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On the NAUTILUS men's hearts never fail them.
No defects to be afraid of, for the double shell is as firm as iron,
no rigging to attend to, no sails for the wind to carry away;
no boilers to burst, no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, not of wood;
no cove to run short, for electricity is the only power;
no collision to fear, for it alone swims in deep water;
no tempest to brave, for when it dives below the water, it reaches absolute tranquility.
That is the perfection of vessels.
JULES VERNE
TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, 1869

Introduction

Welcome to the Silent Hunter Submarine School for the Pacific Thunder Campaign. My name is Jeff Johnson. I am the Commander of the Submarine School (ComSubSchool). I will be your primary instructor.

Your stay at the Submarine School will be brief. Following your graduation, you will be assigned to command a submarine as part of a combat squadron. The Submarine School has three main objectives:

1. To ensure adherence to the Rules of Engagement and Standard Operating Procedures.

2. To evaluate combat tactics employed by the skipper for historical accuracy.

3. To provide guidance on campaign wide communications and patrol reporting.

Submarine Base at New London Connecticut
Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut.

Please review this Web site and the information it contains carefully. It is our Headquarters Web site. The navigation bar is located on the top of this page. It is a good idea to bookmark this site because you will be returning to it often. Many of the questions that people have asked in the past about the Pacific Thunder Campaign are answered in the PTC FAQ and Enlistment Form. In addition, you can read this document for background information on the Pacific Thunder Campaign and the history of U.S. submarine operations in the Pacific during World War 2.

Please read our Rules of Engagement and Standard Operating Procedures carefully. It contains hyperlinks that will take you to other important documents. We strictly enforce these procedures and guidelines. Part of the Submarine School's mission is to help you understand the ROE and to answer any questions you may have about them.

Classroom at the Submarine Base at New London Connecticut
Classroom at the Submarine Base
at New London, Connecticut.

During your attendance at our Submarine School, we will communicate by email. I will provide you with my email address in a separate communication. Other Pacific Thunder Campaign communications channels exist and are used for other purposes. For example, the Pacific Thunder Campaign Newsletter is the official communications network for the Silent Hunter Pacific Thunder Campaign. You are encouraged to join this group now, however please remember that until you graduate from the Submarine School, all communications should be directed to me.

All Submarine School students are required to complete two training missions. The first mission has been designed by the Submarine School staff. You can download it from our Downloads section. You must complete this mission first and report your results as indicated below. After you have successfully completed and reported this first mission, you can choose a second mission from those offered at Ships of War. These missions have been designed by a Pacific Thunder Campaign veteran who is known for designing excellent custom missions. After you download the missions, place them in the "Custom" directory in your Silent Hunter directory. Then when you run the game, select "Load Custom Mission" and you will see them listed there. The bottom line is that you have to successfully complete and report two missions - first the one designed by the Submarine School staff and second one of your own choosing from the site mentioned above. I will review your patrol reports to ensure you have complied with the ROE. You can review patrol reports submitted by campaign participants and the sample patrol report form on the fleet Web site to get an idea of the format and detail generally expected. You should also use the sample patrol report form posted on the fleet Web site to compose your reports. After you have successfully completed the two missions, you will graduate from the Submarine School and be transferred to the Commander, Submarines Pacific Fleet (ComSubPac), for assignment to a Submarine Squadron (SubRon).

Patrol Settings and Reports

At a minimum, "Realism" must be set at "Expert" with "Limited Depth Data" de-selected. This will allow use of the fathometer during your patrol, and will show an overall realism setting of 95 percent. However, the game will still play at the 100 percent level.

Silent Hunter realism settings screen
Silent Hunter realism settings screen.

Upon completion each training patrol, you are required to prepare a written patrol report and send it to me by email. Please use the patrol report form on the fleet Web site for your reports. As stated above, I will review your patrol report to ensure you have complied with the ROE, and I will provide you with feedback on it.

Rules of Engagement

Escape tank at the Submarine Base at New London Connecticut
Escape tank at the Submarine Base
at New London Connecticut.

The ROE is a list of guidelines that have been developed in an effort to ensure that the Pacific Thunder Campaign is conducted in a fair and historically accurate manner. It is critical that all participants abide by the ROE. Occasionally, situations may arise that might result in the addition of an amendment to the ROE. Generally, such amendments will not be added without prior open discussion within the fleet. All opinions are considered during these discussions, and your input as a participating member is always welcome. The majority of the guidelines are self-explanatory, however it is extremely important that you have a solid understanding of them. If you have a question regarding any part of the ROE, please address it to me. My job is to assist you in interpreting the ROE and to provide you with the understanding of them that is required in order to participate in the campaign.

The following comments are meant to emphasize certain sections of the ROE.

ROE Section 3.0 - Certain add-ons, patches and editors are obtained from Hawk's Silent Hunter Utilities Web page. The add-ons, patches and editors needed for the Pacific Thunder Campaign are as follows.


Diving Trainer at the Submarine Base at New London Connecticut
Diving trainer at the Submarine Base
at New London Connecticut.

