Convoy attacks in fog

[Aktungbby]

At this stage of the war 30 meters is suicide! Gotta be 100 meters or more! One tactic I use is to submerge to 200 meters on silent and, as the escort passes over or approaches....increase to full speed toward the convoy blowing ballast to periscope depth as I do so to really increase speed...generally good for for one shot(salvo)...make sure your air tanks and batteries are (full up) not depleted beforehand. This leaves the escort in your wake (always have a Zaunkönig accoustic torpedo loaded aft for this guy) and gives you a shot at the convoy before re-submerging to great depth again. Two things: come up just short at twenty meters to avoid accidentally broaching(it happens) and if the escort is 2-3 thousand meters behind you at this point, surface completely but still heavy at 5-6 meters-decks awash- to recharge your compressed air lost in the blow-ballast ploy. GUTSY MOVE HERE! This allows a faster surface approach to the now escort-free side merchantmen and a faster re-submerge to periscope depth if fired upon by an armed merchant or an assisting escort closing your position at speed. Try to get in the convoy to escape quietly under cover of the ship engines. Buenas Cazas Hombre

[brazuca22]

Humm... I'll try getting deeper.
Thanks for the tips.

[bstanko6]

Just to add to this, It was December 1940, it was foggy. Called in a wolfpack. The pack began to attack at night. I am about 5000 meters from an armed trawler. As soon as the trawler speeds off to investigate the attacks, I turn in and spot an Empire freighter. I start my calculations, set up my TDC, and even fire off a few shots (missed) when I am spotted by an Aux cruiser. I get shelled (surface attack), and my crew did a great job holding off the flooding, but to no prevail. We sink. And that was the end. Even early in the war, it is a gamble.

[UKönig]

Originally Posted by brazuca22

Hi there!

I'm getting frustrated because it's impossible to attack or even approach a convoy in late stages of the war (March 1944). As soon as you are detected by radar, you dive and destroyers start pinging you long before you get near the convoy or even see a merchant...
What's the strategy here? Attack the escorts? They can find me even when i'm submerged at 30m with the engines at full stop!!

Thanks

One of Torpedo school's "genius" ideas to the problem of convoy interception was the LuT. In theory, you set them up to about 4-5km away, fire off a spread, like a full volley of 4 (6 if you happen to have a type XXI), and with the ladder pattern search mode, again, theoretically something should hit something. In hunting terms, it would be like shooting at geese with a sawed off shotgun, while wearing a blindfold, possibly turning through 45 degrees all at once. Only when you're out of ammo, do you get to lift the blinder to see if you actually hit anything. As you can see, this does not fill the U-boat captain with much hope for success.