Does sending a contact report do anything?

[Turm]

Whilst fully loaded with all 14 torpedoes, I radioed in a convoy contact up near Scotland.

A few minutes later, I got a reply from BdU telling me to transfer to a new patrol area 400 miles to the south, and begin patrolling there!

Needless to say, I ignored that order temporarily and attacked the convoy!

[Noren]

...that would have been difficult to explain to the BdU when he reads your loggbook

[SabreHawk]

Well this could have been a fluke because as best I could tell the send contact report button looked to be non functional(appeared to be blacked out.) in the training mission.(Invasion of Poland).
But on the way back to Kiel, I ran across a lone polish merchant twice, I was able to sink the first one I caught, but the next one I stumbled on I only had the stern torpedo left, and weather was too rough for a deck gun attack. So I plugged him with the one torp I had, but wasn't enough to do the job, so I went and clicked on the contact report button anyway.
Then about 20 min. later a friendly aircraft showed up and attacked the merchant I'd torpedo'ed. Still wasnt enough to sink him though. Too bad the weather prevented a gun attack or I could have come home with 6 kills instead of the required 4.

"Damn this stinking weather" (Das Boot)

So im assuming the button worked, and being in the waters I was so close to home that the aircraft was a response to my report.

[jlederer]

Give the number and spacing of U-boats in the atlantic, it would be unrealistic if a contact report resulted in another sub arriving in anything less than several hours. Similarly think intervention by the Luftwaffe or the Kriegsmarine would be very limited except for within very near vicintity of Continental Europe.

[Méo]

Originally Posted by jlederer

Give the number and spacing of U-boats in the atlantic, it would be unrealistic if a contact report resulted in another sub arriving in anything less than several hours.

Yeah, but when the secret services knew there was a convoy, BdU ordered many U-boats to form a ''catching line'' to intercept and shadow the convoy.

[SabreHawk]

Oh yes I do think the quickness of the response was my close proximity to a Luftwaffe base. SH3 was the same way and perfectly normal.

One certainly cant expect a response out in the atlantic unless by chance another friendly is near enough. But thats not likely.

The one time It happened for me in SH3 was on my way back to Kiel and I was in the Skagerrak Strait when I reported it, and weather was clear.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Well? Has anyone noticed German air attacks or wolfpacks or ? as a result of a contact report sent in?

Good question.

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Yes it does. I have seen the files...

** POTENTIAL SPOILER*

There is an increased chance of aerial attack and increased chance of detection. There also seems to be an increased chance of an allied interception / air attack, but this is based on the files that I have looked at actually being connected to the game and not some random left over that is a red herring.

I haven't seen anything about wolf pack behaviour - I think it's air that's tied to contact reports, but if a U-Boat 'happens along' then it will engage (I believe).

Great answer! I am going to test that tonight, going to find a convoy and shadow all the way into por, sending contact reports every 2 hours. Let's see what happens...

Originally Posted by Méo

For me this is of a critical importance for the game, it would be really a truly diffenrent experience from SH3 and it has not been mentioned since the release!!!

I want real Wolfpacks !!!

Who's with me!

- Dönitz

I am, I am!

[MaciejK]

Me too, gonna try it out tonight!