It is historically accurate

JohnMalcolm1970 · 04-22-10, 01:17 PM

Escorts often had to break off to get back to keeping other u-boats at bay, and they also might have been best placed to attempt to pick up survivors.

Bothersome · 04-22-10, 01:50 PM

This thread reveals interesting information...

My question is: What would be the best tactic from the U-Boats commander where he is up against a HK group out for his destruction where they are willing to wait till hell freezes over to get him?

Could he surface and immediately surrender? What would be the consequences of this?

Could he come up for a quick refresh of air and then dive again for another day or so under? Is it possible to get enough fresh air quick enough before the DDs found him?

I'm thinking of a scenario where he sitting on the bottom at 120 meters acting like a rock.

04-22-10, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bothersome

This thread reveals interesting information...

My question is: What would be the best tactic from the U-Boats commander where he is up against a HK group out for his destruction where they are willing to wait till hell freezes over to get him?

Could he surface and immediately surrender? What would be the consequences of this?

Could he come up for a quick refresh of air and then dive again for another day or so under? Is it possible to get enough fresh air quick enough before the DDs found him?

I'm thinking of a scenario where he sitting on the bottom at 120 meters acting like a rock.

I've read before that submarine commanders who surrendered their ship were treated fairly badly by their comrades in the POW camps. I can't remember which commander, who abandoned his ship by jumping onto the nearby destroyer was tried by an unofficial 'court' in the POW camp.

I'm fairly sure that If he came up for air whilst the DD's were in eyeball range then the ship would look like Swiss cheese in fairly short order. - And in some cases DD hunter groups would search for many many hours if they thought there was a u-boot nearby!

Bothersome · 04-22-10, 02:09 PM

What would you do in such a situation?

1. Die by carbon dioxide asphyxiation.
2. Surface and surrender with only a 50% chance of survival. Be court marshaled by your POW fellow comrades.
3. Come off the bottom and attempt a sneak away maneuver 1 or two hours before your crew actually start dieing of carbon dioxide asphyxiation. Option here is wait two more hours and hope the DDs give up.
4. Come up fighting.
5. Attempt a breath of fresh air sneakily.

04-22-10, 02:18 PM

Personally, I'd order all the crews to go to bed wearing masks. And then go deep and sneak my ass off!

danasan · 04-22-10, 02:45 PM

Hunter Killer Groups were often supported by carriers. As long as the aircrafts could take off, I think there was no chance to surface. Maybe later with a snorkel to get some fresh air in...

At the end: Hoping for a quick mercy killing.

danasan

Bilge_Rat · 04-22-10, 04:51 PM

Ideally what a submarine commander wanted to do was to lose the escorts, surface at night/in fog and escape at high speed.

Escaping underwater was very difficult considering a submerged speed of 1-2 knots per hour. Escaping on the surface was possible since the max. effective range of allied surface radar against a U-Boat, even in 43, was around 5 km.

obviously, whether it could be done depended on weather conditions/visibility, number/skill of the escorts, presence of aircraft.

IanC · 04-22-10, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by severniae

Personally, I'd order all the crews to go to bed wearing masks. And then go deep and sneak my ass off!

Now where have I seen that before...

mobucks · 04-22-10, 09:25 PM

id say the best way to avoid that would be never to get yourself into that situation in the first place. thats why i love SH, its the best stealth game! Yes being DCd is fun but if that happens IMO you did something wrong.

04-23-10, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanC

Now where have I seen that before...

I can't imagine.........

04-22-10, 02:45 PM	#6
danasan Elite Spam Hunter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Flensburg / Germany Posts: 1,141 Downloads: 39 Uploads: 0	Hunter Killer Groups were often supported by carriers. As long as the aircrafts could take off, I think there was no chance to surface. Maybe later with a snorkel to get some fresh air in... At the end: Hoping for a quick mercy killing. danasan __________________ "I invite you to go inside this submergible hole in the water where you can nicely hide from destroyers." Last edited by danasan; 04-22-10 at 02:58 PM.

04-22-10, 04:51 PM	#7
Bilge_Rat Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: standing watch... Posts: 3,856 Downloads: 344 Uploads: 0	Ideally what a submarine commander wanted to do was to lose the escorts, surface at night/in fog and escape at high speed. Escaping underwater was very difficult considering a submerged speed of 1-2 knots per hour. Escaping on the surface was possible since the max. effective range of allied surface radar against a U-Boat, even in 43, was around 5 km. obviously, whether it could be done depended on weather conditions/visibility, number/skill of the escorts, presence of aircraft. __________________

04-22-10, 01:17 PM	#1
JohnMalcolm1970 Nub Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 Downloads: 56 Uploads: 0	Escorts often had to break off to get back to keeping other u-boats at bay, and they also might have been best placed to attempt to pick up survivors.

04-22-10, 01:50 PM	#2
Bothersome Planesman Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 194 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	This thread reveals interesting information... My question is: What would be the best tactic from the U-Boats commander where he is up against a HK group out for his destruction where they are willing to wait till hell freezes over to get him? Could he surface and immediately surrender? What would be the consequences of this? Could he come up for a quick refresh of air and then dive again for another day or so under? Is it possible to get enough fresh air quick enough before the DDs found him? I'm thinking of a scenario where he sitting on the bottom at 120 meters acting like a rock.

04-22-10, 02:09 PM	#4
Bothersome Planesman Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 194 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	What would you do in such a situation? 1. Die by carbon dioxide asphyxiation. 2. Surface and surrender with only a 50% chance of survival. Be court marshaled by your POW fellow comrades. 3. Come off the bottom and attempt a sneak away maneuver 1 or two hours before your crew actually start dieing of carbon dioxide asphyxiation. Option here is wait two more hours and hope the DDs give up. 4. Come up fighting. 5. Attempt a breath of fresh air sneakily.

04-22-10, 02:18 PM	#5
severniae Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Personally, I'd order all the crews to go to bed wearing masks. And then go deep and sneak my ass off!

04-22-10, 09:25 PM	#9
mobucks Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 713 Downloads: 209 Uploads: 0	id say the best way to avoid that would be never to get yourself into that situation in the first place. thats why i love SH, its the best stealth game! Yes being DCd is fun but if that happens IMO you did something wrong.