First war patrol in LSH2015 - wow!

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61

Thanks for your patrol news.

In the areas that you mention you are very lucky to have been able to use your deck gun.
My experiences with all patrols has been some what limited of being able to use the deck gun due rough seas.
If you had had a type IXB with the 3.7cm flak gun would you have been able to have used it to take those smaller crafts out?
I like the way the weather changes in this game after a certain time.

I also had a situation with one convoy where the fog and sea was so bad I could not pick the targets up until it was too late and they were past me.
Being on the outside these are normally the small ships and I was not going to waste torpedoes and so let the convoy go.

I was wary of the channel below Stornoway in case it was mined.
In SH5 there is always some pairs of those small trawlers running back and forth and also a DD on the bend running to and fro across the channel.

Loch Ewe is the base for AMC's and these are pretty chunky targets.

I have noticed a problem when I want to go to Ahead Flank the telegraph drops the speed to Ahead Slow.
This happens surfaced and submerged.
The best I can get is Ahead Full.
I thought at first it might be something to do with the rough weather and not damaging the engines, but then it would not happen when submerged with electric engines.

I nearly met my end when I noticed for some reason the telegraph had moved to Ahead Standard without me noticing it.
I usually delete all way points so that cannot happen.
Luckily I escaped without any damage.

I also received some hull damage a while back 77% when I did not realize until too late that one of the convoy ships in the first row hit my winter garden and also did damage to the flak gun.
All was repaired apart from the hull.
I have 3 qualified repair men now available.

Apparently I should not changed my home base just because I received new bases where available in the radio messages.
I have been told that I should have waited for a pop up whatever that is.

I have just completed a long haul back from EH92 and picked up a few loose targets heading for Gibraltar.
I am currently in Vigo refitting from a ship which means no PQ grid when I start my next patrol number 12.
Also I have to change the default number of days in port from 21 to 1 and then I need to change them back again when I reach my home port Lorient.

I have made up a spread sheet of all my destroyed ships.
I am going to use it to see where the best grid action is for when I get situations where I do not have a patrol grid.

I really like the diversity of ships available in this mod.
So far in 11 patrols I have not come across a task force yet.
I think I might head back towards Gibraltar and see what is about.

Peter

[K-61]

Ah, yes, the 3.7 flak gun. Nice toy. I have used it in the past to take down a ship or two that are just a bit too fat for the 20mm. For some reason I really suck at using the flak guns manually against planes, even after practice in the academy; I let a qualified non-com do the job for me when on patrol.

I've also been having a hard time using the deck gun manually. I used to do it now and then in GWX, but I forget now how to manually dial the range in using that gauge on the left side of the screen. I used to be good at nailing rounds just below the waterline, but I don't know if there are any keys in LSH for manual control of the deck gun.

I've lived a charmed life thus far, having never hit a mine, but did once find myself in a minefield by accident. Scary things. Because of them, and for the fact that I am not Gunther Prien, I don't go into the English lion's lair and raid harbours. I've done it in the past, but prefer open sea hunting.

I am around the north coast of Ireland at the moment, still on my way to BF17. I can't believe my blind luck sometimes to run across singles. I just ran into a five ship convoy with no escorts. I submerged and made torpedo attacks, taking out three in a row. The fourth I hit with a fish from the stern tube, then surfaced to deck gun the cripples. Though it was a rare treat to find such a convoy and still have calm enough seas to use the gun, I hope it doesn't happen too often and make me tonnage greedy. It is still 1939, but I don't think it will be long until all the merchants sport guns.

I lost that career from a few days ago, the one where I had the IXB. It was fun while it lasted, but I was playing around with SH3 Commander. I have worked out a routine which seems sound enough thus far. I used the LSH2015 executable to start a first career patrol, saved while at sea or in base, then use Commander to start the game after that. While I can't recall any disasters in the past from making slight changes to the boat before going on a first patrol with a new career, I have read enough to believe it is not a good thing to do, so I don't make any changes on a first patrol.

Another thing I do with Commander is use it to assign qualifications to newly arrived crew members. I hire on any new hands to fill vacancies, then exit the game, use Commander to assign the qualifications then ship out. I like using the qualification option in Cmdr so I have my watches arranged by duty, even the seamen. I know the seamen's quals have no in-game effect, but I like to use them as markers.

Last night on the way back to port in a very dark night, my boat got caught in a sluice gate. From the tower view I could see the gate being rendered in-game right through the boat. Boat taking damage, then crew dying as I tried ahead, astern, anything to get out of it. Glad I made a save before entering the canal. I reloaded, then used a free view to ensure the gate's operation.

