Thermal Layer. | Forums

[U301]

Hi,
I was attacking a convoy just outside The Straits of Gibralter when I experianced what I thought was a thermal layer.
The boat was slow to sink, I was evading an escort at 20 meters and the boat was being lifted upwards either by the strong tide coming into The Straits or the warm water flowing out of The Mediterranean.
My bow was also being turned to the left by the force of the water.
I would like to know if any other Kaleuns have experianced this phenomena?
I am running basically stock with SHIII Commander 2.7.
KUrtz

[geoffwessex]

I haven't been through the Straits of Gibraltar in the game, but I have been through them in a submarine, several times. Yes, there's a lot to think about to just keep your depth when passing through, with an outflow of water from the Med. The current of the 'outflow' will require a higher engine speed to keep up to speed against the current, when passing Eastward.

It's also not actually the warmth of the water flowing out that causes the layering but fresher water than is in the Atlantic, so it forms different densities in layers.

As I said, I haven't passed through the Straits in the game, but if it has this effect then the developers at least got that right.

It's not the time for Time Compression, that's for sure, as I would assume the game might (if modelled correctly) push a boat up and down and make it difficult to control. (And I don't think there's really "a shovel-full of sand" there)

Oh and a question - in Das Boot, I first got the impression that the U-96 actually got through the Straits (after it had been hit/bombed and sat on the bottom). But then I thought when it docked it was back in a French Atlantic port and not La Spezia - perhaps I wasn't paying attention. Can anybody put me straight on that?

Bonus info - of all the U-Boats that entered the Mediterranean, none got out again.

[Foehammer-1]

No, they headed back in Das Boot after all that damage.

Still, in SH3 I sailed through the strait at 170 meters and ahead slow, only surfacing once (bad idea). I did not have any trouble with the boat being pushed upwards

About you sailing through there on a submarine... what was your station, or responsibility, whatever it's called?

[geoffwessex]

I was a Radio Operator on a conventional (diesel) submarine. In fact the 'leader' of the radio team (all 3 of us!) so I got the W/T Office to myself whenever I wanted it. Handy for the head in rough weather too - only a meter away!

We definitely had to push a little harder against the current or just accept that we would make a lower speed. Once through, we often followed a surface ship into harbour, but dived, so we could take periscope pictures of its screws - a bit hair-raising. Long time ago now, sadly!

[Foehammer-1]

Wow, that's amazing! Reminds me of this movie I saw a while go, called "Lower Periscope" or something along those lines. Basically a WW2-era US sub trying to sneak into NY harbor undetected by a modern nuclear sub. So they sailed in right under a merchant, in between its screws. I thought it wasn't possible. Guess it is, after all!

[geoffwessex]

Yes, "Down Periscope", with Kelsey Grammer. Good fun and, yes, certainly feasible to have done that "between the screws" thing - though not quite that close!