Battery while Surfaced?

[AVGWarhawk]

What we really need is the ability to shut down each diesel independanlty. Often the subs would patrol on one diesel to save fuel. Above and beyond that we need to be able to control speeds of each screw for tighter turning.

[joea]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

What we really need is the ability to shut down each diesel independanlty. Often the subs would patrol on one diesel to save fuel. Above and beyond that we need to be able to control speeds of each screw for tighter turning.

We could do that in SH2.

[tater]

Most US subs were true diesel-electrics—the screws were truned by electric motors, there was no shaft turned by the engine. Switching between the generator and batteries should be flipping a switch.

Might also be useful if damaged on the surface, you run off batteries to egress if diesels are out of commission. Alternately, ahead 1/3 off the genrators is higher speed than 1/3 battery. There might be times you want to move slower (and we don't have individual engine control).

tater

[-Pv-]

My impression is there is some WWII US realism modeling going on with diesels in that setting the lower speeds takes engines offline and directs them to battery charging making that process a bit faster.

In my opionion, no modding is necessary if the captain just uses smarts and watches the fuel usage. At lower speed settings (slow and 1/3) you have a great amount of range (much more than the SH3 boats.) Although I can see it as attractive to be able to switch to batt on the surface (and I have read real historical accounts where this was done to make the boat quieter while passsing near the enemy and near coasts) in a more practical sense, anything that would make less than full battery available when you get jumped or forced under for extended periods is not a good practice. WWII commanders protected the battery charge like a glass of water in the desert.

On efficiency...
Careful observation of both SH3 and 4 behavior indicates there is a slight fuel extension to running on the battery even if submerged so don't worry you can't do it on the surface, just go ahead and do some battery-range extension submerged anyway. In a tough situation, it might mean the diff between getting home. I did that once in SH3. But again, if you are smart and reserve the amount of fuel you need to get home and don't let youself get distracted, the crew will appreciate getting their mail and you will have a better next mission with a rested crew, skilled replacements, and upgrades to the boat.
-Pv-

[SingeDebile]

as was said before in terms of physics (maybe game is wrong) it is IMPOSSIBLE to get more range by charging and using your battery's... (you would be creating energy.. end of story) Not to mention the battery's they used back then were probobly not very effeicient. if you really wanted to get ultimate range and you had used some of your battery, by shutting down the battery recharge (no one mentioned you could do this?) you would get a better range... this is your best bet (and might actually be an option if you barely run submerged).