"One ping only Vasily" Topic

A question for sub-drivers (please pardon me for using Hunt for Red October as a source).

I have been reading the new Conn…Sonar! rules and wonder if there is a half-way house between Passive and Active Sonar, which would not announce your presence as much as using Active?

Are the rules any good?

In Soviet Russia, Red October hunts YOU!

Either you are active or not. You can ping at less intensity, but if you ping you announce your presence. All sorts of detectors are keyed to the frequency of your active emmissions, there really isn't a good way of getting off a "half ping." Even a small emmissions at your active frequency will get everyones attention! Former sub weapons officer, this was my job for a bit.

The rules are just out. As the saying goes, no rules survive first contact with wargamers so there is quite active discussion on the Facebook page. However, they do seem very good for tactical games which is the level they are pitched at, rather than strategic manouvering.

NLM, thanks for the insight. On the same point, is there much degradation in sonar contact the greater the distance between vessels, or if you make any noise it really doesn't matter? The rules are 1"= 200 yards (roughly 1' = 1 nmile), so the table size would be 4x 6 nautical miles, give or take.

I *think* you could get some highly directional pings (I heard a story about an SSN navigating it's way back into Norfolk Harbor when fogged in via active sonar), but my SSBNs were passive-sonar only.

Anyone in the direction of your ping will definitely know you are there, and I think the rebounding ping would let the rest of the ocean know you were there.

Thanks.

Oh, sorry, didn't read the whole post above mine.

4x6 nautical miles is generally going to be within passive detection range at Patrol Quiet, barring SSBNs. Ohio-class are ghosts in the water, the way to find one via passive sonar is find a 600ft long area of water that isn't making any noise.

Thanks.

For surface ships, we could track carriers and anything with turbines at pretty impressive ranges, in excess of 15 nautical miles.

Some ships are hellaciously noisy. I've talked before about the big High Speed Vessels, the converted catamaran ferries. One of those was so loud that it drowned out a ship that was at half the distance! While we were on the surface, I could hear the engines of that monster over the water at better than 3 nautical miles. So loud I raised my voice to be heard by the officer of the deck… Can't imagine being on one, I'd wear earplugs 24/7.