My watch crew seem pretty nonchalant at being 15m underwater...

[Swiss]

Hi folks, newbie here just started recently sucking at playing submarine captains.

Anyways I've noticed that at rough seas, the entire conning tower will submerge every 15 - 20 seconds or so. Having your helmsman tell you you're at a depth of 10 metres every time starts to get a tad irksome and worse, the deisels stop until the conning tower is able to get above again.

Is this just something that happens in SH3 or does my boat just enjoy making my watch crew soil themselves?

Also, my boat dived completely under when I was trying to ram a schooner, and that is not cool, I live for the little things. (Like spoiling the Jones' cruise holiday in the Irish sea).

I'm using GWX 3.

[Sailor Steve]

WELCOME ABOARD!

It's an old and well-known 'bug' with the game, and no one has been able to make it go away. It's actually not unrealistic, but the crew would duck behind the bridge walls when it happened. Best bet in that kind of weather is to dive to at least 30 meters and set for slow, only surfacing to recharge the batteries.

The game of course runs fine if you don't, but it feels more realistic to me when I do that in heavy weather.

[pickinthebanjo]

yeah when the sea gets real rough I dive for long periods of time and try and wait out the storm. I find storms tend to hit more often when your far out at sea, towards coastlines I find they are less common (But still happen often)

[timmy41]

the SH5 water mod fixes it by slowing the speed of large waves down a little, which is probably more realistic.

[Swiss]

Ah no worries then, I suppose I'll just dive a cruise submerged for a while if it annoys me too much.

I've also noticed that at periscope depth the opposite happens - my conning tower will sometimes pop up over the surface, exposing me to those meanie destroyers. Would it be better to go deeper and only go to periscope when not moving?
I'm not so perturbed about that one as I could potentially see it happening in real life.

[RConch]

Rough weather and high waves, I spend a lot of time submerged. Only come up to air out the boat and recharge or go on the chase.
The crew stays a lot "fresher" that way.

Welcome aboard!

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Swiss

Ah no worries then, I suppose I'll just dive a cruise submerged for a while if it annoys me too much.

I've also noticed that at periscope depth the opposite happens - my conning tower will sometimes pop up over the surface, exposing me to those meanie destroyers. Would it be better to go deeper and only go to periscope when not moving?
I'm not so perturbed about that one as I could potentially see it happening in real life.

In real life you would not be able to use the periscope at speeds faster than 2-3 knots as the vibrations created by the ship's movement would make it pretty useless. At faster speeds you would risk damage to the 'scope or loss of it entirely. The game doesn't really model this so it's up to you whether or not you want to discipline yourself to use it according to its real life limitations.

But yeah, in rough enough seas at periscope depth it is possible for the conning tower to be temporarily exposed. Makes sense, though - if the seas are heavy enough to overwhelm it by that much when you're surfaced, they're probably also heavy enough to do the opposite when you're at p-depth.

[Jimbuna]

Sounds like a normal day in the Atlantic to me.

Welcome aboard matey

[maillemaker]

I wish the SH3 developers had put a little more time into how the conning tower interacts with the water, and how the crew responded to it.

It would have been nice to see plumes of water as the tower smashed into the waves, with the crew holding on tight!

Steve

[MILLANDSON]

Originally Posted by maillemaker

I wish the SH3 developers had put a little more time into how the conning tower interacts with the water, and how the crew responded to it.

It would have been nice to see plumes of water as the tower smashed into the waves, with the crew holding on tight!

Steve

Remember that it is a 5 year old game. Graphics and stuff like that just weren't as good back then as they are now.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by MILLANDSON

Remember that it is a 5 year old game. Graphics and stuff like that just weren't as good back then as they are now.

And this was the first sub sim to have an animated crew on board, or any crew at all. It was very experimental at the time.

[schlechter pfennig]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

WELCOME ABOARD!

It's an old and well-known 'bug' with the game, and no one has been able to make it go away. It's actually not unrealistic, but the crew would duck behind the bridge walls when it happened. Best bet in that kind of weather is to dive to at least 30 meters and set for slow, only surfacing to recharge the batteries.

The game of course runs fine if you don't, but it feels more realistic to me when I do that in heavy weather.

I remember reading a long time ago (long enough I've no idea where to find the reference) that during heavy seas, on this one U-boat, the watch crew relief came up only to discover that the entire standing watch crew had been washed away.

[Sailor Steve]

U-106, October 23, 1941.
http://www.uboat.net/men/men_lost-1939.htm

[schlechter pfennig]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

U-106, October 23, 1941.
http://www.uboat.net/men/men_lost-1939.htm

Danke!

I remember, back when I first read that, getting this incredibly cold shiver. I could, all too easily, imagine what that watch crew had to feel. I mean, you get washed overboard then bob up to the surface, coughing and flailing, and watch your boat continue onwards, and know that no one has a clue you've gone overboard . . . and know, in that moment . . . you're a dead man.

[Sailor Steve]

One night on my destroyer I had the midwatch in the radio room, and was assigned to dump bags of shredded documents over the fantail. I took the first bag to the aft end of the superstructure and opened the door, only to find the sea was just heavy enough that the deck was dipping slightly under. I waited until the ship rolled to starboard, stepped outside and dogged the door, and grabbed the railing as the ship rolled to port and the water came up to my knees. We were making about ten knots at the time.

On the next roll to starboard I ran to the fantail and grabbed the railing again as we rolled to port and my pants got soaked again. Next roll to starboard and I dumped the bag over the stern and hung on again. The process was reversed as I made my way back inside.

As I recall I had to empty six bags that night.