My summer vacation in dangerous waters

I've had a great summer vacation cruising below the waves in dangerous waters. No, not physically:-) In fact, this is the first summer I didn't travel further than 300km from my home. No matter, without leaving home, I got to travel below the seven seas in virtual reality. I was quite engaged in playing “Sub Command” and “Dangerous Waters”. I'm a helpless Submarine Simulation gamer. Last summer, I was a WWII U boat commander stalking Allied ships in “Silent Hunter III”. This summer, I was back to modern era commanding “Akula”, “Kilo”, “Seawolf” and “688(I)”.

Submarine is a great platform. The stealth is its greatest weapon. Nothing is more exciting than sneaking up to your big bad buy, throwing all you've got upon him, and silently disappearing without a trace. This is my way of fighting!

“Akula” is my favorite submarine in the game. It runs fast, dives deep, and most of all, it has a wide range of weapon systems on board. For me as a gamer, making choices on which weapon to fire on what type of target is the most fun part of the game. For “Akula”, it can carry 65cm torpedos, 53-65k wake homing torpedos, SS-N-16 stallion anti-sub missiles, SS-N-27 series of anti-sub, anti-surface and land-attack missiles. It also carries VA-111 Shkval high speed rocket torpedos that can reach 200 knots under water!

“Seawolf” is also a great submarine. It runs fast and dives deep as well. However it only carries MK48 torpedos, Tomahawk missiles, and harpoon missiles. For a gamer like me, less choices to make means less fun.

To fight against surface war ships, I prefer long range torpedoes than anti-ship missiles. Three reasons. First, warships are usually more effective to defend themselves against incoming missiles than incoming torpedos. Second, missiles can only be launched when the sub is at periscope depth with speed less than 6 knots. But torpedoes can be launched when the sub is at any depth and speed. Third, a failed first missile attack warns the enemy of the sub's existence and therefore forces the sub to go defensive.

“Kilo” does not carry any long range torpedoes like 65cm or MK48. Therefore it is not very attractive to me in the game. It is small, slow, with no deep diving and carries far less fire power than its nuclear powered brothers.

VA-111 Shkval is another disappointment. It surely travels fast, but it's a straight running torpedo with no homing capability. And it has such a small war head! Not sure about its real world performance though.