Harbor Raid noob question + cool story

[DuckHunter26]

awesome program! Thanks for the input. Also I notice the type VII's have a jagged metal edge in the front, and I think I read somewhere that is a net-cutter, does that actually work in game?

[Kaptlt.Endrass]

The metal prow doesn't work, as in real life. Torpedo nets are very heavy-duty metal...they were intended to stop things like your harbour raid from occurring.

Having done a few raids in my own time in SH3, I would recommend a few things if you are set on doing it.

1: Know the area: Predict where mines and nets will be. If the harbour has multiple ways to enter, you can usually guess that nets will be along the main entrance, covered by shore batteries and/or patrol craft, while mines typically are along the narrower, less used approaches.

2: Scout: Learn the patrol patterns of the ships outside the harbour, especially if you plan to go out the way you came in.

3: Time: Try to work it out so that your torpedoes hit only a few hours after dark...the decreased visibility should help shroud you in the event you should need to travel on the surface.

4: Remember your route in: If needed, mark your waypoints so you can recreate your path...it clearly was safe on the way in, it will be on the way out.

Here's a brief account of my last harbour raid, on Scapa Flow in 1941.

Coming home from a patrol off the coast of Ireland where I did nothing but wave to fishermen, pass a lightship, and shoot down an aircraft. Not wanting to go back with a full load of 14 torpedoes, I lay in a course for Scapa.

I decide to use the northernmost channel on the eastern approaches. Approaching the entrance, I find a C&D and a MBT patrolling outside. I sit and wait for a while, and the destroyer and torpedo boat both go out of sight. I quickly make my way to the entrance of the channel and begin navigating.

I already know that the area is mined, but I found later that the mines are set to hit a submerged submarine. In any case, I go to the surface as the sky gets darker. To my amazement, there are no shore batteries, and I complete passage through the channel with only a brief run-in with an outbound torpedo boat in the next channel. We managed to submerge, waited, then continued.

By the time I enter the harbour itself, a light rain has set in and the sky has turned pitch black. Unable to see much, I surface the ship again to air out and recharge the batteries by turning the ship in circles.

Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, the rain relents and we can see a bit more as the first rays of sunlight appear over the horizon. I plot a course for the docks of Scapa Flow and submerge.

Some two kilometres out of the dockyards, we come across an armed merchant cruiser at anchor, with a County-class nearby. Positioning myself, I mark the positions of the two nearby ASW ships and prepare to fire a spread. I set two torpedoes to hit the County-class (the more distant target) and fire, then repeat the process with the AMC. Upon completion of launch, I swing a 180 and start heading back, firing the stern tube at the County-class to be sure.

With at least one destroyer bearing down on me, I dive to 20 metres and continue to sneak away. Miraculously, I managed not to be detected as I made it to the channel I came through and started to exit the harbour.

Finished that patrol with those two warships under my belt and a nice little war story.