In rough seas is it better to submerge?

[Hippothing]

Being on the surface looks like hell for the entire crew. It's a calmer down below. Is it worth diving? Anyone know what the actual protocol was back then?

[Skeletybob]

If the seas where too rough uboats would have dived other wise there was a chance that they could have been completely rolled over due to them being so small. However in the game you dont need to do so because the ship has been programmed to the able to roll over in rough seas.

[Urfisch]

This is s nice feature idea, but it's not simulated yet

[athenian]

I think it's still better to submerge because you're using way too much diesel to do just a few km/kn, the engines heaving against the sea. In these situations I'd rather use the renewable source, i.e. the electric engines.

[david.mortier]

Originally posted by Skeletybob:

If the seas where too rough uboats would have dived other wise there was a chance that they could have been completely rolled over due to them being so small.

No risk of capsizing cause of the lead keel and the very low superstructure, which of course does not prevent heavy listing.

[Davinci]

I will usually dive if the guys manning the deck gun are constantly under water.
That just doesn’t look right.
But, one particular game the seas stayed in that “rough sea state “ for the duration of traveling across the ocean.
So I just abandoned that game and started another one.
I only play single missions so starting again from base/ port is not really a big deal.

[Snowcat]

There where no real protocol for this. It merely depended on the situation. If they weren't in a hurry to reach their destination or where awaiting important messages, the commandand would most likely choose do submerge to calmer water. Sometimes it was necessary to dive quite deep if the sea where very rough. The decision depended also how much real speed they made at the surface. Often the speed submerged was higher than at the surface in heavy storms. It also happened, that the bridge crew got washed away by the sea and due to the closed hatches nobody recognized it before the next change of the watch. Also the handling of torpedoes needed a steady ship, so the submerged time could be used for the weekly maintenance of the torpedoes. Additional the LI could trim the boat to front- or back-heavy to make the handling easier while emptying or loading the tubes.

[Buckshot]

Ive never been on a uboat or submarine, but common sense tells me that in rough seas, it would be better to be submerged. It would be calmer under the waves IMO. On the surface, the waves would knock the boat around whereas if youre submerged, there is water all around your boat so you wouldnt feel like youre getting knocked around.

[Urfisch]

Can anyone confirm the drag of the water is simulated? I mean, is drift affecting the boats speed?

[PafunaMT]

Originally posted by Buckshot:

Ive never been on a uboat or submarine, but common sense tells me that in rough seas, it would be better to be submerged. It would be calmer under the waves IMO. On the surface, the waves would knock the boat around whereas if youre submerged, there is water all around your boat so you wouldnt feel like youre getting knocked around.

Yeah, pretty much. And as @Snowcat points out, was the boat captain's say-so in any case, situation depending.

[Hippothing]

Originally posted by Snowcat:

It also happened, that the bridge crew got washed away by the sea and due to the closed hatches nobody recognized it before the next change of the watch.

Is that really true? There must have been a system for those up-top to report down-below, otherwise why would they be there?

[Skeletybob]

Originally posted by RogertheRubbish:

Originally posted by Snowcat:

It also happened, that the bridge crew got washed away by the sea and due to the closed hatches nobody recognized it before the next change of the watch.

Is that really true? There must have been a system for those up-top to report down-below, otherwise why would they be there?

Not really if there was anything to report the crew would just open the hatch and shout it and then the captain would come and have a look if it was of interest to him

[wolf310ii]

Originally posted by RogertheRubbish:

Is that really true? There must have been a system for those up-top to report down-below, otherwise why would they be there?

Yes, it happend that the whole watch was washed away, and then there is noone to report it.
But they also had belts with a steel cable attached to the tower, to prevent that, and even with that, sometimes even the cable snaps or the the whole watch drowned.

Originally posted by Skeletybob:

Not really if there was anything to report the crew would just open the hatch and shout it and then the captain would come and have a look if it was of interest to him

No, they dont had to open the hatch, they had speaking tubes to all important stations.

[athenian]

Originally posted by Freekoly (🎨+🔧):

Can anyone confirm the drag of the water is simulated? I mean, is drift affecting the boats speed?

I would think so since surface speed is always faster than underwater speed, with either diesel or electric.

[Davinci]

Originally posted by athenian:

Originally posted by Freekoly (🎨+🔧):

Can anyone confirm the drag of the water is simulated? I mean, is drift affecting the boats speed?

I would think so since surface speed is always faster than underwater speed, with either diesel or electric.

The only way to know for sure would be to use the "Console Keys" to produce the rough water effect, and plot a course of approximately 100 miles straight ahead.

Then time how long that trip took under rough sea conditions, and then do the exact same test with calm waters.

My, guess is that that is such a small detail that would go unnoticed, I really doubt that the "Devs" put it into the game.

The reason that I say that it is such a small detail is that all of "US" have been playing for this long, and none of us know the answer.

[zulu354]

Originally posted by wolf310ii:

Yes, it happend that the whole watch was washed away, and then there is noone to report it.
But they also had belts with a steel cable attached to the tower, to prevent that, and even with that, sometimes even the cable snaps or the the whole watch drowned.

Some kind of source would be nice.