TDW NewUIs - Why would you want to have independent engine control?

[BigWalleye]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

If your rudder is damaged you can steer the boat with the engines. Turning radius is very poor, and you don't want to use it in combat unless you absolutely have to, but with the rudder gone you can't point the boat toward home...unless you have independent control of the engines.

Steve, that is true in RL. You can steer the boat with differential throttle. If you run one shaft forward and the other in reverse, you can get a very tight turning circle. RL, the US skippers used this all the time for maneuvering in tight quarters.

But the TDW mod does not generate a turning moment when you run the shafts at different speeds, even if one is reversed. AFAIK (and TDW might have changed this since I last played SH5), his mod allows you to stop one shaft while running the other at, say, 50 rpm. This gives a speed lower than the minimum possible on two screws, and results in a lower noise signature for the boat. Posters have used this successfully to slip by a persistent escort.