Informational tid-bits

[nattydread]

This will provide multiple functions. First and for most, a place to catalog, relieve and keep track of 'items of interest' from my readings, Second a way to share this with the community(especially rookies)to hopefully stream-lne more info to the devs and modders that may hopefully see this. I'll be providing sources, initially full sources, but afterward they'll be abbreviated.
Now this will a continual work in progress, especially since Im just throwing it up spontaneously. There wont be much order to it, it may not seem like much at first or for sometime...but what the hell, its worth a shot.

* Dive times for Gato class, as much as a minute or more, can be lowered to roughly 45sec and shorter. Desired dive times of 30-35secs. Silent Running by: James F. Calvert pg 6-7 (SR)

* Gato dive times could be as short as 30 secs. (SR pg 178)

*Search technique: Raise scope, one quick, full sweep at low power. One long, slow careful sweep of horizon at high power, then lower scope(All in about 1 minute). wait 3 mins, rinse and repeat.
This technique performed with the scope two feet above surface would allow detection of the tops of an average maru at about 3-4 miles, providing roughly a 6-8 mile diameter search area(about 50 sq miles) on a good day. Rain, fog, high sea-state would decrease range. (SR pg.60)
Placing a watch on the high periscope(50ft eye height) allows fo rteh detection of ship tops at 15 miles, providing a 700 sq mile ssearch area(SR pg 116)

* Sonar conditions outside Tokyo Bay was mediocre to really bad(double-edge sword, because it worked both ways) (SR pg. 60)

* Dont active ping, it'll give you away (SR pg. 61)

* Even on the surface during the day, scope confirmation of contacts were essential. (SR pg.61)

* Periscope attacks could be difficult at night (SR pg.62) [I think i remember reading that US periscopes werent very good at gathering light in low-light conditions]

* 5-6 hrs of charge was sufficient and better for battery life, atleast 4hrs was needed (SR pg 64)

* 8kts max submerged would expend battery in about 30 mins(SR pg 65)

* Original rule of thumb for magnetic exploders was 5-10ft below keel (SR pg 66)

* USS Jack takes 39 depth charges over about 5 hrs from a lone DD in vicinity of Tokyo Bay(SR pg 85)

* USS Jack dives to 350ft while enduring 5hr depth charging, 42 charges dropped, attack on carrier enroute to Tokyo Bay area (SR 100)

* USS Barb 3 mins from plane detection to passing through 300ft (Thunder Below by Adm Eugene Fluckey pg 100) (TB)

* If detected by surace ship at night, its possible they only see your glowing(phosphorescent due to plankton disturbed by screw/prop turbulence...I think) wake. With enough range, stopping/slowing may make you invisible, causing themto think you dived (SR pg 121)

* Gatos had 3 engine types, GMs, Fairbank and 8 ships had an infamously unreliable HOR MANs (SR pg re-occurring 1-104)

* Valuable information could be gathered from captives of sunken ships (SR 161)(TB pg 17)

* The Karimata Strait between Borneo and Java is dangerous due to shallow waters of about 90ft and persistent enemy air patrols (SR pg. 171)

* There was the availability of a steering cam that would provide an automatic and constant zig-zag pattern varying from 10-30 degrees. (SR pg 195)

*Try to keep atleast 200ft of water for effective evasion and manuevering (SR p 218)

* Final attack run, dont expose scope for more than 4 seconds (TB pg 11)

* Try to keep firing range to no more than 1500yds (personal observation from multiple sources) "The only thing less than ideal was the range, about seventeen hundred yards." (SR pg 80) A range of about 3000yds can be considered too far(in this case a 17kt target) (SR pg 99)

* When you expend weight(torps, ammo, etc) replace that remove weight with sea-water ballast to keep predictable trim settings. (TB pg 23)

* During Artic summers, short nights mean opportunities to recharge, it may require extra careful battery managment

* Assume even fishing boats and sampans are armed or have radio contact with the Japanese Fleet...or both (TB pg 38)

* Artic atmopheric conditiond can create an atmospheric lense allowing you to see mirage like imgaes of things many, many miles away, or cause items to appear to be floating in the sky (TB pg 34, 39-40, 52) ex: Island of Araido spotted from 90 miles out.

* 4 1/2 hrs of depth charging, 38 dropped (TB pg 48-51)

* Many neutral Russian ships in the Sea of Okotsk, near Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands (TB pg 52-54)

* The Japanese imported the vast majority(if not all) of their oil from SE Asia and Indonesia, should be plenty of happy hunting their and the South China Sea (pay close attention to the ports of origin in Northern Borneo) for oil tankers that go up real nice & easy. (SR pg 107-133)

* Aim each fish, no angle spreads, place 1 fish below the smoke stack, 2nd toward the stern and if you need a third, but it in the first third of the ship. By spreading the love around you cause damage more efficiently and spreads the flooding. Below the stacks kills the engine room, the stern aids in disabling propulsion, the bow is just insurance. "...[Bow hits by themselves dont sinkships...]" (dang, I lost the source info...I'll find it eventually )

* When surfaced, if you see the wakes of an enemy fish, turn toward them, comb the wakes, if you see a periscope in firing position, turn away. If you see a periscope thats not in firing position, dive and turn away as you submerge. (SR pg. 22)

