Attacking Scapa Flow

[pickinthebanjo]

Originally Posted by Iranon

I can't resist the urge to sneak into British naval bases... but it's not that rewarding.

From several attempts, I'd suggest not bothering to shoot at any troops transports there. Bloody nets.

There's usually some cruiser to be tagged there as well as a few merchants deeper in the harbour. I only encountered a capital ship once there, sinking the Hood in the first week of the war.

Yeah the first time that I hit it I somehow managed to miss the nets, the second time though I wasted a torpedo on one, also wasted a torpedo on a ship I had sunk already (was aiming at some tanker and struck a ship laying on the bottom)

[Little Uboots]

Cheers for the welcome

So you fellas all play with this GWX mod then? I was playing on vanilla, would this explain why scapa was completely friggin empty when I got there?

[pickinthebanjo]

Originally Posted by Little Uboots

Cheers for the welcome

So you fellas all play with this GWX mod then? I was playing on vanilla, would this explain why scapa was completely friggin empty when I got there?

You know thats probably the exact reason. I should have posted that I was playing with GWX3 And Commander. I recommend GWX to all SH3 players, it enhances the game play/realism by alot.

I will do another attack and post more details. (nets, batteries, destroyer locations) In GWX3 (at least on my install) when it gets dark I can't even see the bow of my sub, so I never have a problem with batteries.

[dyslexic doggie]

this morning, before i had to drag myself to work for 12hrs of fun and grease i got an hour in to play with my new xxi, did my 24hr patrol sank a couple of merchants, a destroyer, then decided to check out lock ewe, took my time crept in to about ten or so miles out and my sound contacts went nuts, there were destroyers parked everywhere it seemed, they were at the docks, parked at the shoreline, i sank 8 destroyers and a destroyer escort before i ran out of torpedoes, this is in early 1940, what a great morning.
dyslexic doggie.

[pickinthebanjo]

Originally Posted by dyslexic doggie

this morning, before i had to drag myself to work for 12hrs of fun and grease i got an hour in to play with my new xxi, did my 24hr patrol sank a couple of merchants, a destroyer, then decided to check out lock ewe, took my time crept in to about ten or so miles out and my sound contacts went nuts, there were destroyers parked everywhere it seemed, they were at the docks, parked at the shoreline, i sank 8 destroyers and a destroyer escort before i ran out of torpedoes, this is in early 1940, what a great morning.
dyslexic doggie.

Thanks for the tip, but were there any merchants? (or 4000+ ton ships)
I like doing harbor attacks, and am trying to find more ports to attack.

If I get ballsy enough ill head for gibraltor but I cant help but feel like it would be suicide

[dyslexic doggie]

no i don't think i saw any merchants that were not already on the bottom,
no big transports, or anything like that, but the destroyers who have hunted me relentlessly and blown off various pieces of my boat were good enough for me.

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by pickinthebanjo

Thanks for the tip, but were there any merchants? (or 4000+ ton ships)
I like doing harbor attacks, and am trying to find more ports to attack.

If I get ballsy enough ill head for gibraltor but I cant help but feel like it would be suicide

I tried Gibraltar in early '43. Scary stuff - destroyers and Elcos everywhere. By then of course they have some decent radar, so even at night in medium fog I had to be very careful. I don't know how, but I managed to get away from an escort destroyer that had snuck up on me. Caught me totally off guard and started blasting my sub to shreds with her guns. Thankfully the waters were deep enough to dive under a thermal layer.

If you can range far enough I recommend New York harbor. I had to cheat a little to make it there in '43, but found the trip worthwhile. You might be able to follow a shipping lane most of the way in if you plot a course out of the middle BC's IIRC, more or less in the direction of New York. Found a passenger liner that was on her way in, and plenty of cargo and tanker at the docks. Again, this is all in stock game. GWX players might find their experiences different from mine.

Speaking of GWX, maybe it's about time I install it.

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Heres is the best way that I have found to enter Scapa Flow, and I can say it is one of the safer ways of entering this anchorage.

The enterance is located to the West and is inbetween the large island of Mainland and the small island of Graemsay. There is only one ASW trawler that patrols these waters. It is better to sink it if you decide to leave via the same route. Stay close to the coast until you reach the area where the large ships are anchored. From there the best ways out are eathier back the way you came in or to the south inbetween the islands of Flotta and South Ronaldsay. Give it a try for yourselfs and tell me if it is better or worse.