Need a History Lesson

[Chief of the Boat]

AND... don't forget that the Boats at the beginning of the War were the old "S" boats, many of which barely got out of Cavite [Manila Bay] ahead of the Nipponese. They were built at or shortly after WW ONE, and mostly were barely able to perform their War Patrol duties. The 'Fleet Boats' (with Names instead of like S-37) didn't show up on the scene until 1942 [as I recall].

COB

[mookiemookie]

I wouldn't be too concerned. Remember, that this time around, your orders will be more than "Patrol XXXXX for 24 hrs". You'll have rescue and insertion missions, and I would imagine that as the war goes on you'll be sent closer and closer to the home islands. You'll be in shallow water, surrounded by mines and facing more fanatical opponents. I'm sure they've put some thought into this.

[canimodo]

Now it´s 100% fun....

we can play SH3 till 1942-3 , and switch to SH4 to end, and win the war !!!!

[Barkhorn1x]

Originally Posted by canimodo

Now it´s 100% fun....

we can play SH3 till 1942-3 , and switch to SH4 to end, and win the war !!!!

Now there's the can do attitude that I like to see!

Perhaps my sig. from another forum is appropriate here:

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm patriotic enough. Yes, I want to kill people, but on both sides."
- Jack Handy

[NefariousKoel]

I wouldn't worry about this point that difficulty will drop as the war goes on.

I mean... the very first Silent Hunter was in the Pacific and was an excellent game. Hell, the first sim I ever played was Silent Service back in the 80's and it too was quite addicting... also in the Pacific.

[MarkQuinn]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

I wouldn't be too concerned. Remember, that this time around, your orders will be more than "Patrol XXXXX for 24 hrs". You'll have rescue and insertion missions, and I would imagine that as the war goes on you'll be sent closer and closer to the home islands. You'll be in shallow water, surrounded by mines and facing more fanatical opponents. I'm sure they've put some thought into this.

Actually I picked SHIII up off the shelf after several months of not playing, realized SHIV was coming out one day or another, and very coincidentally checked out the forums to see it was coming out in a couple weeks. What I mean to say is I haven't done my homework about this title as much as I should have. With regards to those missions you mention, is there any word from Ubi about whether the campaign will be scripted --- i.e. every time you play, your third patrol will be a rescue mission, your fifth will be an insertion and so forth --- or will they be random? I hope they'll be random so that every game will be different.

[hyperion2206]

Originally Posted by MarkQuinn

Actually I picked SHIII up off the shelf after several months of not playing, realized SHIV was coming out one day or another, and very coincidentally checked out the forums to see it was coming out in a couple weeks. What I mean to say is I haven't done my homework about this title as much as I should have. With regards to those missions you mention, is there any word from Ubi about whether the campaign will be scripted --- i.e. every time you play, your third patrol will be a rescue mission, your fifth will be an insertion and so forth --- or will they be random? I hope they'll be random so that every game will be different.

I'm not sure but comments from the devs suggest that these special missions will occur randomly.

[Captain_Jack]

Originally Posted by Chief of the Boat

AND... don't forget that the Boats at the beginning of the War were the old "S" boats, many of which barely got out of Cavite [Manila Bay] ahead of the Nipponese. They were built at or shortly after WW ONE, and mostly were barely able to perform their War Patrol duties. The 'Fleet Boats' (with Names instead of like S-37) didn't show up on the scene until 1942 [as I recall].

COB

There are Fleet Boats in December 1941...The famous gatos dont go on active patrol until 1942...but their predecessors are there in Dec 1941...Some Fleet Boats made patrols to Japanese Home Waters in the days after Pearl Harbor. There were Fleet Boats in Pearl Harbor and the Philippines on Dec 7th.

P Class, Tambor Class, Salmon Class, are the early Fleet Boats..Many were commissioned in the late 1930s.

[Pevs86]

I know NOTHING about the Pacific theatre, nothing at all.

I'm really looking forward to learning as I go, as I have no idea of the boats available to me nor the type of opposition I'll come up against.

To me the random mission factor is a big appeal, I can't wait to surface 2-3 meters from a down pilot

[mookiemookie]

Here's a nice rundown of the high points of the war. Only takes a few minutes to read and it's a pretty good crash course/Cliff's Notes version of the U.S. submarine war in the Pacific:

http://www.valoratsea.com/subwar.htm

[Tigrone]

Originally Posted by Captain_Jack

There are Fleet Boats in December 1941...The famous gatos dont go on active patrol until 1942...but their predecessors are there in Dec 1941...Some Fleet Boats made patrols to Japanese Home Waters in the days after Pearl Harbor. There were Fleet Boats in Pearl Harbor and the Philippines on Dec 7th.

P Class, Tambor Class, Salmon Class, are the early Fleet Boats..Many were commissioned in the late 1930s.

Captain Jack is quite right. Here is a list of the Asiatic boats on station:

USN's Asiatic Fleet based in the Philippines. This submarine force was made up of 29 submarines of which 23 were modern 'Fleet' subs, and 6 were old S-Boats.
Submarines

SS-141, S-36, on patrol off Lingayen, PI
SS-144, S-39, on patrol off Sarosogon Bay, Luzon PI
Submarines at Cavite
SS-142 S-37
SS-143 S-38
SS-145 S-40
SS-146 S-41
SS-172 Porpoise [The oldest fleet boat was commissioned 1935, most of the rest are 1938 or newer.]
SS-173 Pike
SS-174 Shark (Undergoing Overhaul at Cavite)
SS-175 Tarpon
SS-176 Perch
SS-177 Pickerel
SS-178 Permit
SS-182 Salmon
SS-183 Seal
SS-184 Skipjack
SS-185 Snapper
SS-186 Stingray
SS-187 Sturgeon
SS-188 Sargo
SS-189 Saury
SS-190 Spearfish
SS-191 Sculpin
SS-192 Sailfish
SS-193 Swordfish
SS-194 Seadragon (Undergoing Overhaul at Cavite)
SS-195 Sealion (Undergoing Overhaul at Cavite)
SS-196 Searaven
SS-197 Seawolf

[Crosseye76]

Here's a bit more history:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=107588

[Mush Martin]

Boy Couldnt you just go on for hours with this question.

Ill leave it for now

dont forget spyron

[kptn_kaiserhof]

big deal i have the whole silent hunter series but im getting sh4 in a week

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Chief of the Boat

AND... don't forget that the Boats at the beginning of the War were the old "S" boats, many of which barely got out of Cavite [Manila Bay] ahead of the Nipponese. They were built at or shortly after WW ONE, and mostly were barely able to perform their War Patrol duties. The 'Fleet Boats' (with Names instead of like S-37) didn't show up on the scene until 1942 [as I recall].

COB

Actually the Philippine station at Manila and Cavite in December 1941 comprised six S-Boats and twenty-three (23) fleet submarines! The S-class are remembered chiefly because at the Japanese landings at Lingayen Gulf they were the only ones which actually sank anything!