I hate this "destroyed by pressure"

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by KeineK

I've used an IXB for most of my time playing the game, and I regularly push 260-280 when the escorts won't give up. I've hit 310, but started taking hull damage after that. Even with a bit of hull damage I can manage a good 240m or so. A temperamental mistress, the IXB can be, your results may vary.

Originally Posted by KeineK

GWX3, SH3C with randomized crush depth.

Pretty close to the figures I've experienced....same game additions, obviously

[ediko]

VIIC easily took me to 260m without a any damage. Stayed there for 30 minutes and went back to periscope depth. So I don't have any problems with pressure. Just make sure your hull is 100% and if not don't go ( or try not to go) below recommended depth of your boat.

[Hangman]

I'm curious, I've watched videos with Toppe, and have read several documents and books regarding being depth charged; and they have all said basically the same thing. The only worry they had was the depth charge getting below them or a direct hit. If it was along side, they'd get jostled a bit, If it was above them, they'd get jostled a bit. But if the DC landed on the deck and then detonated, or if it detonated close below them, then they took severe damage.

I am assuming the game & mods (Stock SH3, GWX, LSH3v5, etc) have not taken this into account ??
What are the explosive ranges of the DC's in the stock and GWX?? How close do they have to be to your boat to get a damage ??

In most of the books and documents I've read, and even in one of the video's of Toppe, they mentioned that early on in the war, the DC's were always short, or they were not set deep enough and the uboats would always glide away underneath them. Is this set in the game this way as well ?
Also, the DC's early on in the war were considered weak or of low explosive power. It wasn't until 41-42 that they had a much stronger explosion and would cause some serious damage if they got close enough.

Anyway, just my thoughts on the subject, don't mean to hijack the thread.

[K-61]

Although there were some kills from "dead on" hits from DC's, most of the time it was accumulated damage which forced a U-boat to the surface that resulted in the loss of the boat. For example, cracked battery cells released their contents into the bilge, which mixed with sea water and created chlorine gas, forcing an emergency surface. Later in the war, when the Allies could take the time to prosecute a contace to conclusion, U-boats were forced to surface due to low air or batteries. Aerial depth charges initially caused little damage, as their depth settings were too shallow. When they increased the detonation depth to 50' they achieved more kills, as the DC's went off below a U-boat which had just commenced its emergency dive. Probably the best ASW weapon deployed from ships was the Hedgehog, as it could often be deployed while the pinging escort still had ASDIC contact. Hedgehog attacks were four times as successful as DC attacks. If I recall correctly, DC's had a three percent success rate whereas Hedgehog had a twelve percent success rate; I believe these figures were cited in Clay Blair's two volume set.

[fastfed]

In the beginning of the war, for a boat to dive over 900!!! FEET! was impossible, or so the allies thought.. I mean 300 feet was a lot to the allies, no way was the Uboat able to go that deep.. Little did they know and hence the always coming short DC's

Its still makes me wonder to this day.. As high tech as the gato class was 300-400 feet was about all she could go..

Originally Posted by fastfed

In the beginning of the war, for a boat to dive over 900!!! FEET! was impossible, or so the allies thought.. I mean 300 feet was a lot to the allies, no way was the Uboat able to go that deep.. Little did they know and hence the always coming short DC's

Its still makes me wonder to this day.. As high tech as the gato class was 300-400 feet was about all she could go..

Difference in hull design and priorities.
A tube is the best design for withstanding pressure.
Uboat: 4 forward tubes = round pressure hull = stronger design.
Others: 6 forward tubes = egg shape pressure hull = weakened design.

There are other factors such as steel quality and thickness, weld quality, etc.
Everything is a trade off and balancing act.

[ediko]

Wait... seriously the Gato could only do 90m ? never knew that.
I mean I just took my uboat to 260m that's almost 3 times as much! Were the uboats really able to go that deep and US submarines so little?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by fastfed

Its still makes me wonder to this day.. As high tech as the gato class was 300-400 feet was about all she could go..

