how on EARTH do i find the subs?!

[merlone]

I know this is a worn out subject, but it seems that finding subs is impossible. This is bizarre, it can't be this hard! They sneak up on me, fire their torpedos, I go straight to where they came from and they vanish. I've tried active sonar, passive sonar, slowing down almost to a full stop, searching to it with the 3D camera. No clues. For the love of god could this be any harder?!

[cswiger]

Are you slowing down all ships after you sprint to your estimate of the launch point? If the rest of your task force is still moving at flank speed, their noise can hide the sub.

Are you using active sonar from only one ship at a time?

[merlone]

Yes, all of that! I'm one step from giving up and increasing sonar strenght in settings, this is unbearable

[V-Bro - The Titan's Driver]

It shouldn't be that hard - I find them every time, but I suppose that's the experience talking.

When I detect torpedoes, first I do what I can to get ships out of danger, then send a destroyer with active Sonar towards the position. As far as I know, you can't hunt a submarine with passive Sonar, because it always dive to deep depths and makes little noise. Therefore, ships with Active sonar are required to find them.

I too go towards the direction they came from, but rather than try to go to the exact position, I sail to about 1 km or 1000 yards away from the suspected source, then slow down to a slow speed and listen in. Usually, you can detect the sub from about that distance, and if not, you can still travel slowly and keep listening with Active Sonar.
You actually don't want to get right next to a sub before listening for it, because ships have a blind spot called the "baffles" - this is right under and behind your ship. If the sub gets in the baffles of a ship, Sonar won't detect it.
But with a max speed of 8 or 9 kn, subs can't outrun destroyers, so just keep trying and they can be found with time. I prefer searching with two destroyers, as they can maximize the search area in between themselves; I always find the subs this way.

There are times when it could be tough to find them, though. The Sea state (a measure of how rough the waters are) can hide submarines. 2-3 equals easy calm waters, but a high state of 6-8 means a tough time for Sonar. Also, beware if a thermal layer forms in the ocean; this layer reduces the deep sea detection range of Sonar.

[merlone]

Originally posted by V-Bro - The Titan's Driver:

When I detect torpedoes, first I do what I can to get ships out of danger, then send a destroyer with active Sonar towards the position. As far as I know, you can't hunt a submarine with passive Sonar, because it always dive to deep depths and makes little noise. Therefore, ships with Active sonar are required to find them.

Now, that's confusing. I've been watching some gameplay videos and whatnot, and folk always seem to find subs with Passive Sonar. So with little success with the Active Sonar I've had in the beginning, I began trying the Passive Sonar. Now you say otherwise. I'll give a try on that technique, it does make sense that PS would be tougher to detect subs since they almost immediately dive (at least that's what i do with my subs).

Originally posted by V-Bro - The Titan's Driver:

I too go towards the direction they came from, but rather than try to go to the exact position, I sail to about 1 km or 1000 yards away from the suspected source

Good point here as well. Makes sense too that they should try and slip away after firing their torpedoes. Will try as well!

[I Smell Bacon]

You don't mention if your playing USN or IJN. The IJN destroyers are not very good at finding US subs. I usually don't spend more then 5 minutes looking for US subs. The US torpedoes are pretty bad anyways.

[merlone]

Originally posted by V-Bro - The Titan's Driver:

When I detect torpedoes, first I do what I can to get ships out of danger, then send a destroyer with active Sonar towards the position. As far as I know, you can't hunt a submarine with passive Sonar, because it always dive to deep depths and makes little noise. Therefore, ships with Active sonar are required to find them.

I too go towards the direction they came from, but rather than try to go to the exact position, I sail to about 1 km or 1000 yards away from the suspected source, then slow down to a slow speed and listen in. Usually, you can detect the sub from about that distance, and if not, you can still travel slowly and keep listening with Active Sonar.

Life saver, right there! Worked like a charm, seldom do I miss the subs now!

[MizuYuuki]

Originally posted by merlone:

Originally posted by V-Bro - The Titan's Driver:

When I detect torpedoes, first I do what I can to get ships out of danger, then send a destroyer with active Sonar towards the position. As far as I know, you can't hunt a submarine with passive Sonar, because it always dive to deep depths and makes little noise. Therefore, ships with Active sonar are required to find them.

Now, that's confusing. I've been watching some gameplay videos and whatnot, and folk always seem to find subs with Passive Sonar. So with little success with the Active Sonar I've had in the beginning, I began trying the Passive Sonar. Now you say otherwise. I'll give a try on that technique, it does make sense that PS would be tougher to detect subs since they almost immediately dive (at least that's what i do with my subs).

Videos of gameplay can be confusing because the game has changed over time. For a long time AI subs were not diving deep after launching torpedoes. This was fixed by a fairly recent update maybe about 6 months ago.

[V-Bro - The Titan's Driver]

Originally posted by merlone:

Life saver, right there! Worked like a charm, seldom do I miss the subs now!

Glad to hear I've been able to give helpful advice.

[freezerman71]

Originally posted by V-Bro - The Titan's Driver:

Originally posted by merlone:

Life saver, right there! Worked like a charm, seldom do I miss the subs now!

Glad to hear I've been able to give helpful advice.

V-Bro I have also had trouble with finding submarines but found a good tutorial by Saxon22 “War on the Sea. Submarine Hunting made easy” on YouTube. I managed to start finding them a bit better but I am not consistent. Will try you way as well.