TDC manuals (Real)

[Kafka BC]

Originally Posted by pickinthebanjo

Just imagine what the crews aboard the U-boats had to endure, I can't see those fairing well on the surface in calm seas forget a storm.

I don't know what the seakeeping characteristics of the U-boats were, but from the collection of pictures that I have they seem to be alright in calm weather. As an educated guess it looks like that at a Sea State of 4 (waves and chop of 1.25 to 2.5 meters), Beaufort Wind Scale of 4 (wind of 5.5–7.9 meters/second), and moderate to short sea swells, that things start getting "lively". Its probably a bit better for the type IX and most certainly worse for the type II.

Silent Hunter III dosn't model any of this. It does, however, correctly limits the game to a Beaufort Scale of 7 (wind 13.9–17.1 m/s). Anything higher and the player would have to show true seamanship skills, usually by pointing the ship into the wind, waves, and swells and using your rudder and engines to maintain steerage or could happen. From what I've read, if you loose steerage under those conditions, its damn hard to get it back.

(Edit: I was tired when I wrote this, and strayed a bit. But yes, I can imagine what those U-Boat crews had to endure. As well, can you imagine the reek of vomit from the "unseasoned crewmen" in such an enclosed environment as a U-Boat.)

(I just noticed that I became a Swabbie with this post. Yesterday, I was a Bilge Rat. I'm normally not much for communicating, now I've become a wordy bugger.)