Originally Posted by ediko

Wait... seriously the Gato could only do 90m ? never knew that.
I mean I just took my uboat to 260m that's almost 3 times as much! Were the uboats really able to go that deep and US submarines so little?

The simple answer is that it's not true. Look at the 'Green' part of a German depth guage. The test depth is usually around 90-100 meters. That's all they were rated for. But they went much deeper.

Likewise 300 feet was what a Gato was rated for, 400 for a Balao and 450 for a Tench. It was commonly accepted wisdom that those boats were good for twice the listed depth, and there were occasions where fleet boats went to at least 750 feet, which is 230 meters.

So yes, the bigger fleet boats couldn't go as deep as a Type VII, but neither could a Type IX.

As for depth charges in the game, the stock kill distance is 25 meters, with the max radius for damage being 75 meters. The supermods, as far as I know, set the kill radius to a much more realistic 8 meters, and the damage radius at 25. This means that to get an instant kill they must be much closer, and more importantly that you can get a drubbing that lasts all day and still get away alive, which is what happened most of the time.

[Hangman]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

...
As for depth charges in the game, the stock kill distance is 25 meters, with the max radius for damage being 75 meters. The supermods, as far as I know, set the kill radius to a much more realistic 8 meters, and the damage radius at 25. This means that to get an instant kill they must be much closer, and more importantly that you can get a drubbing that lasts all day and still get away alive, which is what happened most of the time.

That seems a better assessment. 25 meters for the DC kill is a long distance, even for late war DC's although by late 43 and on, I believe a decent kill from a DC would be at roughly 15+ meters with a damage radius at somewhere's in the neighborhood of 30 meters +/-.

[K-61]

Excellent posts, Sailor Steve and Snestorm. Good, accurate info.

[ediko]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The simple answer is that it's not true. Look at the 'Green' part of a German depth guage. The test depth is usually around 90-100 meters. That's all they were rated for. But they went much deeper.

Likewise 300 feet was what a Gato was rated for, 400 for a Balao and 450 for a Tench. It was commonly accepted wisdom that those boats were good for twice the listed depth, and there were occasions where fleet boats went to at least 750 feet, which is 230 meters.

So yes, the bigger fleet boats couldn't go as deep as a Type VII, but neither could a Type IX.

As for depth charges in the game, the stock kill distance is 25 meters, with the max radius for damage being 75 meters. The supermods, as far as I know, set the kill radius to a much more realistic 8 meters, and the damage radius at 25. This means that to get an instant kill they must be much closer, and more importantly that you can get a drubbing that lasts all day and still get away alive, which is what happened most of the time.

Well that cleared it up a bit. But still as far as I saw the VII test depth was pretty big ~230m if I'm correct and crush depth as deep as 270m which still is a lot compared to fleet boats. Well US did have a bigger and better fleet though... as were most of the countries Germany was fighting with. Kaleuns still need to be respected for fighting in such unfavorable odds.

[fastfed]

Originally Posted by ediko

Well that cleared it up a bit. But still as far as I saw the VII test depth was pretty big ~230m if I'm correct and crush depth as deep as 270m which still is a lot compared to fleet boats. Well US did have a bigger and better fleet though... as were most of the countries Germany was fighting with. Kaleuns still need to be respected for fighting in such unfavorable odds.

Better?? I don't agree.. USA had many things that were in a league of their own < Being one, but Germany had excellent technology and much STRONGER machines. They just lacked in the production department.. Obviously thanks to our detroit

[fastfed]

Also, why is it every where I read the test depth was MUCH MORE than 90-100 Meters?

for example, just a quick google search comes out with this

Test depth: 230 m (750 ft)[1]
Calculated crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Type_VII_submarine

[U777]

I do like the fact that the US subs carried an escape trunk. Much better than simply flooding the compartment in U-boats.

[fastfed]

Originally Posted by U777

I do like the fact that the US subs carried an escape trunk. Much better than simply flooding the compartment in U-boats.

Well if I had to choose, It would be an American sub FOR SURE!! just for the A/C!! lol