Effective patrolling methods

[Paul Riley]

Thanks a lot RoaldLarson,

Quite helpful,the 20km dash you described,its akin to what I was doing previous,I draw a 20km circle either side of the expected route,and move to the centre of the 1st,dive,listen,surface,move to the edge,repeat,then move onto the 2nd circle and repeat all the previous,however I only do it at the convoy's expected speed,say no more than 8kts.This is not practical at all the more I think of it,because while I am patrolling the 1st cirlce at 8kts,a target could move through the 2nd circle and be gone by the time I reach that area.Your high speed patrolling sounds more effective,but wouldnt this sap fuel much quicker?,which could be better saved for extended patrols that could go into weeks?.
I am confident I may be on the AK48 route,according to the game map that is,but we shall see.
I just wish there was some info on the web,i'd like to know more about patrol tactics.

Well,thanks again for the reply.

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

Your high speed patrolling sounds more effective,but wouldnt this sap fuel much quicker?,which could be better saved for extended patrols that could go into weeks?.

Yes. So while it may maximize contacts gained per unit of time, it may not maximize total contacts, because the amount of available time will be reduced.

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

I am confident I may be on the AK48 route,according to the game map that is,but we shall see.

In the game, convoys follow a scripted set of waypoints from their start to finish ponts. However, the locations of the intermediate waypoints for a given convoy are randomized within a scripted radius. Because convoys randomize their routes, being perhaps hundreds of kilometres from a given waypoint, one can never be confident that one is on the path of a given convoy unless one has a recent sighting report.

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

I just wish there was some info on the web,i'd like to know more about patrol tactics.

Well,thanks again for the reply.

I have run across descriptions of wolfpack search techniques and search patterns used by surface vessels after losing contact with a u-boat, but I have never read anything that described search patterns used by single u-boats.

What the wolfpacks would try to do was form a line on the surface, perpendicular to the expected path of a convoy, and spaced so that the distance between boats was equal to the diameter of the circle of visual range of a boat. The line would then move towards the expected convoy, maintaining spacing, until a contact was made. Often the spacing had to be greater than optimal, due to a shortage of boats.

The best approximation of this that a single boat can make is to patrol in a line perpendicular to the path of the convoy. I am not sure what the optimal length of that line should be, but I would guess that a large fraction of the total possible displacement from the convoy's nominal course would be better than a small fraction. I tend to use lines about 100km long.

In AK48, I'd start in the SE corner and run 100km or so on a course of 330, then go about 20km on 240, 100km on 150, then complete the box and repeat. Speed and portion spent submerged would be dictated mostly by fuel state and expectation of aircraft.

[Paul Riley]

Thanks again Roald.

I'll let you know how I go in a few days about this current patrol,if nothing,i'll have to break off and head back to base along the route and drop down near to the single merchant lane to the South,as it will be almost November 42 by then,and god knows what the allies may have developed,and I don't want to know
I know one thing,I want a decent bloody radar set instead of Fumo29,its practically useless as it only covers a 10 degree arc to the front.I only ever found a possible use for it in low visibility situations and at night,and only when I am sure i'm free of the air zone/s.Regarding air zones,would you agree that the maximum range of bombers in 42 would be approx 1700km?,as when i'm greater than this distance air attacks practically stop,but naturally as I get closer to the bay of Biscay its like trying to breathe while being continually whacked in the gut by a silverback gorrilla!

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

I know one thing,I want a decent bloody radar set instead of Fumo29,its practically useless as it only covers a 10 degree arc to the front.I only ever found a possible use for it in low visibility situations and at night,and only when I am sure i'm free of the air zone/s.Regarding air zones,would you agree that the maximum range of bombers in 42 would be approx 1700km?,as when i'm greater than this distance air attacks practically stop,but naturally as I get closer to the bay of Biscay its like trying to breathe while being continually whacked in the gut by a silverback gorrilla!

Your description sounds about right. I'm in 1944 now, and Biscay seems to have more air traffic than O'Hare on a Friday afternoon. Air coverage seems to get worse from '43 on.

