Questions about late war aircraft patrols/GWX

silentwayIII · 09-25-07, 01:54 PM

I'm in April of 44' about 500k north of Scapa Flow. Throughout this patrol, the frequency of my submarine being detected by aircraft, while surfaced is very high. Sometimes, the number of aircraft are as many as six that head towards me when they make radar contact with my boat.

Is this realistic or not? I would think two aircraft together is a push, but six seems unrealistic. The quantiy of aircraft patrolling the English Isles would have had to be in the many hundreds (my guess) if what I'm encountering is an example of the coverage.

Because of the frequency of the patrols, the amount of time I have on the surface...to recharge batteries, compressor and air is almost always too little to get the job done unless the weather is too severe for patrol aircraft to fly in.

While the snorkle is great, unless we are in late 44' there is no way to detect aircraft above you until, many times, its too late.

German submarine activity in and around the British Isles continued until the end of the war although not very successfully. The majority of the boats sent on these patrols were standard boats with some upgrades, nothing special. Many survived these patrols.

So...is the numbr of aircraft and the frequency of contact amped up a bit or not?

silentwayIII

09-25-07, 01:54 PM	#1
silentwayIII Electrician's Mate Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 135 Downloads: 166 Uploads: 0	Questions about late war aircraft patrols/GWX I'm in April of 44' about 500k north of Scapa Flow. Throughout this patrol, the frequency of my submarine being detected by aircraft, while surfaced is very high. Sometimes, the number of aircraft are as many as six that head towards me when they make radar contact with my boat. Is this realistic or not? I would think two aircraft together is a push, but six seems unrealistic. The quantiy of aircraft patrolling the English Isles would have had to be in the many hundreds (my guess) if what I'm encountering is an example of the coverage. Because of the frequency of the patrols, the amount of time I have on the surface...to recharge batteries, compressor and air is almost always too little to get the job done unless the weather is too severe for patrol aircraft to fly in. While the snorkle is great, unless we are in late 44' there is no way to detect aircraft above you until, many times, its too late. German submarine activity in and around the British Isles continued until the end of the war although not very successfully. The majority of the boats sent on these patrols were standard boats with some upgrades, nothing special. Many survived these patrols. So...is the numbr of aircraft and the frequency of contact amped up a bit or not? silentwayIII