a bit too quiet

[11Bravo]

Originally Posted by She-Wolf

ah, right... shipping lanes...hmm. I will check it out tonight.

Guten Morgen Brag. I am based at Kiel, the patrol area is AN 81 ( I think) and I am in a type IIa sub - zat right?

I have done 9 patrols out of Kiel in a Type IIA (U-13) and just passed 100,000 tons. My best hunting grounds have been just next door in AN84. If you get AN81 hug the south-west corner and use your sonar (hydrophones). There is a lot of traffic running north and south around Lowestoft. Singles in '39, convoys in '40. If you get bored, raid Hartlpool to the north or Dover to the south. The real key to finding targets is your sonar. Only use visual during daylight when recharging batteries, and replenishing oxygen. And don't rely on your sonar man for all the work. Take over once an hour or two and do it yourself. I find targets at twice the range as my sonar guy.

If that doesn't work or you want more excitement, use SH3Gen with intelligence maxed out to get the skinny on what's in port, or use the GWX Spy Sat to increase map contacts. I recommend both as a learning tool/infotainment while concentrating on doing it right using the sonar and innovative patrolling.

And ignore all that bigger boat stuff. Size doesn't matter!! :hmm:

[She-Wolf]

crumbs... I still have so much to learn. Well, thanks all, got enough here to keep me busy for a week I reckon. I did not realise we could go off and do our own thing, thought we had to traipse dutifully back to base as soon as the patrol was completed. What can I do about refuelling though? Getting a bit low to do too much gallivanting up and down the coast... time I went back and looked at the guides I think.

[bigboywooly]

Originally Posted by She-Wolf

crumbs... I still have so much to learn. Well, thanks all, got enough here to keep me busy for a week I reckon. I did not realise we could go off and do our own thing, thought we had to traipse dutifully back to base as soon as the patrol was completed. What can I do about refuelling though? Getting a bit low to do too much gallivanting up and down the coast... time I went back and looked at the guides I think.

If you keep your speed to around 7kts on the way to patrol you should have plenty left when you get there to hunt
Regular sound checks every hour or so when surfaced also helps pick up traffic

Not much in the way of refuelling early war
Docking at a supply ship\friendly port will end your current patrol anyway
Press the F1 and go to resupply for dates and locations of resupply

Nice to see you back Gracie

[AVGWarhawk]

@she-wolf


Get the bigger boat and get the bigger tanks of fuel to help in your endevours of sinking merchant shipping

Fuel for thought Remember...Doenitz...nudge nudge wink wink! Go get an IXB and have fun on the East Coast of America!

[Einbaum]

Type II idiot here...

Last patrol was sort of like yours..I was sent to the Shetland Islands, which is probably on the extreme end of the range for this boat (IIA). You need to manage your fuel and the best way is to try and set engine revs yourself. In the command room, look at the engine rev counters, then set the speed...ideally they should be around the 3000 RPM mark which will give you a good speed/mpg ratio. Ask your navigator how far you can go with the current speed and then calculate how far your whole trip will be, to make sure.

I also had a similar patrol where nothing was sighted until the very last hour (of the 24) on my patrol sector. That's the life of a Type II man I'm afraid. We get all the scraps and have to contend with limited fuel, basic comfort and hemarrhoids. Face it...we are second line troops...just an after-thought for Hitler. We are the fat slob of a soldier left behind the lines cos we're basically useless. And that's the way we like it. Some people like to play the hero...some like to play the insignificant, useless, slob of a Captain...sort of like a Thomsen in Das Boot. Cigarette hanging from his lips, boiled egg in his pocket, drunk and puke stained coat. Welcome to the world of the Type II.

p.s. Anyone who reaches 100k tons in a type II....time to move to something bigger, matey. Highly unrealistic.

[She-Wolf]

hello Bigboy

I have been hanging around near Lowestoft (gotta watch out for shallows and sandbanks there it seems), and have had two targets appear on the navmap, but they fade out on the map before I get close enough to see what they are or get a direct fix on them. And then, when I did locate a ship on the sonar, it's sound suddenly disappeared and I could not locate it anywhere on the dial - now why are these strange disappearances happening I wonder?

[AVGWarhawk]

There has been a thread started on ghost ships. You hear them and go investigate. Nothing found. I have not experience it but other claim it happens.

[bigboywooly]

The opportune map contacts diasppear after a short time
The ships may have reached their last waypoint if heading inshore so will exit the game

[She-Wolf]

Originally Posted by bigboywooly

The opportune map contacts diasppear after a short time
The ships may have reached their last waypoint if heading inshore so will exit the game

aahh, maybe that is it then - not ghosties.

[She-Wolf]

Oh Einbaum, what a picture you paint. I think I will give the puke-stained shirt a miss. I will do what you say about the revs = thanks

WarHawk... 'oo is zees Doenitz person?

[AVGWarhawk]

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...y/Doenitz.html

Originally Posted by She-Wolf

Oh Einbaum, what a picture you paint. I think I will give the puke-stained shirt a miss. I will do what you say about the revs = thanks

WarHawk... 'oo is zees Doenitz person?

I did not know if you were kidding or not She-Wolf but the link above is the man who will render a IXB in France so you can continue your u-boat adventures with impunity. Althought the small IIA is fun sports car with few torpedos. It is high time you get into something a little more sporty. Once in the IX models you will become a IXaholic.

[Brag]

Originally Posted by She-Wolf

hello Bigboy

I have been hanging around near Lowestoft (gotta watch out for shallows and sandbanks there it seems), and have had two targets appear on the navmap, but they fade out on the map before I get close enough to see what they are or get a direct fix on them. And then, when I did locate a ship on the sonar, it's sound suddenly disappeared and I could not locate it anywhere on the dial - now why are these strange disappearances happening I wonder?

When you get a sighting report: Take your ruler and draw a line representing the course of your possible target. Then, take the square ruler thingie and draw a course to somewhere where you think you will intercept the target. It will show the time enroute. Calculate how far the target will travel in that time period. Take your dividers and draw a circle of that distance. Adjust your course and voila, you will probably meet your target there.

[TarJak]

You can always try the grids that run along the top of the northern coast of Scotland. I've never failed to find some loners running east or west in there. Again about 50-100 km's north of the coast is about right.

[She-Wolf]

my, you are a clever lot. I am torn between tugging on Doenitz's sleeve and slugging it out with the 'little beaut'... I think, for a while I will stick with the IIA, simply because, in real-life I know darn well I wouldn't be doing more than scrubbing the decks, I know so little - and the learning curve is a challenge I want to rise to.

I didn't know, until yesterday that I could work the sonar myself, or that there was a shipping lane chart. I had known about asking the navigator to plot the max distance etc, but had not seen the significance of it in respect of fuel conservation. Each time I come on here you teach me a little more.

[bigboywooly]

Tis what our life is for

Wait I mean ................ ummmm
No thats basically it