Matrix Games Forums

Could somebody explain to me the use of Sea plane tenders??? I've only just starting playing UV and have jumped in with the Allies and had 6 of the things arrive but don't know what to do with them. If I sit them out in the middle of the ocean will they extend the range of my sea planes, or are they used for ferrying planes??? Anybody got an answer???

Originally posted by ctid98


Could somebody explain to me the use of Sea plane tenders??? I've only just starting playing UV and have jumped in with the Allies and had 6 of the things arrive but don't know what to do with them. If I sit them out in the middle of the ocean will they extend the range of my sea planes, or are they used for ferrying planes??? Anybody got an answer???

I send them back tp Pearl.

I dont find them usefull

seaplane tenders (AV) provide aviation supply points for seaplanes only if they are at a base or at a friendly dot.

So if you have PBY or SOC at a base and are short of aviation support points, you can send an AV here.

You can also send an AV in an empty dot (but with some supplies) and once it arrived send floatplanes to be based here.

Problem is that if you have no 3-pt port, your AV is vulnerable to torpedo planes or submarines.

Most Allied players use them only for fast transport missions. Well, in fact, most send most/all of them to PH soon after receiving them. I keep only 3 of the 6 received at the start of scen 17.

IJN has AV (working the same) and CS. CS can operate in open waters, much as CV but only with floatplanes. Very useful to cover convoys or ASW missions. AV are much more useful for Japanese players as they lack aviation support points.

Nope, they can be very useful. Fast transports are critical for the Allies in the early stages and the faster AVs make excellent fast transports.

As for the others, they are cheap if lost and can be used to quickly bolster the air support for a threatened base without the need to move a base force into the base. You can gain up to 50 support quickly and I think they can support any air units not just seaplanes. (Anyone know for sure?) Even so, you will most likely have cats at any major base so they can supports the catalinas and leave the normal base support for LBA.

You can gain up to 50 support quickly and I think they can support any air units not just seaplanes.

Sea Planes only. Basically PBY Catalinas as the USA player, but being able to forward base these short rangers is not something to complain about.

Wait until WITP when the Barnegat class come into play. Were very heavily armed AVs a little larger than DDs with a nice heavy ASW suite.

I like AVs and find them very useful. I stick them in Tulagi and fly LR CAP from Henderson Field to protect Tulagi and the AVs in port. Don't have to use a base force unit to utilize Tulagi as a main seaplane base.

Originally posted by Ron Saueracker
Wait until WITP when the Barnegat class come into play. Were very heavily armed AVs a little larger than DDs with a nice heavy ASW suite.

Actually the Barengat class should be in UV as well.

The USS Mackinac (AVP-13) of the Barnegat class was stationed at Malaita during the August, 1942 invasion of Guadalcanal. She was also one of the two seaplane tenders that established the Santa Cruz Islands seaplane base.

She continued to serve in the South Pacific area until mid-1943, by which time Chincoteague, Coos Bay, Half Moon, and San Pablo were in or enroute to the area.

Don Bowen

Originally posted by Don Bowen
Actually the Barengat class should be in UV as well.

The USS Mackinac (AVP-13) of the Barnegat class was stationed at Malaita during the August, 1942 invasion of Guadalcanal. She was also one of the two seaplane tenders that established the Santa Cruz Islands seaplane base.

She continued to serve in the South Pacific area until mid-1943, by which time Chincoteague, Coos Bay, Half Moon, and San Pablo were in or enroute to the area.

Don Bowen

As always, You are correct, Don! I believe a few Lapwing class could be added as well

Originally posted by Ron Saueracker
I believe a few Lapwing class could be added as well

Could be Ron. The Heron, along with ex-destroyers William B Preston and Childs, escaped from the Philippines and served on Australia's west coast during mid-1942. I don't really know if she (Heron) served on the east coast in the UV area. Swan was in the Samoa-Fiji area but I don't think she came any closer than Funafuti.

Don

I use them a lot, the AV's I set up at Forward Bases, that are 3 point harbors and use their planes as ASW patrool and the Jakes for augmenting my Naval serch platform's.

The CS ship's I use for augmenting or sometimes on their as as the neculious of comerice or suply convoy rading group's, their Float planes can be used effectively aganst transport's, or to provide extra surface serch and ASW protection for CV asigned to this task.

Some rare photos of IJN AVs on this page http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/ijn_sea.htm#maru-cl

Considering the expertise of the Japanese with cameras, radios, TVs etc, You would think the little buggers could have taken better photos. Half the ones I come across have all the focus and quality of a UFO "picture".

Originally posted by Subchaser
Some rare photos of IJN AVs on this page http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/ijn_sea.htm#maru-cl

Do I read corectly that the Nisshin carried 700 mines? that makes her a minelayer par excellence!

Originally posted by Ron Saueracker
Half the ones I come across have all the focus and quality of a UFO "picture".

Do you want to say that these photos are fiction?

I said that photos are rare (at least I’ve never seen them before) not of a wonderful quality, these are not my photos, this is even not my site, I’m not responsible, so please do not blame me.

Originally posted by Subchaser
Do you want to say that these photos are fiction?

I said that photos are rare (at least I’ve never seen them before) not of a wonderful quality, these are not my photos, this is even not my site, I’m not responsible, so please do not blame me.

Subchaser!:) I was simply refering to the poor quality of a large percentage of Japanese photos in general. All fuzzy and almost impossible to discern details. Basically I was making a crack about IJ technology.

Seaplane tenders can be fun.
You can fast transport small amounts of supply to all those little base dots and play 'catch me if you can' with your opponent as your tenders dash from dot to dot, floatplanes following and your opponent going crazy as he tries to catch the **** things with subs.

Originally posted by Ron Saueracker
Subchaser!:) I was simply refering to the poor quality of a large percentage of Japanese photos in general. All fuzzy and almost impossible to discern details. Basically I was making a crack about IJ technology.

I was kidding Ron I’ve got your point, I’m hopefully not that stupid

Originally posted by Subchaser
I was kidding Ron I’ve got your point, I’m hopefully not that stupid

Just making sure. Kinda annoyed you once and did not want to repeat. LOL

With a capacity of 1(!!!!!), this 20 (?????) VP scow is a guaranteed return, every time!

Gentlemen please excuse my ignorance, but do I understand correcrtly that in UV an AV must be anchored in port to conduct air operations while a CS can run air ops while underway. Or to rephrase the question; Which ships in UV can run air ops while underway, and which cannot? How about BBs, CAs, and CLs? I've always assumed they could launch and recover planes while underway. Am I correct in this assumption? In this case when I say underway I mean not anchored in port. I would assume that a temporary halt of movement would be required to recover an aircraft.