New Technique family of the week: Focussed

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Sneak Away (Shiphandling (Submarine) or Submarine). This is buying up skill in evading a hunt for your submarine, making full use of water conditions, bottom contours, and so on. It's popular amongst SSBN crews.

I'd rename this technique "Silent Running" since it can also be used for offensive purposes and is much more descriptive. It also defaults to Electronics Operations/TL (EW/ECW) if the submarine in question is capable of electronic "spoofing." It can also default to Tactics. Crewman (Submariner) shouldn't give a default to this technique. While knowledge of silent running operations is a standard part of military submariner training, it's the boat commander who's responsible for controlling the vessel, drilling the crew, and generally detecting potential impediments to silent running before they become critical liabilities..

It is heavily dependent on the type of submarine you're driving, water depth and conditions, relative TL between your equipment and that of sensor operators trying to detect you, good quality bathymetric charts, and average crew skill.

Critical failure when using this technique might result in a collision with undersea terrain, getting caught up in an obstacle (e.g., drift nets caught on a wreck or undersea outcropping), or a crew member or piece of machinery suddenly making a loud noise - a classic setup in many WW2-era submarine movies.

As a very rough guess:

Modifiers: Difference between your TL and the TL of electronic equipment used to detect you (your TL - enemy's TL) x 5; Submarine stealth measures and/or anti-detection equipment is superior to that of opponents, +1 to +4; Submarine is equipped with special anti-detection equipment and countermeasures, +1 to +4; Operating in deep waters (at least 1,000') assuming that the crush depth of your submarine allows you to take advantage of increased depth, +1 to +4; Fine bathymetric charts, or similar undetectable method of determining position and bottom depth, +2; Very Fine bathymetric charts or similar, +4; Favorable water conditions (e.g., currents, thermoclines, wave echoes), +1 to +4; Crew quality 13+, +1; Crew Quality 15+, +2.

Damage or external equipment degrades stealth features of submarine, -1 to -10; Submarine not designed for silent running, -10; Submarine stealth measures and/or anti-detection equipment is inferior to that of opponents, -1 to -4; Operating in shallow waters (no greater than 300'), -1 to -10; Poor bathymetric charts or similar, -2; No bathymetric information, -4; Unfavorable water conditions (e.g., very clear or still waters), -1 to -4; Crew quality 11, -1; Crew Quality 10-, -2.