6 kts, ahead std 4kts, 2/3 3kts, 1/3 1kts


Batteries: (tested at 0 kts, submerged at periscope depth, and a fully charged battery)

@ ahead flank (7kts) - Battery lasts 2 hours and 40 minutes until battery discharged warning

@ ahead std (5kts) - Battery lasts 3 hours and 20 minutes until battery discharged warning

@ ahead 1/3 (1kt) - Battery lasts 22 hours and 50 minutes until battery discharged warning

- Stock battery lasts 55 hours to 60 hours until you get the battery discharged warning


Battery Charging:

Stock battery recharge time to fully recharge from the 10% charge warning or the battery discharged warning for s-boats was a ridiculously long 55-60 hours, with this mod it takes only 1 hour 15 minutes.

I feel that the recharge times are now too short to be realistic but it was necessary to set it there so that other things related to battery life would work properly.

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I wish to thank AVGWarhawk for his helpfull knowledge of s-boats and VonHesse who spent a lot of time running tests on this mod. thanks also go to Ducimus and ETR3(SS) and probably a few others i forgot to mention. I wish to thank everyone who helped with advice or assistance with this mod.

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This mod works for both v1.4 and v1.5 of the game, if any conflicts show up with other mods then just install this mod last and overwrite any files.

Install info:
As with all my mods, this mod is jsgme ready and it includes a read me file. Open the downloaded zip file and then open the mod folder.

Inside the mod folder is the "read me" that will tell you all about the mod and the folder next to it is the actual mod itself and that is the folder you need to put into jsgme.


Enjoy!

Webster



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Downloads: SUBSIM or Filefront

[Task Force]

Very nice, didnt even knotice it before.

[vanjast]

Yeah.. goodie

Now the fun begins...

[Bubblehead1980]

very nice, although i think crush depth of 200 feet is a bit much, test depth was 200, read about a few s boats going to 230 or so, just an fYI when you make future adjustments.

Also, any idea if this works well with TMO 1.9? Looking forward to trying it out, thanks for your work.

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

very nice, although i think crush depth of 200 feet is a bit much, test depth was 200, read about a few s boats going to 230 or so, just an fYI when you make future adjustments.

Also, any idea if this works well with TMO 1.9? Looking forward to trying it out, thanks for your work.

straight from wikipedia and verified by numerous other sources:

S18 Type
Test Depth 200 ft / 60 m
Crush Depth: 300 ft (approx) / 90m (approx)

S42 Type
Test Depth 200 ft / 60 m
Crush Depth: 300 ft (approx) / 90m (approx)

and as you stated yourself there are reports they went to 200+ on occassion, with this mod you get to 205 and your not comming back

[sergei]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

very nice, although i think crush depth of 200 feet is a bit much, test depth was 200, read about a few s boats going to 230 or so, just an fYI when you make future adjustments.

Then again I have read a few accounts of S Boats leaking at about 150ft, so maybe 200ft is a good compromise number.
It also gives you a good chance of getting under the layer, which looks to be a must for this now very fragile boat!

[VonHesse]

Woot, woot! It's here, it's here, the Pig of Doom is here!

O.k. all you super-captains. That's right, you. Used to coming home with 100,000 tons? Used to getting fists full of medals? Used to perfect set-ups and long loiter times? Used to having your way and devastating convoys? Well not anymore. The Pig of Doom is here to bring you back down to earth.

Go ahead. Give this mod a go... if you've got the stones for it. The "gravy days" are no more. If you're good enough, and smart enough, sneaky enough, patient enough, and most importantly lucky enough, you might just live long enough to get used to making it home alive... and I stress "might".

So come on, HERO. Come get some. The Pig of Doom is now accepting all takers... Next stop - Davey Jones's Locker

[Hitman]

Dargn, this is the additional challenge any realism freak would want

I am used to play with the S Boat without TDC, making only zero and 90º shots, but this mod might be even too much for me

[Bubblehead1980]

I also do not use TDC in S boats unless playing in 43(some S boats had TDC installed in 43) Not that hard just have to update info until the moment you fire since no PK.

Looking forward to trying this out but scared it might do something to TMO and do not want to do that, oh the agony

After reading some books on S boats, understood what crappy conditions the Pigboat sailors lived and fought it, gave me a whole new respect.

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

I also do not use TDC in S boats unless playing in 43(some S boats had TDC installed in 43) Not that hard just have to update info until the moment you fire since no PK.

Looking forward to trying this out but scared it might do something to TMO and do not want to do that, oh the agony

After reading some books on S boats, understood what crappy conditions the Pigboat sailors lived and fought it, gave me a whole new respect.

this mod should have a very realistic feel to it

[Sailor Steve]

It's evil!

It sux!

I love it!



But Webster, did you know that you didn't create it? Your Subsim Downloads link says that it was uploaded by you, but created by Unknown. At least you gave the poor guy credit.

lol, ok i'll go fix that

[XTBilly]

Webster, reading your post I was amazed..
New horizons opening in realism !!

Double thinking before attacking that juicy, well-protected convoy.

Before I try it, please confirm that it works with GFO.
I can't play anymore without GFO.

Thanks for your awesome work!!
Billy.

[Radio]

Nice work, Webster, can't wait to try this asap!

[Sniper297]

Scuttlebutt has it, the Germans designed a bunch of different type U boats in World War 1. In 1915 they designed one that was such a dog they never put it into production, and it was THAT one the Sugar boats were copied from.