Radar is about the last thing I upgrade on a boat. It will give your position away. I only use it to find lone merchants in heavy fog, when a hydrophone check has confirmed there are no warships about.

[mainexpress]

This might be an off topic question,but have any of you kaleuns,do a career or a single patrol with no time compression,im talking full blown 100% realism.It sounds crazy but if you have the time,its really fun and it adds that much more realism to the game,the only down part is it takes forever to complete a patrol.but if you have tons of grammy tunes it surely helps.

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by mainexpress

This might be an off topic question,but have any of you kaleuns,do a career or a single patrol with no time compression,im talking full blown 100% realism.It sounds crazy but if you have the time,its really fun and it adds that much more realism to the game,the only down part is it takes forever to complete a patrol.but if you have tons of grammy tunes it surely helps.

Some have done the 1x patrols...but it's a huge time investment. What games like this need is something besides some vintage tunes to fill the huge void when nothing is happening. Perhaps finely training the crew and weeding out the unmotivated members can be incorporated as a game within the game, where you don't know beforehand who's going to be a keeper and who isn't.

As big as the Atlantic is I can't imagine a SH4 Pacific patrol at x1. It's a three week trip from Pearl Harbor just to reach Japan....

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Some have done the 1x patrols...but it's a huge time investment. What games like this need is something besides some vintage tunes to fill the huge void when nothing is happening. Perhaps finely training the crew and weeding out the unmotivated members can be incorporated as a game within the game, where you don't know beforehand who's going to be a keeper and who isn't.

I think you hit the nail on the head, there. Even with time compression, a lot of the things that you read about happening in real life just aren't there in the game. Obviously, the developers can't include everything. But some of the "feel" of being there just isn't reproduced. Once you get a contact and start the hunt, it's very immersive. But during those other times I find myself thinking "hurry up and find a ship already"!

I'm not sure that modelling throwing out rotten food and sleeping in a wet, sweat-stank bed would be all that compelling, but more interaction with the crew would be nice. I'd like to see the chaps taking apart the eels to check them, talk to the guys in the diesel room about how things are running, etc. Another thing is that we always know right where we are. There's no need to shoot the stars, worry about currents, deal with breakdowns, etc.

Obviously, it's a lot easier to ask for these things than it is to program them, but we really do need more to do between contacts (shuffling people to and from the engine room doesn't count).

[sharkbit]

Originally Posted by mainexpress

This might be an off topic question,but have any of you kaleuns,do a career or a single patrol with no time compression,im talking full blown 100% realism.It sounds crazy but if you have the time,its really fun and it adds that much more realism to the game,the only down part is it takes forever to complete a patrol.but if you have tons of grammy tunes it surely helps.

Goldenrivet has done one and did a couple of threads about it a while back. Made for some interesting reading. Search for it and you will probably find it.

[mainexpress]

Originally Posted by sharkbit

Goldenrivet has done one and did a couple of threads about it a while back. Made for some interesting reading. Search for it and you will probably find it.

Thanks shark,and i agree with what you guys said about more crew interaction in the downtime on a patrol,before getting contacts,that would be too cool,if the silent hunter series could have that someday.maybe silent hunter 7 lol...

[Huncowboy]

Originally Posted by RoaldLarsen

Your description sounds about right. I'm in 1944 now, and Biscay seems to have more air traffic than O'Hare on a Friday afternoon.

Lol ORD. Fun place. Best is when you land as an FO and your nose wheel is still in the air but you are handing over control to your Captain already because you are being given rapid and complex taxi instructions from ground LOL... Sorry did not mean to go off topic.

I got to this thread for the same reasons. I am in late 1940, just went from fleet 1 to 2 and doing my first patrol out of Lorient in a type VIIC. My last patrol still around GB resulted in 35k. That is alright. But now I am sent to CF49 I think it is. There is nothing going on there. I am trying fishing on a convoy line that runs South then turns into Gibraltar. Real boring.