You're right. I just checked and starting in a IIB and there are 41 crew! Odd, that.

No i have not tried to load any mods yet. I was hoping to play the game without having to mess with those. I've found that while good mods enhance the game .... i have limited knowledge of working with files and mod installations are often way over my level of ability in working with moving files around or creating folders or understanding the instructions. Instructions are often written for people who know what they're doing ...which doesn't include me

Haha, OK Haggart.


But.... install Tigger Maru Overhauled 2.5!

I get your point though.

Also 56 for the type VII, and 59 for the type IX, which are closer but.. oh well. Now, if I manage to cross the Kiel channel the war could finally start

I used the Kiel Kanal once, and that was enough. Unless you mod so that the 'near' land' TC doesn't drop to 4x, it takes a long time. So I used the Kattegat and Skaggerak to get to the North Sea when I was based in Kiel.

I don't know if I could afford not crossing the channel with a Type II, fuel wise. There was a button in SH3 to cross it, butyeah as you said, a little editing in the TC and shouldn't be a big problem.

My cruise speed in the Type VIIB is 6 knots, which is slow, but gives me massive range and endurance. The equivalent in a Type II I suppose would be about 4 knots. I'd imagine you could get a range in excess of 6000 kilometers or more. I took a Type IIB out of Kiel and ran the 'max range at current speed' thing, but for whatever reason it said unavailable so I have no idea what the max range is at ahead slow for example.

If you want to avoid the canal, you can opt for the 'start outside of base' option which puts you at the western end of the canal, which doesn't help on the return trip of course. Good luck on your patrols.

I wish i didn't have to mess with crew management. That's what i liked about SH2 - no crew to have to mess around with. They appeared on deck when asked, the could shoot and keep a close watch for ships and aircraft yet didn't have to be baby sit.

Haggart,I would encourage you to explore JSGME,it's quite easy to understand,honest!

All I would suggest to you is that before you install it that you make a back-up of your SH folder.In the event that things go wrong you can delete the mess you made and just copy the SH folder back in.

There are plenty of tutorials out there,not all for SH but the principles are the same for modding any game.

U-47 continued to patrol out of La Spezia in the Mediterranean through the summer of 1943. Unless we sail east of Crete we are finding no lone merchants. But convoys come along frequently, and maybe I was fortunate, or maybe I've learned how to attack convoys in Operation Monsun. Regardless of the reason, U-47 had great success in getting inside the screens and putting torpedoes on target during patrols sixteen and seventeen. Our Biscay Cross continued to be the most valuable installation on our boat. Time and again, it's warnings were quickly heeded, and we managed to avoid attacks by the many air patrols that were encountered. On one or two occasions the aircraft dropped their ordnance, but we were already heading deep and their attacks were ineffectual. On the whole though, the Cross allowed us to avoid detection.

In addition to aircraft, it also gives bearing to radar equipped escorts, which allowed us to essentially home in on the signal, and get below the surface before we can be detected. For whatever reason, the dive time upon ordering periscope depth in OM is excessively long. And this is with a highly experienced crew, and with quite a few diving experts, crewman who have attained that special ability. So my procedure is to order crash dive, then order periscope depth upon reaching 10 meters. This has the effect of leveling off right at the proper depth and we can get under in very short order.

Patrol 16 left La Spezia in the early hours of May 9, 1943, loaded with a full complement of TIII electrics. I had hoped to have available some G7e/T4 'Falke' acoustic homing torpedoes by now, but none were available. I would like to load all forward slots with TIIIs and all after slots with Falke for defense against searching escorts, but that will have to wait. This was my preferred late-war loadout in SH3, and proved very successful.

Our patrol grid was once again off the Algerian coast, and for what it's worth, every Med objective in this career has been off the Algerian or Moroccan coasts. Several contacs with convoys were developed, and we were able to create enough of an advantage to get in on two of them. The first was found with the help of aerial scouts running the route from Alexandria to Malta. Slipping inside the portside screen in very heavy seas, U-47 torpedoed the first Liberty ship we have seen from the point-blank range of 400 meters.

Here the first of the two torpedoes fired at this ship strikes MOT, below the stack




As we pass astern in search of the next target, a quick look at the Liberty shows her with a severe down-angle with her ensign flying.




