Kaboom! Wait, what just happened?

[sicou2]

Calm water it was... dead calm. Looks like it is time to test a new crush depth for this boat.

Thanks!

[rein1705]

S-boat = don't go below 165 feet unless you have to.
But... you'll make 280 sometimes before you start to take damage if you have a fresh "undamaged" boat that is. Good hunting to you.

[subskipper53]

Originally Posted by rein1705

S-boat = don't go below 165 feet unless you have to.

Pffft. I've taken an S-boat, as a test, all the way down to 300 feet... Died shortly after. Then again... this was with TMO, not RFB.

I usually find that, in a fleet boat, after i dip below 170-185+ i've completely dissapeared, looking from above.

[Armistead]

You don't get near as much depth with RFB as you do TMO. It's basically you can reach a certain mark and you're history. Once you pass it, you're gonna die, even if you get the boat going up. However, if you have no damage you can take it to the very mark and be perfectly fine, another foot...history. I use the S playing TMO 1.9 and do fine at 300 ft with no damage...but I wouldn't take it a foot further.

The Gato you can get down to 600ft without damage, but about impossible to hold depth unless you use a good bit of speed. I find 500ft controls well.

But rest assured, just a few damage points can change the ball game, so it's best not to push the deepest limits. You take damage that deep, you could easily die, why another 100ft shallower...you probably could get through it.

[rein1705]

You can dare as deep as you like. But S-boat skippers have to be more cautious in these matters. Not less daring, mind you, but there's a lot higher risk you have to compute into your tactics with an S-boat.

[sicou2]

Just wondering, but has the discussion moved beyond the simulation in to the realm of reality? Because, I treat my "S" boat like it really does have screen doors and a monkey that plays with matches in the powder well. = )

[WernherVonTrapp]

I haven't skippered an S-Boat yet but, if I'm interpreting your initial post correctly, it seems that you submerge during the day and surface at night. That is not an advisable tactic. For evasive purposes alone, you can move much quicker, and change your location faster while on the surface. If you've been spotted unaware, by the enemy, prior to submerging for the day, you're essentially waiting to be found by the forces that have been dispatched to locate you. Only submerge for ambush or evasion. Don't sit and wait to be found by the enemy.

[subskipper53]

With my experience, a Gato sub will go to crap at precisely 597 feet. That's why i always try not to go below 550. But even then that's in the most extreme situation; i usually don't go under 400-450.

But a have a Balao now.... it rocks. but the thing is after i get to 700+ feet i can almost never come up. i just keep falling like a rock until the sub levels out at 800... at 803 i'm heading to Davy Jones' locker

[rein1705]

800 FEET? WOW!
Ive never heard of a Fleet boat getting that deep. I thought it was all over at about 620 but ive never dove deeper than 600 and that was in a Kilo class and the Kilo acted like that was a bit much for it....

[subskipper53]

If you look around on the internet, you might find a story of a Balao during testing of some sort during the 50's (exact purpose, and name of the boat, escape me as of now) which has a failure, and sinks to about 1,000 feet, give or take, before she's crushed.

But Balao boats, with a test depth of 400 feet, have been know to survive 700 or more. Or, at least, in the game.

:Side note: I've taken my Skipjack down to 1,275+ feet. i actually went all the way down to 1,500+, but game limitations kept me from going deeper than 1,600. My sub would become unresponsive, and my view from inside would snap outside. The crew would still take orders, but they wouldn't take effect. My speed, course and just about everything else was fine but frozen: nothing would change.

Guess i just dove right out of the world, literally!

[Rockin Robbins]

I'm in the middle of an S-Boat cruise from December of 1941 right now. I still find that yo-yo works best, crash diving on sighting a plane if it is headed in my direction. I am spotted occasionally, but there is no way to avoid that without radar. When I am in a dense aircraft environment I run decks awash. That way submergence is instantaneous and no plane can catch me.

Relying on my lookouts, at least I am aware of the danger and can avoid it. Choosing to be blissfully unaware of the danger by traveling submerged during the day, when I can be easily spotted, leaves me with no avoidance options. I'll take my chances on the surface. Contrary to Dr Oppenheimer's famous motto, ignorance is not bliss. It is death.