Have you sunk an Elco class?

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by wicked_panda

What hurt can do to you the sailor of the atlantic, the commander of a Kriegsmarine U-boat, what hurt can do that piece of crap with a couple of 20 mm machine guns??

Uh... punch a hole in your pressure hull? It only takes one.

[Obersteuermann]

I once got set upon by two whilst playing as the SS Deutschland with the warships mod. Spent a good half hour chasing them round my ship blasting at them with the main turret armament.

Eventually I did get a good square hit on one that blew him backwards, but it was out of all proportion to the number of rounds I fired at him.

If I'm in a U-boat and one of those little bastards pops up, I crash dive straightaway. They're just not worth it!

[Mouftic]

If you encounter one (or three) just dive. They dont have passive or active sonar.

Now if you wanna see something funny, sneak up on one, torpedo it and watch it FLYYYYYYYYYY!



They always manage to land right back keel down.

[King_Zog]

Interestingly U-boat hulls seem to be a lot tougher than you'd think. This is from an Admiralty Intelligence report on U-boats published in 1944 in regards to machine gun and cannon fire from aircraft:

"The blister tanks are probably vulnerable to .5 machine gun fire, but even very severe damage to blister tanks will not sink a U-boat. The only vital target for cannon or machine gun fire is the guns' crews and bridge watch."

"There is, however, a case on record in which leaking oil from saddle tanks, penetrated by an aircraft's machine gun fire, was a contributory cause in the subsequent sinking of a U-boat by a surface vessel."

It makes no mention of machine gun or 20mm cannon fire being able to penetrate the pressure hull.

I have however read of one U-boat being forced to return to base after having a large hole blown into its conning tower by a hit from the 57mm cannon of a Mosquito Tse Tse, rendering the boat incapable of diving.

You can read the rest of the report here... it's very detailed and interesting stuff.

http://www.uboatarchive.net/CumulativeEdition.htm

PS As for Elco boats in game, I once sunk three of them with the AA gun in the GWX single mission 'Evacuation'. They didn't really cause me any problems in the mission, although in a campaign I'd probably just dive and avoid them, as I wouldn't want to risk losing one of my bridge crew and they'd just call in reinforcements if any enemy surface or air units were nearby. So not really worth it.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by King_Zog

rendering the boat incapable of diving

That's the crucial issue. Whether or not an attack succeeds in sinking you, if you can't dive your effectiveness as a combat u-boat is too severely compromised to do anything but head for home... and hope that another more lethal attacker that you can no longer hope to evade doesn't find you before you get there.

[timmy41]

Sunk one that found me passing north of england i think a long time ago. luckily the weather was nice and the deck gun got a square hit early on so there was no big issue. normally avoid them though.

and random screenshot

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Obersteuermann

If I'm in a U-boat and one of those little bastards pops up, I crash dive straightaway. They're just not worth it!

Agreed...

No sense playing around with small fish, especially when you've got a lot more to lose than you do to gain. Better to pick your battles wisely and save yourself for the big ones!

[Missing Name]

I actually think PT boats should have some form of ASW. The US often replaced the aft tubes with racks of depth charges. I am attempting to find more detailed info, but I'm at a loss...

The best "use" I can describe is in the 1943 propaganda movie "Crash Dive." In the beginning, a PT boat sinks a "German U-Boat" (actually, an American sub was used for underwater shots) with 3 charges and no hydrophones. Then again, this WAS propaganda.

[maillemaker]

I have sunk them, though I think it was in stock SH3. I have also had them sink me, when I just for fun "duked it out" with one.

You will take so much damage fighting one that even if you win you'll be heading back to base for repairs.

Steve

[King_Zog]

Originally Posted by Missing Name

I actually think PT boats should have some form of ASW. The US often replaced the aft tubes with racks of depth charges. I am attempting to find more detailed info, but I'm at a loss...

The British also designed and built anti-submarine versions of their fast attack craft, with the torpedo tubes removed and depth charge racks and launchers added in their place, they called them Motor Anti Submarine Boats. Some were fitted with full ASDIC sets, others used small portable listening devices which pretty much entailed a crew member lowering a microphone into the water.

I don't know much about them, or how successful they were in this role. Later in the war their weapon configuration was changed to focus on a much heavier gun armament, and their designation was changed to Motor Gun Boat. In this role they were primarily used to protect coastal shipping from German Schnellboots and rescue downed aircrew.

As for PT boats in the US Navy you could check this link out. Somebody has scanned the 'Motor Torpedo Boats Tactical Orders And Doctrine' US Navy manual of 1942 and put it up on Scribd. And from a quick glance through it it seems PT boats could fit depth charge racks and launchers in various configurations.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12980817/1...-Doctrine-134p

edit: Here is an interesting excerpt:

"1207. In harbors and shallow water areas, where specially small type enemy submarines have operated, motor torpedo boats have proved effective in combatting them. In this connection, motor torpedo boats are at present the only vessels which can launch depth charges in shallow water and successfully escape damage from their explosions."

Only once.

I was at the end of my osygen, and had to surface.
Just knowing that they are in the neighborhood, is generaly more than enough to keep me down.

I surfaced (not too far from Gibralter).
An Elco came at us out of nowhere.
Knowing that USN PT Boats were made of plywood, my intension was to present my bow at flank speed, and ram if possible.
I only had the deck gun manned to save my BM and watch crew from being machine gunned.
(Ja. I saw the gunner and his guys as being more expendable).
The gunner showed me that he was NOT expendable, by taking out the Elco.
We got our oxygen and went back "down under" very shortly before the expected DDs arrived.

We were super lucky that time, but Elcos still scare me, and I sure don't want to try it again. The no longer "expendable" gunner got a promotion, and newfound respect from me.

[wicked_panda]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Uh... punch a hole in your pressure hull? It only takes one.

SARCASM !!!

LOL

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by wicked_panda

SARCASM !!!

Withering disdain'll cost you extra.