These shots hint as to the challenge of attacking targets in heavy seas. Those who have followed any of my posts know I play without external cameras. And it's not just to blow my horn, but to emphasize the fact that playing Silent Hunter this way fundamentally changes the way the sim is played. The first screenshot above shows what was probably my clearest look at this target. When the seas are rolling, and your view is restricted to 6 inches above the water, you are presented with very brief snapshots of the target ships as they appear and disappear through the swells. And moreover, riding out evasions from within the control room or conning tower is far more challenging than when you can watch the escorts from above the water and react to what they do. Once your scope goes below the surface, you are blind, and it changes the way you think, what you know, and the decisions and actions you take. Something as simple as checking a box in the difficulty menu has a profound effect on how you approach the game and the decisions you will have to make.

After sinking the Liberty, U-47 continued at ahead slow looking for another target to appear in the glimpses through the troughs. But what we saw was a destroyer coming on with a bone in her teeth and I ordered crash dive as she began a short-scale ping. As we passed through 70 meters, a string of depth charges landed close aboard, causing moderate damage and U-47 sprung a few leaks.


Here you see the control room of U-47 with some leaks that have not been fixed.




As mentioned in earlier posts, the crew of U-47 is highly experienced. Every crew member has been promoted several times, and all have specialties, and many have Special Abilities. With such a crew, repairs are often quickly made, and here too, and we sought safety in the depths, hoping we would be lost in the many merchant screws above. We kept going down to 160 meters, and the combination of this depth, the sea state and the many screws in the area all allowed U-47 to slip off to the north and evade successfully as the destroyers lost track. After all screws were lost on the hydrophones to the west, we returned to periscope depth. A quick look revealed nothing in sight, and we surfaced and headed north to the waters between Crete and Cyprus that proved so lucrative in our early forays in the Med.

Over the next 2 or 3 weeks, we made contact with several merchants steaming alone. We managed to put five on the bottom, 2 of the small 1800-ton M-KF-F freighters, and three of the medium M-KF-M (E) freighters of 5000 tons, all of which flew Turkish flags.

With fuel dwindling and torpedoes running low, U-47 set course back to the west to patrol the bottleneck between Sardinia and Tunisia. Only July 3, we again contacted a convoy with the help of the Cross, and managed to slip inside the screen of very modern DDs and DEs. Once inside, we torpedoed two more freighters of 9000 and 5900 tons and evaded the searching escorts. Out of torpedoes, U-47 ran for the barn and put in to La Spezia on July 9, after exactly two months at sea, having sunk 7 ships for 35,745 tons.


During refit, U-47 saw the installation of a new decoy, Bold 1, which is a canister of calcium hydride that can be ejected from the submarine, and when mixing with seawater, produces a large cloud of hydrogen bubbles to provide a false sonar target for searching enemy ships.

U-47 left La Spezia for the last time on August 15, 1943 on her seventeenth war patrol, again bound for the waters off the Algerian coast. Soon after departure, we received a radio message to shift base to Toulon, located a short distance to the west on the French coast.

Several days after arriving on station, and having dived many times to avoid prowling aircraft, the Cross once again alerted us to the presence of a radar-equipped enemy warship. We homed in and dove in a raging storm, heavy fog, 15 m/s winds and heavy seas. Visibility was around 1500 meters. In what would become on of my most successful convoy attacks ever, U-47 sank 5 good ships in 30 minutes. The storm and the sea state seemed to prevent the enemy escorts from being able to find our boat as we fired torpedo after torpedo at ships that emerged from the fog. The first two fish were fired at an 8300 ton tanker. But something wasn't right with my setup, and the first torpedo missed ahead, and the second struck the tanker, damaging it, but she kept on. Fortune was with us, as the torpedo that missed continued on to strike a ship in a far column, a 4100 ton freighter that blew up and sank. Because of the fog, this was out of our view. Two 5100 ton cargo ships went down in short order, as we fired torpedoes as soon as they were reloaded as the convoy paraded past, seemingly unable to determine where the attacks were coming from.

Another big tanker of 8500 tons hove in to view and this ship too was sent to the bottom, having broken in two after being struck by our second torpedo. Soon after, the tanker that was the first target went down. In a half hour, five enemy ships for 32,860 tons went to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

Here the second tanker settles having broken in two




After the two tankers went down, we dove deep and slipped away, with distant pinging heard for a long while afterwards. Finally clear of the screws, U-47 surfaced to exchange the air and recharge the batteries. Several weeks went by, and the weather turned clear and very calm. Again and again, we dove to avoid aircraft. Two more convoys were contacted, but experience has proven that attacking in calm seas hands the initiative and advantage over to the enemy escorts. Unable to find a clear opening, I elected to run away. Keywords discretion/valor. In the second of these convoys, I had noticed a Bogue Escort Carrier sailing in it.

