From Haslam:

Nice guide!!!

As a full dedicated Subdriver in Nelson server I learn that CREW IS EVERYTHING in sub life

It is possible to reach high level repair rates and 900 SD on IJN SS4, but it takes an
open mind to re-think all sailor system lefting common aknolegment from NF community
aside... Almost all it said about SS crew training, classing and management is wrong.

Skeletonize for example (a BO is not be there to adds to marking as in BB ships... he's
there for adds to repair and restore... why reduce his ability then?) or why class a
torpedoman to max torpedo ability if it is caped so soon? why not let him accumulates
rep&res when he's Sailor IJN? It reduce final weight without less ab.

Resumen:
My IJN SS4 CREW
IJNSS4[BO] : @86 {IJN Sailor}L12-62>{IJN B.O.}------->>> I do not suggest this: just I was
impatience
IJNSS4[T1] : @85 {IJN Sailor}L12-62>{IJN SPC. Kai Torpedo} (Cap:72)
IJNSS4[R1] : @82 {IJN Sailor}L12-78>{IJN Chief Gunner} (ACC/RLDCaps:92/111)
IJNSS4[S1] : @82 {IJN Support Sailor}L12-78>{IJN 2nd Sonarman}
IJNSS4[S2] : @86 {IJN Support Sailor}L12-51>{IJN 2nd Planesman]L52-81>{IJN Chief
Planesman}L82-86 ------------> I suggest a Normal Planesman, this was a experiment
IJNSS4[S3] : @79 Normal {IJN 1st Engineer}
IJNSS4[S4] : @79 Normal {IJN 1st Engineer}
IJNSS4[S5] : @79 Normal {IJN 1st Engineer}

Sub AB ship:
BO marking: 25,4 marks
TSR 11,75
Torp Reload: 16,8s (one each 2,1s )
Full tank recharge in... 01:21
Sailor OH Ratio: 21%
Overheat Time: 01:07,5
Repair: 68 DP/sec
900 SD
Sailors Weigth 271 tn
NOTE: You can note that this sub can fire his gun...

Subs are like AA -- good source for Veterans. I think the system is designed to give
vets as the player level differential is greatest. So if you are in a Sub, the higher
level of BBs will help you increase your crew abilities.

Finally, I will post Adalbert's original Ability guide in the Tips and Tactics Forum. This is essential to understanding how sailors impact sub performance. Make sure you read it!

played with the SS5 over 2 hours tonight. Some twists to the tactics

- Experimented with 2 TB pilots. Decided it wasn't worth it.
- Did get some decent sub kills without the TBs. The topedoes do pack a punch and you can stay a long time in crit with this sub.
- I had medium success attacking with the TBs. Killed the majority of subs with the sub torpedos, but did get two with the TBs. I tried attacking in both in auto and manual mode.
- I actually hit myself once!! (What a noob!)
- Don't launch your torpedoes until you got just the right aim. The BEST THING about the TBs is you can force the enemy sub to go into critical dive. Then you can come out and get the jump on him. If you launch them on the first run, you lose this advantage.

Still have a decent dud rate (bummer)
Smoke is really useful with this sub because you are on the surface more for the planes.
I ran out of T3's on most games that lasted longer than 10 minutes.
Decided the escort wasn't worth it.

Its really hard commanding both the sub and planes. You will right click for one, but the command will go to the other one. Spent a lot of time clicking G and 1.
SD 900 is great.

This is a HARD ship to play. But when you get a good game, man you feel good about play.

More later.

-

I sold the SS5 and went back to the SS4. Until I have four decent engies, I can't see myself playing the SS5. Its too slow and needs more torpedo tubes to make it fun. I get more xp in the SS4 because my attack points are so much higher, it offsets being 30 levels above the base. Only redemption is that, other than KM and US SS5's, I don't think anyone else likes the new SS5s either.

Some historical notes on the subs. A fun site to visit is: http://www.angelfire.com/in4/baileyhd/NavyField/HEI_GATA.html

The , Junsen, and Kaidai are fairly easy to find on the internet. Wikipedia has some good short articles about Japanese subs.

i believe the Vickers sub is supposed to be the L class of IJN subs. Interestingly, this class was basically the British L Class sub and building was overseen by the Vickers company. Built between 1918-1927, they did see action in WW2. The L4 class saw the most action and had 6 forward torpedo tubes. Some survived the war, but few had any meaningful kills in the war. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Type_L_submarine

The Junsen type was a very successful 2nd class submarine. Designated I-1 to I-8, they had several notable attacks during the war, including the damaging of the USS Saratoga. None of the ships survived the war. Built between 1923 to 1938, they are typical of most IJN submarine classes. Only one or two ships was built of the class and then the design was modified. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junsen_type_submarine

The Kaidai class is also easy to find out about, but is often referred to as KD classes. There were 10 KD-7s built during the war, I-176 to I-185. I-176 had the only known IJN sub to sub kill when it killed the USS Corvina patrolling off of Truk. The Kaidai class was based off of both RN and KM sub designs which IJN acquired after WW1. They were the first of the IJN 1st class submarines. Oops, I see the game uses KD6A's. They are not nearly as interesting. 6 were build and used in the war.

The HEI and Kai-Kou are harder to determine. The HEI-gata was a cargo submarine used by the Japanese to try to transport items between Japan and Germany. See the link at the top of this post about it. I am not sure what ship the Kai-Kou is. There were 20 IJN subs which carried planes. The sub does look something like the I-401 which carried three seaplanes so my gut thinks this is it.

One final note. There are two obvious choices for NF to use for the SS6. One is to equip it with midget submarines (instead of planes like in the SS5). I think this would be a lot of fun, but the game dynamic would have to be worked out. Otherwise the other obvious choice is the Sentaka sub (I-201, 2, and 3) These were extremely fast subs, esp underwater. It would be interesting to finally give the IJN SS player a fast sub.....

Some people are saying the dud rate has gone up and the splash damage has gone down. I haven't seen this, though the KM SS5 torpedos damage are almost equivalent to the IJN SS5. Hopefully, with the SS6, they will increase the torps again. I would suggest keeping your torpedo man's levels increasing. We will probably need level 120 for the SS6. 

Thanks! This has helped me alot!

Julie

Duds definitely go up if your torpedo man does not have full recruits.  You should always keep you recruits full for the torpedo man.  Its just like if you don't have full recruits on a planesman, you might not start with a full tank of air. 

Also realize, you will have a higher dud rate, the higher the BO in the attacked ship.  I don't know this for sure, but experience seems to show this.

Some more misc thoughts:

- You might consider using a Seaman instead of Engy. One good Seaman will compensate for the loss of a Engy and the Seaman can sit in the gunner position. 

- For Engi's use KM crewmen. They get a higher bonus and are just as usable in a IJN ship.

- For SS5 you are going to want to have 4 or 5 engy's. The more Engy's you have the less of a boost you get. And if they are not of the same level, the lower Engy's can actually cause you to have less overspeed. So if you bring up 4, do two at a time and try to have all four at the same level when you reach SS5. The easiest way to do this is run a SS and a CV line. That way when you get to SS5 you will also have good TB pilots.

- Gunners in the gun slot are practically useless.  Always use that slot for repair, seaman, or restorer (probably in that order).