* Expect the entrances into the Sea of Japan to be heavily mined. If I remember, surface runs are possible through the La Perouse Strait for the northern entrance, but its narrow and heavily patorlled by the enemy. Mines were placed at about "...Fifteen meters..." (TB pg 17)

* If the depth charges are close, you'll apparently hear the firing pin click, right before the explosion. "click...BANG!" This doesnt mean its close enough to hurt, but close enough to know these depth charges were for you (SR pg 42) At 100yds you'll hear the "...CRACK then WHACK..." of the depth charges Wahoo by: Richard H. O'Kane, pg 15 (Wahoo) It seems the time between click and bang wasnt a true indication of how close they were, the breaking of light bulbs was a better gauge(SR pg 85)

* No air-conditioning or air circulation during silent running. Very uncomfortable, "...hot as an oven..."(especially for 5 hrs)(SR pg 63, 81,82)

* Even silent running at 2 kts the DDs were able to track/hold contact them under good conditions(SR pg 81) Even when as deep as 350ft (SR pg 100)

* Damage assement of systems can be difficult during silent runnings because so much stuff is already shut-down. Broken light bulbs seemed to be a frequent casualty of depth charges(SR pg 84)

* Gatos could apparently detect themal layers, "...to go below test depth in an effort to take advantage of a thermal layer at just about 310ft." Still, the DD held contact, below a thermal layer and at 350ft(SR pg 100)

* If you couldnt break contact by running silent and deep, you could atleast use the delay required for the depth charge to reach your depth to avoid it. When you hear the depth charges splash down, use a full rudder turn(this skipper didnt speed up) to move out of the plane of the drop. The DD had to anticipate where you'd be in order for the charges to meet you. (SR pg 63)

* USS Jack survived an air dropped bomb close enough to apparently lift the stern out of the water. It caused progressive damage to one of the screws that went from squeaking to requiring it be shut down about 3wks later, it impeded silent approaches(SR pg 70)

* Crews with exceptional patrols were treated to stays and pampering in the homes of Hawaii's elite.(SR)

* You can hear the death-throws of the ship as it sinks(not sure if thats through the hull, or by placing the sonar over the ship inytercom) (SR)

* The SJ could apparently pick up a cruiser size ship from about 25k yds(SR pg 75)

[Mush Martin]

later in the war a "night periscope" was introduced

not like nightvision today but with a large objective
lens and coatings.

also

as I recall there was a fast "high" sweep in the perisearch to check
for aircraft in proximity

[Morts]

very intresting

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Ti D bit surely the most annoying Colonial misspelling, or should I say deliberate change :hmm:

[hyperion2206]

* 8kts max submerged would expend battery in about 30 mins(SR pg 65)

Wow, that's not very efficient. I thought batteries would last at least as long as German batteries.

[geetrue]

Your alright nattydread ... I don't care what the Japanese say about you ...

That's some great observations you have ...


First Patrol of Scorpion

In an attempt to escape the patrol boats, we went to 430 feet. The boat had been tested for only 300 feet;
probably we could have gone deeper, but none of us wanted to try it.

First Patrol of Scorpion

we surfaced after being submerged 16 hours and 15 minutes. Everyone was complaining of headaches;
the increase of pressure inside the boat made us very uncomfortable.

[Morts]

wow
only 430 feet ?
thats not a alot

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Originally Posted by Morts

.. .._. _.__ ___ .._ _._. ._ _. ._. . ._ _..
_ .... .. ... _.__ ___ .._ _. . . _.. _ ___
__. . _ ._ ._.. .. .._. .

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by nattydread

Try to keep firing range to no more than 1500yds (personal observation from multiple sources)

This was true in SH 1, which I played for over two years, before Windows XP came out. I expect to hit what I aim at.

Keep them coming nattydread, great job your doing


Plus, could someone help me understand what the term, "Find the null" means?

I've read it several times about the captain asking radar to find the null ...
I was a radarman and a sonarman and I could guess, something to do with a strong signal and find the direction by finding a null on either side of the signal, but did they actually turn the boat to do this?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by hyperion2206

Wow, that's not very efficient. I thought batteries would last at least as long as German batteries.

I can't get to my copy of Submarines Of World War Two at the moment, so I can't verify one way or the other. As I recall, though, battery power at full speed didn't last very long in any submarine. I still thought it was around two hours.

[Morts]

Originally Posted by Fat Bhoy Tim

i take you translated it ?:rotfl:

[jhelix70]

* when surfaced, if you see the wakes of an enemy fish, turn toward them, comb the wakes, if you see a periscope in firing position, turn away. If you see a periscope thats not in firing position, dive and turn away as you submerge. (SR pg. 22)

I find this especially interesting. People want to see enemy subs in the sim, but US subs were trained not to engage enemy subs, but to run away instead.

I suppose to find an enemy sub on the surfsce with you submerged (and in fireing position) would be another story, but if both subs were submerged there would be nothing either could do to effectivtly attack.

[sunvalleyslim]

Great Job Natty,
lots of work on your part. Great tips to use on patrol.......Can't wait for SH4

[Onkel Neal]

I'm impressed, Natty Someone should nom you for the March SSOM.

[nattydread]

wow, thx!