So far in LSH2015 I have only seen one task force at sea, as recounted in an earlier post. Half a dozen cruisers and escorts, but I was just a bit too far away and they were hauling across my bow at distance. The seas were too calm; I would have had to adjust the speed on my steamers to get the range, and whether I hit or missed, the bubble trail would have pointed right back to me. That was a first patrol in a new career, so I had not made any changes to torpedo loadout to get G7E's. Normally I load two electrics, in tubes 2 and 3 and the stern tube[s.] I like electrics in case I run into warships, but the downside is their lack of range. In any case, even if I had electrics in that situation, they were too short-ranged to have fired at the cruisers.

I usually don't opt for electric torpedoes in the external storage, mainly for reasons of historicity. The game does not model the fact that torpedoes in external storage were usually serviced before being loaded into tubes. Batteries in the G7E, for example, needed to be charged. Gyros needed to be checked, air tanks tested, etc. I make it a house rule that externals must be "off limits" for a few hours after being taken aboard, to simulate the time the crew would need to service them. External torpedoes were more vulnerable to disruption, by the pounding of waves and especially shock from depth charge and bomb explosions.

I don't think I've had your particular trouble with the engine telegraphs, but the odd time I have hit the wrong detent. I usually use the number keys for the engines, and then fine tune manually if needed. Which reminds me, I used to manually set the RPM's on the electric motors to 50 RPM, to be especially quiet. I don't know if you can still do that in LSH2015. I recall from when I last played, several years ago, that you could jump into the engineer's station and click on the RPM dial, just as you do with the diesels, but when I went to try that in LSH2015, it either can't be done or I am forgetting how to do it. Anybody managing to do that in LSH?

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi K-61
Like you I let the qualified flak gunner do the work and he did a very good job with the single 20mm until he was killed.
I have all the caliber but have not come across any aircraft other than friendlies since taking the IXB.
With the larger boat you are likely to be sent to PQ grids where the VIIB does not have the range.
3 flak gunners with 2 having qualifications.
You can only man the flag gun in the winter garden when you use the larger 3.7cm gun.

I quite like the deck gun in this version.
Manning the deck gun I have 1 qualified gunner and I use 2 sailors from the deck crew as they will have nothing to do otherwise.
I use map contacts so the first thing I do if I am going to fire it myself is use the compass and get a range.
I do not get closer normally than 2000 metres as you are likely to get return fire from light weapons.
At night time I may get a little closer depending on weather conditions.
There is a deranged crew member who keeps saying we are under attack and taking damage when we are not if you get too close to the target.
F10 takes you directly to the gun.
The mouse wheel gives you the magnification.
Up arrow increases the range.
Down arrow reduces the range.
Left and right arrows traverse the gun.
The skill depends to a certain degree on the weather conditions as this affects the rise and fall of the gun barrel.
Depending on the range I will either stay stationery or match the targets speed.

At this early period of the war there are not many merchants that are armed and also few convoys about.
This changes quite quickly with also more air patrols noticeable if you are in range.
I think there is a map that shows the air patrol areas.

You mentioning SH3 commander I did not realize that you could still make changes in it.
I have taken the opportunity to randomize the gramophone.

I have only used the qualifications the 1 you are given after each patrol.
The game comes set up with some already in place.
In the early days I was enlisting and dismissing crew to get the best possible.
My crew is now very experienced and well above any crew that could now be enlisted.

With a new career it is not advisable to make any changes at first which is not really a problem as you are on a test mission anyway.
Once you have transferred then you are ok.

I am interested in how the SH3 Commander qualifications work?
I would not like it if you can give out a large number of qualifications to the crew as I think it is worth working for and something to look forward to at the end of each patrol.

I have kissed the sluice gates goobye.
I admit it was a novelty to start with.
I quite enjoyed the outward bound journey but I docked before using them on the return journey.

I like the G7e and carry quite a few of them.
I use them in the day and the G7a at night.
I do not use auto loading.
At around 3km the G7e is very useful for a longer shot in a convoy with the G7a for the shorter shot.
Tubes 1 & 2 G7a
Tubes 3 & 4 G7e
Tube 5 G7a
Tube 6 G7e
I did not know about the historical factors which is interesting.
I think you play at higher level than I do.
I do not use crew fatigue as I used it in RFB and I found it frustrating having to move the crew around all the time.
My crew is very static and does not move around only for damage control and the 2 for the deck gun.

1 knot in real time is slow enough for me.
I know in reality a stationery boat needs to be constantly trimmed to maintain depth.

I managed to get the telegraph working ok last night, so I am not sure what is happening there with that.
I suspect that Ahead Flank was carefully used as I would imagine if it was over used the diesel engines could be damaged.

