Suicidal ASW ships

Wreford-Brown · 12-17-07, 11:56 AM

Has anyone else noticed Allied ships that depth charge themselves in shallow water? I ran into an ASW trawler inside Dover and it blew itself up (and about 200ft into the air!). I also got caught by four DDs inside Scapa after sinking the Illustrious. Three of them blew their own depth charge crews off the boat (which meant they couldn't depth charge me) and the fourth sunk itself doing the same thing. The three without charges then ran themselves ashore on an island allowing me to pick two of them off while the third holed itself on the island and sank.

I was happy to escape, but didn't think that DD crews were this suicidal. If it keeps happening, I'll risk the mines and nets and you'll find me building up tonnage inside Allied ports every mission!

KeptinCranky · 12-17-07, 12:05 PM

Yes they tend to do that, unfortunately, you can get them to do this in deep water too by staying very shallow and dodging at the absolute last moment.

It's just one of those AI problems... I try not to exploit it too much, although I did during testing, repeatedly

, had to check those ports out

Realistically those ASW trawlers and other improvised warships weren't really capable of making enough speed to get away from their own DCs in such ocassions.

a quote(ish) from an American I saw on discovery channel on patrolling early 1942

"the yacht we were on had 2 depthcharges strapped to the stern, I'm glad we never saw an actual uboat, because if they hadn't blown us away we would have blown ourselves up..."

:hmm:

Wreford-Brown · 12-17-07, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeptinCranky

Yes they tend to do that, unfortunately, you can get them to do this in deep water too by staying very shallow and dodging at the absolute last moment.

It's just one of those AI problems... I try not to exploit it too much, although I did during testing, repeatedly

, had to check those ports out

Realistically those ASW trawlers and other improvised warships weren't really capable of making enough speed to get away from their own DCs in such ocassions.

a quote(ish) from an American I saw on discovery channel on patrolling early 1942

"the yacht we were on had 2 depthcharges strapped to the stern, I'm glad we never saw an actual uboat, because if they hadn't blown us away we would have blown ourselves up..."

:hmm:

It's the dodging at the last moment that's the difficult bit

. I found that DDs try and approach from the stern so going from silent running to full ahead and executing a 180 degree turn usually means you're out of depth charge range (just) when they go into the water. Took some damage to rear torpedo tubes but only lost 6% hull during the chase with 4 DDs.
If it's historically accurate then all's well, but I think I'll join you in not exploiting it too much.

KeptinCranky · 12-17-07, 12:31 PM

Minor but fairly significant caution: don't do this with DDs, they're too fast, try it with DEs and Corvettes and trawlers and such, ideally in rough weather

the dodging as follows:

Set depth 17 meters, he won't be able to ram you, Go to 5 knots, he knows where you are anyway...

when he begins his run, set to flank, set rudder 10 degrees away from his course, watch with a periscope... then when he's almost on top of you, you can see the bow, go hard port or starboard away from the ship. and dive hard...this will usually result in the DCS missing you or causing slight damage to the stern but taking the DD out.

Oh and if he has Hedgehogs you're toast, but then you knew that

this is about 50% succesful in taking out his dc racks, but probably won't sink the ship, I've seen that only once

Wreford-Brown · 12-17-07, 12:44 PM

I was more successful in forcing them to run aground. Some of the islands inside Scapa have 15m depth within 100m of them, so by turning hard on the corners they ran themselves ashore as they try to follow me.
I've had similar results inside most ports, only leaving me with the stationary warships to sink before going for the merchants with deck gun. It works fine early on, but I'm sure it will be suicidal later in the war when merchants are armed.

KeptinCranky · 12-17-07, 05:39 PM

Ummm,

I do NOT surface in enemy ports, ever, at all, well except Liverpool, once, to get some air, but that was during beta testing and doesn't count, no Dead is Dead

The reason for my caution will become apparent very quickly if you do, but I'll leave that for you to find out....

View Poll Results: How have you seen enemy warships destroy themselves?
Depth charging themselves	20	62.50%
Running aground	13	40.63%
'Friendly fire'	14	43.75%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 32. You may not vote on this poll

12-17-07, 11:56 AM	#1
Wreford-Brown Sea Lord Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: In sight of Stonehenge Posts: 1,750 Downloads: 51 Uploads: 26	How to defeat ASW ships Has anyone else noticed Allied ships that depth charge themselves in shallow water? I ran into an ASW trawler inside Dover and it blew itself up (and about 200ft into the air!). I also got caught by four DDs inside Scapa after sinking the Illustrious. Three of them blew their own depth charge crews off the boat (which meant they couldn't depth charge me) and the fourth sunk itself doing the same thing. The three without charges then ran themselves ashore on an island allowing me to pick two of them off while the third holed itself on the island and sank. I was happy to escape, but didn't think that DD crews were this suicidal. If it keeps happening, I'll risk the mines and nets and you'll find me building up tonnage inside Allied ports every mission! __________________ All my mods are available at MediaFire: SH3 Mods Other modders SH3 mods SH4 Mods ...you can't please all of the people all of the time... Last edited by Wreford-Brown; 12-26-07 at 04:04 PM.

12-17-07, 12:44 PM	#5
Wreford-Brown Sea Lord Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: In sight of Stonehenge Posts: 1,750 Downloads: 51 Uploads: 26	I was more successful in forcing them to run aground. Some of the islands inside Scapa have 15m depth within 100m of them, so by turning hard on the corners they ran themselves ashore as they try to follow me. I've had similar results inside most ports, only leaving me with the stationary warships to sink before going for the merchants with deck gun. It works fine early on, but I'm sure it will be suicidal later in the war when merchants are armed. __________________ All my mods are available at MediaFire: SH3 Mods Other modders SH3 mods SH4 Mods ...you can't please all of the people all of the time...

12-17-07, 12:05 PM	#2
KeptinCranky Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,050 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Yes they tend to do that, unfortunately, you can get them to do this in deep water too by staying very shallow and dodging at the absolute last moment. It's just one of those AI problems... I try not to exploit it too much, although I did during testing, repeatedly , had to check those ports out Realistically those ASW trawlers and other improvised warships weren't really capable of making enough speed to get away from their own DCs in such ocassions. a quote(ish) from an American I saw on discovery channel on patrolling early 1942 "the yacht we were on had 2 depthcharges strapped to the stern, I'm glad we never saw an actual uboat, because if they hadn't blown us away we would have blown ourselves up..." :hmm:

12-17-07, 12:31 PM	#4
KeptinCranky Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,050 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Minor but fairly significant caution: don't do this with DDs, they're too fast, try it with DEs and Corvettes and trawlers and such, ideally in rough weather the dodging as follows: Set depth 17 meters, he won't be able to ram you, Go to 5 knots, he knows where you are anyway... when he begins his run, set to flank, set rudder 10 degrees away from his course, watch with a periscope... then when he's almost on top of you, you can see the bow, go hard port or starboard away from the ship. and dive hard...this will usually result in the DCS missing you or causing slight damage to the stern but taking the DD out. Oh and if he has Hedgehogs you're toast, but then you knew that this is about 50% succesful in taking out his dc racks, but probably won't sink the ship, I've seen that only once

12-17-07, 05:39 PM	#6
KeptinCranky Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,050 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Ummm, I do NOT surface in enemy ports, ever, at all, well except Liverpool, once, to get some air, but that was during beta testing and doesn't count, no Dead is Dead The reason for my caution will become apparent very quickly if you do, but I'll leave that for you to find out....