I think i finally figured out the IX boat appeal

[Ducimus]

Over the last few days i was working feverishly to put together the 3rd flotilla in UC. I figured, if im gonna try a VIIC boat career, im gonna do it right. I wanted to recreate U-333, primarly because i liked the philopshy of the skipper. "Everythign is little fish". ( goes back to the old say, "theres two rules in life. "Dont sweat the small stuff, and Everything is small stuff").. personal appeal thing, but thats beside the point.

To get to the point, I am on my first patrol in a VIIC uboat, and i already am bored to tears. Now i've done type 7 careers before, a long time ago, but.. ive played for 4 hours now, and i think id have already accomplished more in a type IX. After recollection...

1.) Passage of time and distance as a sense of accompllishment.. Even if I don't see much in shipping, i still feel like i accomplished something by virtue of having made a long trip. In a type 7 this sense of accomplishment is lacking to me.

2.)In both boats your going to have this really dull period where your searching or waiting for shipping. However, in a type 9 you typically patrol areas where shipping patterns are alot easier to guess, and you often have more chockpoints which shipping must pass through that you can use to your advantage. In a type 7 i find myself sitting around AM54 or there abouts waiting for a convoy. And well, it takes a long damn time.

For example, a week in a type 7 goes by alot slower because your submerging, checking hydro's, periscopes checks and surfacing ALOT more. In a type 9 the same week goes by with alot less hassel, and i could cover ALOT more ocean which increases my chances of finding shipping.

3.) The allure of foreign ports is a perk unto itself.

4.) Type 7's were meant to operate in wolfpacks. Type 9's were meant to operate independatly. Operating independatly is all you do in SH3, there are no wolfpacks. Theres no point in shadowing a convoy. No sense of being part of the whole. In a type 9 this is the norm, your far far from home.

5.) More fuel and torpedo's is an undeniable perk.

6.) Somethign about seeing your bow and front of your boat cut through the ocean as you stand on the bridge. I dont see that in a type 7 as much.

7.)Different ambiance. Its hard to put my finger on. Maybe im just making this up in my mind, but theres something different about long range patrols in far off enemy waters that has this adventurous appeal. Perhaps its best summed up in this poem, which admittidly is about US fleet subs, but I can't but think their are simularities to an IX boat career in SH3. ALl you need to do is change a few names of the places and its about the same thing.

I'M THE GALLOPING GHOST OF THE JAPANESE COAST

By Constantine Guiness, MOMM 1/C, USN

I'm the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast.
You don't hear of me and my crew
But just ask any man off the coast of Japan.
If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

I look sleek and slender alongside my tender.
With others like me at my side,
But we'll tell you a story of battle and glory,
As enemy waters we ride.

I've been stuck on a rock, felt the depth charge's shock,
Been north to a place called Attu,
and I've sunk me two freighters atop the equator
Hot work, but the sea was cold blue.

I've cruised close inshore and carried the war
to the Empire Island Honshu,
While they wire Yokahama I could see Fujiyama,
So I stayed, to admire the view.

When we rigged to run silently, deeply I dived,
And within me the heat was terrific.
My men pouring sweat, silent and yet
Cursed me and the whole damned Pacific.

Then destroyers came sounding and depth charges pounding
My submarine crew took the test.
Far in that far off land there are no friends on hand,
To answer a call of distress.

I was blasted and shaken (some damage I be taken),
my hull bleeds and pipe lines do, too
I've come in from out there for machinery repair,
And a rest for me and my crew.

I got by on cool nerve and in silence I served,
Though I took some hard knocks in return,
One propeller shaft sprung and my battery's done,
But the enemy ships I saw burn.

I'm the galloping ghost of the Japanese coast,
You don't hear of me and my crew.
But just ask any man off the coast of Japan,
If he knows of the Trigger Maru.

Damn i can't wait for Silent Hunter 4 :rotfl: