assigned grid vs. convoy attack

[allievo]

Ahoy!
I wonder real U-boats how many attacks performed one after one on a given convoy. I suppose remaining torpedoes, fuel and damage and weather were the key factors but apart from this did they keep attacking till they ran out of eels then exit chasing and return to base?
I'm asking it because on my current patrol with a VIIB in June 1940 I was heading for my designated grid by the Azores, when spotted an enemy convoy SW of Ireland. After an attack 9 eels remained. Should I ignore the assigned patrol grid and attack again and again or set course to the original destination letting the convoy sail away perhaps into the hands of another U-boat.

[Von Due]

I would say never turn down a party invitation, especially if there are any high tonnage/tankers left in there.

Whether to continue to the patrol grid or not depends on which version of SH3 you're running and how you choose to play. Stock version then go, after attending the party. In GWX, it doesn't matter if you give the grid a miss altoghether.

[Obltn Strand]

U-boats sole purpose is to sink enemy ships. Brain will figure out the rest.

In some tactical situations, for example operation drumbeat, uboats were forbidden to attack enemy ships during transit.

[Captain Nemo]

In my view you should go ahead and keep attacking the convoy if possible. In my current patrol I have been given a square in AJ south of Greenland. Whilst on transit I came across an eastbound convoy and attacked until my torpedoes were exhausted. I'm now heading back to Brest without patrolling my assigned grid for 24 hours.

Nemo

[sublynx]

http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDUOrder4.htm

[allievo]

Thanks for the answers. I play GWX so there's no renown for reaching and patrolling the assigned grid. After reading your lines I decided to keep attacking and sink as many tons as I can.

[Sailor Steve]

One of the things that slowed them down in real life is reloading torpedoes. There is a chance of a torpedo breaking free of its hoist if the boat is diving steeply, so they were never reloaded while there was a chance of a counter-attack. They would fire all the tubes and then dive deep, and wait for the destroyers to find them. If they came under attack they would try to escape. If, after awhile, they determined that they were safe they would then reload and resume the attack. This meant having to do an end-around on the convoy and start over again. They couldn't just have the crew keep reloading on the fly while they pummelled the convoy over and over again.

[VONHARRIS]

I agree with Sailor Steve.
In game , I wait until there is no sound contact to start reloading.
By that time the convoy is long gone , but I some times try to relocate it for a second attack.
It takes more than an hour to reload the six tubes of a IX B/C so.....

[Obltn Strand]

You should read Schepke's KTB of his 2nd patrol with U-100.

http://www.uboatarchive.net/KTB100-2.htm

[Sailor Steve]

Night surface attack. Schepke never came under attack by the escorts. When he did finally attract attention from the destroyers he left the area, still on the surface.

Here is a view of that night from the other side.
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html
Scroll down to HX.72.

And:
http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx72.html

[zygoma]

I'm a perpetual n00b, and because I present such a juicy (and apparently clueless) surface target for the Allies, I get lots of Allied shipping show up along my way to my patrol area. I try to see if I'll have a chance of catching up to within shooting range of sound contacts without exhausting my fuel, cuz I figure a ton on the bottom is a ton that can't shoot at me.
And thanks to some amateurish tweakage in Vanlla 1.4b, I get 4500 renown points for reaching my patrol zone, and another 6000 for completing 24 hours there. Doesn't matter if I even have an eel or a bullet left by the time I get there.
But, all things equal, I *do* try to make sure I've got two aft and 3 or 4 forward eels available when I reach my zone, but if I burn off a couple of the forward ones on C3s or T3s on the way, meh.
Even if I use all my eels and let BdU know before I get to my zone, they order me home. I figure I can set my own speed, and make sure it allows me 24 hours to pass through and out of my zone, so I'll be able to buy all those slick upgrades once I get back to base.
Just how I do it. But obviously I'm not good at paying attention, as someone told me which mod will let me walk forward thru forward battery into forward torpedo room, and aft from the control room to see the maneuvering and diesel engine rooms, as well as after torpedo room. I'd thought it was GWX, but apparently that's a big negatron.
<whew> fingers are near to bursting in flame, more typing than I've done in the past month (ill here).
Zygoma

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by zygoma

And thanks to some amateurish tweakage in Vanlla 1.4b, I get 4500 renown points for reaching my patrol zone, and another 6000 for completing 24 hours there. Doesn't matter if I even have an eel or a bullet left by the time I get there.

I'm just the opposite. I never spend any renown on anything, or "buy" anything. Of course I've also never played past 1940 yet either.

...which mod will let me walk forward thru forward battery into forward torpedo room, and aft from the control room to see the maneuvering and diesel engine rooms, as well as after torpedo room. I'd thought it was GWX, but apparently that's a big negatron.

Flakmonkey's 'NewInteriors' mod.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=162631