I've now done 17 patrols in OM. If there is one key I have found to success, it is sea state, sea state, sea state. For anyone else playing this mod, all I can say is that sea state is the most important factor in getting in on escorted enemy formations. From the surface attacks I was doing in '41, to getting in submerged on the convoys in this post, heavy sea state is the key. Attacking escorted formations in calm seas is asking to be sunk. Bide your time, and take advantage of heavy weather when the opportunity arises.

On September 5, with the weather having turned once again, U-47 made contact with a convoy about 100 kilometers east of Algiers. I attempted to home in on the radar signals, but by the time I was able to sight the convoy, it was evident we were trailing, and they had gotten by. We surfaced , extended away to the south at flank speed. I plotted the convoy's course, and made a flank speed dash for 150 kilometers to the west, turning back in on the course after having dived for aircraft many more times. I would like some stock in the Metox company

Once positioned near where I expected the convoy to come on, we waited. Before too long, the convoy was detected on the Cross and then on hydrophones, but tracking the hydrophone bearings revealed I had dived a little too far to the north of their present track. Turning around, we moved cautiously at ahead full to close the track and get a shot in. Again, we were able to penetrate the screen and get inside the enemy formation.

As the ships came on, I began identifying them and looking for big ships. After choosing a likely target and plotting the convoy's 6 knot speed, I prepared to fire. Just before pushing the plunger, I saw a carrier emerge from the fog.

Here is the convoy and U-47's position relative to the Escort Carrier when first sighted.



This convoy is scattered I think in part due to the heavy seas, and in part I believe due to the fact that the escorts had detected me on radar a few times as we made the 150km flank speed end around, causing the ships to zig and as a result, their station keeping went astray.


Here is another shot that shows how heavy seas affect the ability to track targets.




Here is a good look at the Bogue 10 degrees before firing



That screen shows the setup just before firing. The solution has been dialed in. Looking at those dials, we can see a perfect setup, assuming I have the speed and range correct. You can see the speed at 6 knots. The 'Impact A' dial, shows the expected impact angle of the torpedoes, which is an ideal 90 degrees starboard. AoB is set to 80 starboard, since U-47 is on a course 90 degrees to the target's course and the bearing is set to 350, which subtracts those 10 degrees from the 360 degree bearing which intersects the target's course at 90 degrees (when precisely heading on a 90 angle heading to the target's course, AoB and scope bearing are easy to determine. If you place the scope 20 degrees from 360/180, you know the AoB is 70. If at 10 degrees from 360/180, AoB is 80 and so on). Range is 1400 meters. And the gyro angle is 000, which all adds up to a perfect torpedo shot.

As the carrier crossed the wire, three torpedoes were fired, at intervals to spread the torpedoes along the length of the target. Looking at the left side of that screenshot you can see the torpedo settings. I have all four bow tubes opened and depth set very shallow, 1.5 meters. I have set the pistols to impact to eliminate the chance of prematures in the rough seas. Each fish is fired single in accordance with the procedures and thinking outlined in previous posts, so the salvo options are unused.


All three torpedoes hit the carrier and detonated. Fires were visible, but she didn't immediately appear to be sinking.

Here the second of the three torpedoes strikes below the superstructure.




I suspected that the three hits would be enough to cause this carrier to eventually sink, but taking no chances I fired the 4th bow tube on a 010 track, which would cause the torpedo to approach abaft the beam, but this torpedo hit and exploded, and so did the carrier. You can see I adjusted the speed and range down slightly due to expected slowing of target after hits and having closed somewhat since the last shots. Note the change in the 'Impact A' dial.




I fired the last bow tube and the last stern tube at two more ships, but both of these torpedoes missed, probably due to the ships turning away after being alerted by the demise of the Bogue, or perhaps I just got it wrong.

Out of torpedoes, U-47 headed for the barn, putting in to Toulon on September 7, having sunk 6 ships for 46,915, after a relatively short three weeks at sea.

I am very pleased with these two patrols. Making that many successful attacks on convoys well-escorted by the latest in American destroyer hardware is very satisfying indeed. The success is due, I think, in large part to choosing to attack when the conditions were relatively favorable, and knowing when the setup wasn't right and sailing away to fight another day.

+1

Bravo Zulu, DBond. Two more excellent patrols for the U-47. I wonder if the preponderance of aircraft in your patrol area had anything to do with the CVEs? I know that the Allies began using hunter/killer tactics against the U-Boat threat sometime mid-war, which were centered around Escort Carriers. Perhaps that was some of what you were experiencing? If so, then, you should take extra satisfaction in having sunk that Bogue.