You will find a detailed description of each download and installation instructions on Hawk's site. Other excellent downloads for Silent Hunter are available on Hawk's site as well. They are optional. The ones itemized above are mandatory for the Pacific Thunder Campaign. Please make sure these utilities are installed and working properly before you begin any training missions. Please contact me if you are having problems determining if the utilities are installed properly.

ROE Section 3.3 - During World War 2, crews were rotated off submarines at regular intervals in order to relieve them from the tensions of war combat patrols. A rotated crew member was generally reassigned to work as an advisor on new submarine construction, as a Submarine School instructor, or as a worker in a torpedo shop. The crew member's combat experience was thus used to train potential new submariners and to improve the design of new equipment and weapons.

"The Commanding Officer feels that our policy of rotation is the most important morale factor. An enthusiastic new hand acts as a stimulating tonic. Veterans take delight in demonstrating their knowledge and feel more keenly their responsibility." Commander W.B. Sieglaff, USS Tautog War Patrol Report, January 1944.

We change the crew experience level in the Pacific Thunder Campaign in order to model this historical crew rotation policy.

Declassified training manual used at the Submarine Base at New London Connecticut, circa 1944. Courtesy of the research library at the U.S. Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut
Declassified training manual used at the Submarine Base at New London Connecticut, circa 1944. Courtesy of the research library at the U.S. Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut.

ROE Section 9.0 - In automatic mode, the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC) continuously feeds data into the torpedo gyroscopes and automatically calculates a firing solution for the ship being viewed through the periscope or the Target Bearing Transmitter (TBT). In manual mode, the skipper must manually input information about the target's relative bearing, range, course, and speed, and make manual adjustments to the torpedo gyroscopes. There are two types of submarine squadrons in the Pacific Thunder Campaign. SubRons with an "M," e.g., SubRon1M or Submarine Squadron 1M, use the TDC in manual mode. SubRons with an "A," e.g., SubRon3A or Submarine Squadron 3A, use the TDC in automatic mode. It is important to inform ComSubSchool of your TDC preference because it will determine the type of submarine squadron you are eventually assigned to. If you wish to learn more about AUTO and Manual TDC, read the Silent Hunter Tactics articles on our Support page.

ROE Sections 6.0 and 6.1 - After you are assigned to a combat squadron, you will file your war patrol reports by email using a format similar to the one you will use for your training missions. Some squadron commanders may require a slightly different format, but your training missions here will provide you with a good understanding of the basic information required.

ROE Section 3.4 - You may not claim tonnage for any Destroyers, Destroyer Escorts, Patrol Craft, or Sampans that you sink during your training missions or campaign war combat patrols. If you do sink an escort (DD, DE or PC) during your patrol, whether by accident or on purpose, you must submit a very detailed report justifying your action. ComSubPac will decide if your action was justified.

Torpedo Problems

The history surrounding defective torpedoes is required knowledge for all Pacific Thunder Campaign skippers. For the first twenty-one months of World War 2, American submariners went on the offensive against the enemy with weapons that did not work. In the Pacific Thunder Campaign, you will relive this fact because despite the knowledge we have today about these torpedo deficiencies, we play the game as if we were the WW II sub commanders who had no knowledge of them. Therefore you will experience numerous "dud torpedoes" and "premature explosions." It is important for you to understand the reasons why the torpedoes malfunctioned and the solutions that were developed to overcome this problem. The best source of information on the World War 2 torpedo problems is the following two articles by Frederick J. Milford. I encourage you to read them.

U.S. Navy Torpedoes, Part One: Torpedoes through the thirties

U.S. Navy Torpedoes, Part Two: The great torpedo scandal, 1941-43

Former Submarine School Staff

Jerry Calenberg

Jerry Calenberg
Former Submarine School Commander

Jerry Calenberg is a true-to-life ex-diesel boat submariner. He has served a total of 13 years aboard U.S. submarines, including the diesel boats USS Cobia and USS Cubera, and the fast attack nuclear subs USS Skipjack and USS Gato. During his career, he received the following awards:

Jerry received an Honorable Discharge Certificate in December 1972. Today Jerry is a volunteer at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he helps to restore and preserve the USS Cobia. He was the inspiration in getting the main engine on the Cobia running after over 47 years of deactivation. He has also provided technical information for the museum tour guide manual, and is the author of a book about the USS Cobia, which he wrote for the benefit of history and the museum, with the blessing of the few surviving wartime Cobia crew members.

Greg Turner
Former Submarine School Executive Officer

Greg Turner is a veteran of over 45 Pacific Thunder Campaign war combat patrol missions on diesel electric submarines. He has been a Squadron Commander for 9 years. He has commanded numerous diesel submarines, including USS Gato and USS Tirante. During his Pacific Thunder Campaign career, he has received the following medals:

On May 2, 2004, Greg lost his battle with cancer. We all miss him. We are grateful for the time we enjoyed together. He is now on Eternal Patrol. Sailor, rest your oar. Rest in peace friend...