New Guy questions : /

[cgkstealth]

Hi all, I'm new to the game and I have a couple of questions for the experienced veterans (Or anyone who can answer them)

1. When "pinging" a target for range (In sonar station) can the enemy destroyers/escorts pick up on that ping and use it to find your location?

2. What is the best way to approach a enemy convoy? I have found success in getting in their path then sinking down to 300 feet, enabling Silent Running and waiting for them to go overtop of me. I then come up to periscope depth and try to fire off some shots before being detected by the escorts/destroyers.
Is there a better/easier way?

3. What is a good way so sneak into enemy ports for photo recon missions? I have tried going as deep and as slow as possible at night but I have only achieved minimal success with this method. Is there a better way?

Thanks in advance for any help http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

P.S. Is there a certain requirement for signatures or can anyone have one?

[Gidgiddoni84]

Not sure about the first one, but your convoy approach is pretty much what I do. Get in front, get deep and quiet, then pop up behind the picket line.

As for the harbor, I usually try to sneak in behind a patrol boat and get in close enough to be out of their normal patrol. If that doesn't work, I tend to fight my way in (destroyers and I have a mutual agreement, they try to kill me and I try to kill them first).

[Anti_Ship_Fella]

Well,by my knowledge,the active pinging should be picked up by the destroyers and be used to find you...Just like you can maybe hear their active pinging....

[Yooperbacker]

Hello cgkstealth,

Welcome.

You might like to look at the SHIV Guide that was put together by people on the forum.
Has some good stuff in there.

To check it out click here. (http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6421019045/m/4351073726/p/1)

[cgkstealth]

@YooperBacker: Thanks for the link, there is alot of helpful stuff in there. If only I had found that before... http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/shady.gif

Again, thanks all I appreciate it. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/11.gif http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[PhantomKira]

The Germans worked on the night surface attack prewar. This was established as the best way to attack for two reasons.

1. A submerged WWII era submarine was virtually immobile when submerged due to severely limited battery power.

2. Under the cover of darkness, you could get in close and fast on the surface with your desiels.

While advent of increasingly effective Allied radar pretty much killed the night surface option for the Germans after 1942, the Pacific was another story entirely.

The Japanese Bushido code meant that convoy escort was a low interest job. It held no glory; the best guarded the warships. It wasn't until 1944 that they really started having second thoughts and by the time they got organized with serious anti-submarine efforts, they didn't have much of a merchant fleet left to defend.

This meant that the Americans in the Pacific had the opposite experience of the Germans in the Atlantic. Instead of being forced to dive, and strip their boats of drag inducing deck guns, they could remain surfaced, at speed, and use their radar to accurately track targets and get in close to attack on the surface at night with increasingly powerful and numerous deck gun armamments as well as increasingly effective torpedoes. It takes a lot of guts to do that, but perfected, it's far and away the most effective attack. Done right, you can escape on the surface after an attack and never subject yourself to the depth charges. Still, during daylight, submerging is your only option. In that case, the "dive under the escorts" is the way to go.

[LouLewis1967]

As far as pinging, my basic rule is it's OK to ping a few times at long range, roughly over 10000 yards. My basic doctrine lately is to ping once at 12 minute intervals after first contact and plot the positions on the chart. After 3 cycles, sometimes 4, you get a good track and more importantly a good speed estimate to feed into the position keeper. Speed input was the hardest thing for me to get right for manual targeting, and this method has given me the best results.

Now, once I'm close enough to use the stadimeter accurately I'll take two more bearing/distance shots about 2 or 3 minutes apart from the periscope and use the estimate speed function to confirm speed and also confirm how the PK is tracking for course and bearing. This is right before shooting. I've had good success with this, but it takes patience.

I play stock 1.5, so maybe with mods the pinging I do would get more notice, but I've never been tracked down by escorts working this way.

[cgkstealth]

Ya LouLewis I have found the same thing out finally. I usually ping at long range like you said then once I get a approximate bearing and speed I try to figure out the convoy organization and think of a good attack position. (Some DD's hang closer to convoys than others making this part helpful).

Once I think they are within 3-5K yards I do away with the "pinging" and just rely on sonar, periscope and the map to try track their movements relative to my loaction. This has worked out for me. Thanks again all you guys for helpin the new skipper out. http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/11.gif