Hydrophones and Rough Weather

[Captain Nemo]

I am currently reading a book written by Melanie Wiggins called "U-Boat Adventures". One account in the book is told by Hermann Frubrich who was an Ordinary Seaman on U-845. He recalls that on one occassion whilst cruising on rough seas the radio room sent a message to the bridge that there were noises at forty degrees on the starboard side, fading towards the stern. Those on the bridge looked in the direction of the noises but couldn't see anything so they took the boat down to periscope depth where the radio room confirmed propellor noises aft.

This subject has been discussed before and I think the conclusion here was that nothing could be heard by the sonar man whilst on the surface no matter what the sea state was. This account however, seems to contradict that conclusion. So when the hydrophone operator in SH3 picks up propellor noises in rough weather, perhaps it's not so unrealistic after all.

Nemo

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by PappyCain

I think you might enjoy reading this:

http://www.cdvandt.org/GHG1996.pdf

and this:

http://www.uboataces.com/hydrophones.shtml

The principle of hydrophones was simple enough - underwater microphones.

http://uboat.net/boats/u845.htm

Thanks PappyCain some interesting stuff contained in those links. Not sure if it answers the question whether or not the hydrophones were effective when the u-boat was running on the surface in rough weather though.

Nemo

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by PappyCain

In my line of work we use a transponder and transceiver to track objects u/w with the vessel and a submersible moving at depth. The transponder emits an acoustic sound from the submersible at depth and the transceiver picks up the sound, plots and tracks. In rough seas, we have to lower the transciever to keep below the surface. Perhaps this is a way of stating the scenerio with the U-boat in rough seas where the microphone goes subsea enough to hear a prop sound!

Thanks for your replies. Yes, in SH3 when you encounter rough weather the hydrophone is temporarily submerged which enables the sonar man to call out any nearby contacts. I think the general consensus here was that this is unrealistic and I believe there is a mod that removes this from the game.

Nemo