IronWolf VR Submarine
Polish developer Titan Gamez’s VR submarine simulation puts you in a cramped room during World War 2. The quiet tension of hunting merchant ships and dodging enemy Destroyers is a fun time.
But lining up a torpedo through the periscope and firing your deck gun isn’t easy. And welding leaks in your hull takes forever, especially on solo missions.
World War 2 Submarine Convoy Raiding
The Allies had begun to send convoys across the North Atlantic. Admiral Donitz’s “wolf packs” of submarines sailed in from Iceland and Greenland, patrolling on both sides of the 300-mile-wide “air gap” to intersect convoys. Their ability to enter the gap unimpeded by Allied aircraft further reduced the advantage of convoy escorts.
Convoy raiding was VR 360 Motion Chair a dangerous but highly effective tactic. Submarines had a maximum submerged endurance of only about 36 hours, so they had to return to surface at least once every hour for air, food and ammunition replenishment.
Once the submarine returned to surface, it would attack a ship in the convoy, disrupting formation and requiring the ships to evade. This allowed the next submarine in line to attack from a new angle, sinking the target and possibly a number of escorts.
Among the most famous examples of this tactic was the attack on the giant battleship Tirpitz in Norwegian waters by SAILFISH (J. R. Moore). She fired three torpedoes at the ship, one of them hitting the captain and causing him to lose consciousness. X-24 also took part in the raid, entering Bergen harbor and sabotaging two Norwegian trawlers that were moored in the port for use as towing boats for the heavy cruiser. Both trawlers were sunk, but X-24 had lost five men in the attack.
Hunting Merchant Ships
Whether franticly scanning for vulnerable convoys in the control room or with cold calculation as you line up your periscope crosshairs over unsuspecting merchant ships, IronWolf VR delivers that quiet tension that comes with being a submarine commander hunting for targets on the high seas. It also delivers plenty of things to do with those hands – there’s a wealth of old-timey dials and wheels, switches and gauges for you to manipulate, from the helm to the command rooms and weapons systems.
The Experience was developed to support commemoration activities and respond to restrictions on dive access at the wreck site. It was therefore important that the Experience provide a view of the wreck as it would appear to a diver swimming over it. In addition, it was critical that the Experience also provide a context for the wreck through an archaeological survey, using virtual reality as a tool to present a combination of maritime archaeology methods including historical analysis and multi-beam sonar survey.
The sequences that begin the Experience feature simple outdoor scenes, allowing novice VR users to acclimate, before opening into a view of the digitally reconstructed wreck. This is followed by a short video sequence that illustrates the capture of multi-beam sonar data by a research vessel over the hull of the wreck, and which also provides insight into the archaeological process.
Welding Leaks in Your Hull
When the hull of your World War 2 submarine gets hit by depth charges or even just regular bullets from enemy torpedoes you’re going to get leaks. These need to be welded in, but if you’re playing alone as a lone crew member that can be a huge chore that will keep you underwater for far longer than you’d expect.
Thankfully, the game designers at IronWolf VR were clever enough to include automation options so that you can use the periscope to monitor your hull VR Standing Flight for any cracks or tears that may need to be repaired. You can also call up your engineer to use a welding gun to weld up any holes that have opened up in the hull plating.
The welding gun uses a special magnetic patch that’s called a Miko Plaster that has a layer of rare earth metals laminated to an inner layer of buoyancy material, this is then surrounded by a fabric outer layer that can be welded on top of. This unique combination allows for both immediate stopping of the leaking water and permanent class approved underwater welding and hull repair.
For the latter, you’ll need a technician with access to a hyperbaric chamber. Subsea Global Solutions can provide this with an in-house Engineering department capable of producing repair procedures and detailing the welding process and scope of work to pre-approve by any major Classification Societies or insurance underwriters.
Tactical Considerations
During submarine operations, one of the most challenging maneuvers is transitioning from sea level to periscope depth. This exposition breaks the submarine’s invisibility and leaves it vulnerable to surface vessels and radar detection. During this transition, it is essential to identify contacts that are potential hazards and to quickly determine the best approach strategy.
The XR Periscope’s ship detection, classification, and distance estimation facilitate this task by significantly improving the officer’s experience during periscope observation. This allows submarine officers to focus more on mission-critical tasks such as identifying and targeting enemy ships during convoy raids, increasing their operational effectiveness.
This rebalancing of periscope-based operations would also reduce the number of personnel required to perform these missions, reducing the total submarine crew and potentially increasing fleet capacity. This could increase the number of sailors available for other naval operations, including maritime patrol, antisubmarine warfare (ASW), and air refueling/AWACS, which are vital to the A2/AD ring and require an enduring presence close to adversaries.
IronWolf VR offers a highly immersive and engaging way to experience the thrill of convoy raiding as a World War 2 Submarine in Virtual Reality. The roar of your diesel engine as you power through the ocean and the quiet tension of hearing depth charges sinking and exploding beneath your hull convey the feeling of being on a real submarine.