Thanks. Yes you're right. In SH3 Hunter-Killer groups existed, and would patrol Biscay Bay and the BF and BE grids. Usually, they were a Bogue with 4 capable escorts, modern destroyers like Fletchers and Black Swan Frigates. I haven't seen them yet in OM, because I'm in the Med, but I keep getting Task Force notifications in BF grid, and I will bet that's what's there.

Back in my SH3 days, I played a career where the premise was that I was assigned to a special U-Boat force that would attack only warships. It was an interesting experience, and I detailed the patrols, which included encounters with the Hunter-Killer groups. The reports can be read in this thread

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=99445

Sadly, the screenshots are no longer up, but it was mostly exploding destroyers and sinking battleships, ho-hum.

As for my last patrol, I can't say if the aircraft were land or carrier based, as I never stick around long enough to identify them. But what you say makes sense. I know this feature is in SH4, so probably in OM by extension.

Ok, I'm a member of Subsim.com from a few years ago ...I'll go find it and see if i can make heads or tails out of it. Also ill download that other file ..... Tigger Maru 2.5 ....but that sounds like the program that sunk my sub last time

A few years ago i paid $25.00 to Subsim to be a member so maybe i won't have to pay again. Silent Hunter is for someone my age cause i can't keep up with the young folks in Battlefield whatever anymore ...they're too quick on the draw

I was also a paid member once but that expired. As an ordinary member I think you can have 3 downloads a day. Get JSGME from elsewhere and save yourself a download slot if you want to download multiple files.

Hag, theres nothing to make heads or tails of, really. JSGME has been around for years and is a brilliant little app. You can use it for just about any game. You shouldn't even use mods without it. You stick the mod file in the mod folder, and hit the apply button. The mod messes something up, or you just don't like it, you take it out. Simple.
And I donated only five dollars to subsim to get their donationware Narwhal model. I think I have unlimited downloads, now.

Downloads for non-subscribers are currently on hold. Neal is running the annual fundraiser, and until the goal is met, I believe the downloads section is not available if you have not donated. Subscriptions last two years, so if you haven't done so in that time you'll have to wait a bit. Or just make a donation! For me it's worth it to contribute a few bucks. Join the Subsim Navy

U-47 left Toulon on her eighteenth war patrol on October 9, 1943. Acoustic torpedoes were finally available, and we loaded all forward tubes and reserves with T III electrics, and the stern tube and reserves with three of the G7es (TV) Zaunkönig second generation homing torpedoes, for use against escorts. The objective was once again off the coast of Algeria. Just two days out of Toulon enroute to our patrol grid, a convoy was contacted in heavy seas. U-47 was able to penetrate the screen and sent two big ships to the bottom before slipping away from the pinging escorts. Having fired half of our torpedo load, we set sail back to Toulon for a reload, then set course once again for the Algerian coast.

After running a search pattern for several days, another convoy was contacted, but had gotten by, so an end run was conducted and after a 200-km dash, U-47 dove on the expected track. Two more big ships were sunk from this convoy. As we ran the end around, many airplane contacts were made, and for the first time that we had seen in this career, they were flying in pairs. At this stage of the war, the Allies had taken Sardinia, and were approaching Rome in Italy. What had been a largely German controlled Sea upon our arrival in the spring of 1942, was now dominated by the Allies.


A big tanker explodes after being struck by U-47's torpedoes




Afer completing our objective, we set sail to the east, hoping that perhaps we could find a gap where air coverage was not so thick. Near Tunis, another convoy was encountered. This time however, the seas were dead flat, with clear weather and blue skies. I considered avoiding, but as were were already in near perfect position, U-47 submerged and closed the convoy's track. As luck would have it, there was no screen on the starboard side of the formation, and we exploited this gap and slipped inside the starboard wing colum.

This convoy was another with a Bogue escort carrier sailing in it, and we selected this ship as our first target. Somewhat astern of the carrier was a T3 tanker. I planned to fire three torpedoes at the carrier, and the fourth at the T3, with the hope that tube one could be reloaded quickly and also used against the tanker. In the dead calm sea, periscope exposures were kept to an absolute minimum, and very brief, just long enough to check bearings and AoB, as well as mark those bearings for the speed calculation. To determine speed I make bearing marks on the navigation map. At intervals, the distance between marks is measured with the compass. Once you know the distance the ship has travelled over a certain amount of time, the nomograph is used to determine the speed of the ship. This convoy was making 6 knots. Ships travelling so slowly do not present much of a challenge to targeting, but do test one's patience as they plod on. The longer we wait, the more likley we will be detected by the escort, and I was a bit nervous as I took brief looks at the destroyers, but none detected us. The Bogue sailed past our scope at a range of just 500 meters. Three torpedoes were fired along her length and the reload on tube one began immediately. The first torpedo hit below the bridge and the carrier exploded. The other two also hit but were not needed. I always have a sense of regret at firing multiple torpedoes at a ship when the first one destroys it. But you can never know how many it will take, so you try to fire enough to ensure the job gets done.