I missed a large convoy last night.
It was heading towards Casablanca and I took up a position only to find it had made a sharp turn towards Gibraltar.
By the time it showed on the map again I was too far away and it was too close to the Gibraltar straits.
I am always a bit worried about getting too close because I would suspect that there would be quite heavy air patrols to protect the docks.
There are still however single merchants making there way to and fro so I managed to bag 4.

I have now started keeping spreadsheet records of all my sinkings in Patrol order and also the patrol grid where the sinking took place.
Whether this is practical or not only time will tell.
I am hoping a previously active grid will be fruitful.
I also have a spreadsheet with all the ships tonnages and drafts that I have come across.
This saves time and also the pause bar obliterates the ship type in the recognition manual which is frustrating.

This is my mod list.
_LSH3-2015___FULLVERSION
_LSH3-2015___Patch_HSIE-V16B1
_LSH3-2015__BunkerStart
_LSH3-2015__HistoricalMessages
_LSH3-2015__NoFatigue-NoSleepCrew
_LSH3-2015_ATM_GreenWater
_LSH3-2015_ATM_GreenWater-SunFix
_LSH3-2015_GUI__WIDESCREEN
_LSH3-2015_SLS_SpecialEffectsBig

I would be interest to know if you do not use the crew fatigue how you operate with your crew.

Peter

[K-61]

Pete,

I figured out last night by farting around how to fully operate my deck gun. Just played with the keys intuitively and it worked. As for flak guns, you can man the 3.7. I think you just hit the F11 key repeatedly to cycle through the flak stations.

Yes, I think we play much alike, but perhaps I am a bit more daring than many. I like to get into what I call "knife fighting" range. In surface gunnery with cripples, I close to less than 1,000 metres. I used to get as close as `00, but I learned my lesson when my boat took heavy damage from an exploding merchantman and I had deck crew killed. Now I will approach as close as 400-500 metres. I will parallel a cripple so I can bring all guns to bear. I will let the deck gun crew do their thing while I rake a vessel with the flak guns, going for command bridge, any suspected gun stations, searchlights and prop area at the stern, along the water line.

As I play LSH, I suspect that the damage model is not quite the same as GWX, but I am not certain of it. Just a hunch I have.

I use a similar torpedo loadout as you do, but I place identical torpedoes in 1 and 4, and 2 and 3 for salvo firing. I imagine trying to "balance" out the boat in real life and I like to load same torpedoes for the game's salvo buttons. Not that I very often use them, except for maybe a heavy warship where I want to quickly launch and then dive away.

Last night I took my VIIB down to BF 17. I had used most of my torpedo load on the way there, and then to take down a 5,000 tonner at night while I was chasing a nearby convoy B-dienst had reported. That left me with one G7E. I finished off the freighter with a few deck gun rounds; I did not wish to lurk and wait forever for it to sink on its own. Doing a scan through the scope I did not see any guns, so surfaced to gun it and then run after the convoy. Normally if I am after a convoy I will not divert to nearby sightings, but this one freighter wandered into view at the extreme range of sight. I diverted to give it one torpedo, which left me the one G7E.

Hauling after the convoy through the night at ahead full, I finally sighted a ship at the back of the convoy. As it was still dark, I approached closer and saw more columns. Determining its base course, I went around to the port side and did an end-around. I was nervous because there were several escorts and I only had one torpedo left. Was it worth the risk? Ach, Himmel, be more aggressive!

Racing against the clock, I worked my way around to the starboard side of the westbound convoy as the sky was lightening. I had to balance the need for speed to get into ideal position against the possibility of being sighted by rushing in. I dared to remain surfaced until the hair on my neck was standing on end, and set the decks awash. When I could bear the strain no longer, I dove to periscope depth and set slow ahead. As I got closer, I went to silent running at 1 knot and crept into a beam position. In the center of the convoy was a fat T3 estimated at 18,000 tons! Yes, one torpedo, could I damage it and force it fall out? Creeping closer I planned my attack; set the torpedo to run deep enough to run under a lesser valued ship, but impact trigger so it would not be set off it did run under another ship of lesser draft.

When I felt the time was right, I fired and immediately ordered a turn to the east and dive to 100 metres. After what seemed an eternity, the torpedo detonated against the T3. I hate those few seconds when you see the chronometer needle creep past the red line with no boom. Just as I was cursing my bad luck after all of that work, kaboom! Immediately the escorts began to fire starshells, but I was already leaving town. At no time did an escort come close enough to detect me; I had found a perfect gap in the screen and exploited it. Continuing me deep dive, I crept west for several hours and let the convoy haul away.