The carrier explodes after being struck by the first torpedo




As the carrier was sinking, the rest of the ships began the Silent Hunter Shuffle, constant helming which slows them even more along their base course. As the escorts were now looking for us, it was nerve wracking waiting for the T3 to come on, and it was evident it would be a close run thing on whether the escorts or the tanker would arrive first. In the event it was a draw, and two destroyers came on pinging just as tube one was reloaded and two torpedoes were fired at the T3 from 400 meters. I quickly dialed in a high-gyro solution to fire one of the acoustics at one of the charging destroyers. Both bow torpedoes hit the tanker and it blew up, aflame from stem to stern. U-47 was now making flank speed on the way down to try and lose the escorts below the ships on the convoy. The Zaunkönig I believe missed the escort and locked on to another merchant in the convoy and exploded, but whatever it hit did not go down.


The T3 tanker looks huge as she sails to her demise




U-47 successfully evaded to the northwest. After all merchant screws were lost, we returned to periscope depth to have a look at the single destroyer that was left behind to search for us and hold us down. As it circled the area where the ships went down, I thought it would make a good target for a homing torpedo. I dialed in a solution, but with these torpedoes precision isn't needed, and it was fired from a range of 3200 meters. I had set the depth to 5 meters against the 4.2 meters draft of the Buckley. I beleive the torpedo made multiple passes under the ship, but never exploded. It's possible it was fired with an impact pistol, which would explain it, but I was certain I checked to make sure it was magnetic. Regardless, it did not detonate and we cleared the area content to call it a draw.

U-47 continued to the east, and closed in on an area south of Malta where we had gotten several task force radio reports over the past two weeks. Soon after arriving we made contact with the Cross of radar emmissions. In heavy seas at night we made a flank speed dash to get ahead an close the track. We dove and turned in, and soon several destroyers were in sight. I searched in vain for any capital ships they might be escorting, and seeing none, prepared to dive to evade when suddenly the closest destroyers began pinging. Before going deep I fired the
last Zaunkönig which found a Clemson Class flush-decker and blew it up. We managed to evade toward Malta, but it seemed the other warships did not look for us for long. This was the third or fourth such group we had found on this patrol. It is possible that I just never saw what they were escorting, but I believe these were hunter groups of 5 or 6 destroyers out searching for enemy submarines.

I decided to head to Malta to have a look in to Valetta and see if we could torpedo any ships we found at anchor. But as we approached from the southeast a convoy came bearing down. This convoy seemed especially well escorted, and I believed we would be hard-pressed to avoid detection by the leading escort so went deep to 150 meters. This worked and the convoy plowed on.

After clearing the formation we returned to periscope depth and turned back in, sinking two medium freighters with four bow tubes. The first two missed my target, but continued all the way through the formation to sink a ship in the far column. The target was 1200 meters away, but they hit a target 4000 meters away. Sometimes you get lucky. Again we dove deep and evaded, using our decoys, but I cannot say whether they actually helped. With just two torpedoes left forward, U-47 set sail towards home. As we neared the southern tip of Sardinia, I saw some radio reports of lone ships sailing close to the coast and thought we might be able to get one.

On the night of November 21, as we neared the island, the Cross detected radar. Soon more destroyers came on and we began a deep dive to avoid. We had gotten past the first three, but the fourth found us as we passed 140 meters and delivered a perfect string right on target. This time, the crew of U-47 could not overcome the damage. I stood in the control room and watched as the depth gauge soared past 200 meters, then pegged. Lights started popping, and then darkness. At around 390 meters, U-47 succumbed to the overwhelming pressure and was lost with all hands.

The depth guage has long since pegged as we pass 350 meters in the final moments of U-47




U-47 was lost on her eighteenth patrol, having sunk 123 ships for 887,517 tons, including 7 merchants, a carrier and an old four-pipe destroyer for 66,285 on her final patrol.


The Aces Board before patrol eighteen

This is a great looking mod. It's making me regret not taking my SH4 discs with me. Thanks for all the great screen shots

Where did you leave them? Divorce and the ex got 'em?

Household goods in Storage back in the states. I am on an unaccompanied tour overseas so could only bring about 5 lbs of stuff. Debating buying it on Steam, if available.

Update, available on Steam, about $20.oo for base and add on.