Coming up to scope depth, I had emerged about 7,000 metres astern of the convoy. I could pick out individual ships in the morning haze, but waited until they were about 10,000 metres away before surfacing to follow from astern and recharge the batteries. I came as close as 6000 metres to the convoy from astern, but the injured T3, though smoking, was having no trouble keeping station. I followed until afternoon, hoping it would fall out, but no luck.

Reluctantly, I gave up hope and set the course for the long journey home. Pulling into Wilhlemshaven, we were showered with flowers, champagne and cheap cologne and bedecked with medals. I have decided to stay with my VIIB in spite of the IXB now being offered. My crew has matured, with two planes shot down and a number of kills by torpedo and gun. Let's not mess with a good thing. We are now about to leave on patrol 3.

[K-61]

Oh, forgot to address your question about SH3 Commander qualifications. You can assign them in the "manage crew" option. I award a basic qualification to each crew member. I don't think BdU would send mere green kids to sea with no skills at all. My officers have two or three. The game recognizes all qualifications of officers, one of the PO's, except I think the highest PO can have two, and qualifications of seamen are not recognize in-game. I do use them as "markers" but I have found that if I click on the deck gun, the two seamen and one non-com get assigned there every time, so perhaps the game is recognizing the seamen skills?

As for fatigue, original model is garbage, with the staying power of the crew that on old age pensioner. It became rather distracting having to tell grown men to go to bed. In real life, all of the watch changes occur as a natural part of life at sea. We do not need to become micromanagers of every last detail and I appreciate the option of using SH3 Commander's "no fatigue" option. It does offer other models, like Real U-boat and GWX, but I don't know if they work with LSH and haven't tried them. "No fatigue" is not realistic, but it is in my opinion the best working option with what is available. More than "fatigue" per se suddenly stopping a diesel or electric motor from stopping, that is silly. However, overall the crew of any vessel does have a kind of running down over time, but there is no way of realistically depicting this in the game. I use a gut feeling that we have been at sea long enough and head for home. I will use a milk cow or replenishment at sea once in a while, but not to indefinitely stay at sea. Sometimes you just have to go home, and as Kaleun I make that decision. If my boat is damaged, we are going home for proper repairs.

[K-61]

One last observation before I head out again.

When we left Wilhelmshaven last night, we had just started leaving our berth when we get a report of airplanes. I thought it would be the ME-109's I used to see in GWX, but no, they were Blenheims or Wellingtons! I ordered my flak gunner into action, but where could I go in a busy port with practically no water under me keel?

I emerged to the watch view to see what happened. I saw my flak gunner firing and soon thereafter all three planes went down. To my surprise, I saw parachutes of bailed out crew, soon to become kriegsgefangener, sailing down into town and the port. I looked at my logbook but no entry of planes shot down, so I conclude that every warship in port had opened up with the flak guns. I don't know if LSH models ground-based flak, such as 88's, but somebody other than my gunner shot down those planes.

For that patrol I had not set "start at sea" in SH3 Commander. I know one thing, if I ever leave from port again, I will have my flak gun manned from the outset.

What excitement!

[K-61]

Just loaded up and left port, from the pier in Willy. Had my flak gunner at his station but no enemy planes appeared. This is certainly adding pucker factor to the game.

I know early in the war the RAF tried to attack German harbours right from the first day of the war. It did not work out well at all, as unescorted bombers, contrary to Guilio Douhet, did not always "get through." The RAF lost a batch of Wellingtons, I believe it was, in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, if my memory is not faulty.

I have found that since my seizure last year and brain surgery to remove the [benign] tumour, I have been having some trouble recalling exact details of this or that battle. I used to be a walking encyclopedia, and I find I do still recall a lot, it is just not as sharp as it used to be.

Nonetheless, I am thankful for my recovery thus far and even the fact that I can play such a challenging game as SH3 encourages me. Each patrol I find more of my old skills returning and it feels like riding a bicycle that had been stowed in the loft for years. You are a bit wobbly at first, but you soon get used to it again.

I forgot one other notable event from my patrol last night. I sank a freighter and zoomed in for a look at the debris. I thought I was hallucinating at first, but I saw the fuselage of a Hurricane fighter! Later, when I checked my personnel file and logs in SH3 Commander, I saw that the freighter I sunk was listed as carrying aircraft.

I don't know who modded that in particular, but hats off for including such detail. Although most of my patrols I start at sea, I do find I enjoy being a tourist for the eye candy. I even saw Opel trucks and a car that looked like a Kubelwagen or similar car on shore.