can't get rid of destroyers

Dronston · 01-04-15, 12:04 PM

Patrol 8, january '41. On my way back to Lorient and I'm at the south entrance of the Irish Sea when I stumble upon a large convoy. I have two eels left in the bow and two in the stern so I decide to try and sink the biggest ship in the convoy which happened to be a British tanker. I had to get within 4 km because I only had electric eels. I release the torpedoes and immediately dive to 90 meters (max depth in this area) and switch to silent running. In the same time I return to my Lorient course. With 50 rpm I hope to sneak away but soon I hear the ominous ping of a destroyer and the depth bombing begins. The destroyer asks 2 others for help and now they take turns trying to blast me out the water.

They have been chasing me for over 3 and a half hours now! So far I only sustained minor damage. They don't seem to run out of depth charges and they don't give up. I am used that at some point they will return to the convoy but that must be over 30 km's away now. I am getting close to 50% of my batteries.

My tactic to avoid depth charges is to go at 1 knot and when my hydrophone oprator informs me of charges in the water I go to full speed.
All 3 boats seem to have sonar so I can't sneak away. In the end I will have to surface. For the moment I am going the opposite direction of the convoy in the hope the destroyers will soon return to them.

I am considering to go to periscope depth and try to take out 2 destroyers with my aft torpedoes but I know this means almost certain death and will in the best scenario still leave one destroyer.
Any tips to get out of my situation?

Aktungbby · 01-04-15, 12:53 PM

Well if OTTO Kretschmer could endure the humility so can you. Destroy your enigma. and all codes. Set your charges and blow ballast. Remember your thankyou to the crew speech and have your cleanest T-shirt on a pole so they don't open fire as you broach...you or the exec must handle that detail and it could be dangerous. The fatherland thanks U.......

vanjast · 01-04-15, 01:40 PM

You still have 4.5 hours to go before you beat my record ..

Track them on the hydrophone and always follow (turn towards) the one that attacks you.. but only after the attack, as this is the next one that will ping you. A gap will soon appear when they're all on the same side... this is when you 'beam' away from the scene.

Dronston · 01-04-15, 02:54 PM

@Aktungbby thanks for the moral support

@vanjast wow, I really hope it won't last that long...
I am not sure what you mean with 'beam away', does that mean speeding away or sneaking away?
Problem I have now is one destroyer starts a run and even before the last depth charge explodes the next in line is already pinging me...I feel I have no chance to escape except for if they leave the scene eventually. I guess I'll take my chances and preserve battery power as much as I can to buy more time. If necessary I will try to attack on my last 10% or so. How I wish settling on the bottom would work...

Kommandant_Wesser · 01-04-15, 03:10 PM

i was in this scenario in american i was assigned to raid a harbur and i was getting depth charged at 15 meters i had to ride the bottom (17meters) to escape at 1 knot.

sublynx · 01-04-15, 03:54 PM

NYGM, GWX, LSH or vanilla? What is the sea condition and visibility? Day or night? Do you use Stiebler's and/or h.sie's mods? Do you have a guesstimate of who the escorts are? Are they equally good at detecting you? Do they have radar? Any corvettes? Have they lost contact with you for a longer time?

90 meters is pretty awful. I sure hope the seas are at least rough. One mistake I've done is to take the depth charges in the water alarm too seriously. Often the dc's are dropped quite a distance from me. If you cause noise by escaping faster they might spot you again. Changing depth at times and maybe even 0 Rpm at times might be of help. Try to guess where the escort depth charging you is going to turn aftef its run and turn away from it. Go port if it turns to starboard. The one dc'ing you might not be the one that needs to be avoided most. It might be the one going very slowly perhaps listening to you.When you have to use speed try to gain distance to the one escort that you think is the best at spotting you.

I hope someone with shallow water experience can help you with some hints. I haven't been hunted in those kind of waters in years.

Good luck!

Dronston · 01-04-15, 03:55 PM

@Aktungbby you suggest giving up before actual defeat. This will not do sir, this will not do. At least not yet...

Aktungbby · 01-04-15, 04:12 PM

Well I suspect your up against a well trained 'hunt to destruction' oriented flotilla with its act together and in shallow water to boot.

" One highly successful tactic employed by Walker was the creeping attack, where two ships would work together to keep contact with a U –boat whilst attacking; a refinement of this was the barrage attack, which had three or more sloops in line to launch depth charges to saturate the area with depth charges in a manner similar to a rolling barrage by artillery in advance of an infantry attack." It's a little early in the war yet for Johnny Walker. You'd best have some of the Schnapps yourself and hand out the medic's medicinal brandy...that water's cold. Have a better day than Prien or Schepke!

It's what I love about SHII: the option to surrender! Who want's to die for an Austrian corporal who doesn't like the navy anyhow-" At sea I am a coward"-der Fuhrer!???

Vince82 · 01-09-15, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dronston

Patrol 8, january '41. On my way back to Lorient and I'm at the south entrance of the Irish Sea when I stumble upon a large convoy. I have two eels left in the bow and two in the stern so I decide to try and sink the biggest ship in the convoy which happened to be a British tanker. I had to get within 4 km because I only had electric eels. I release the torpedoes and immediately dive to 90 meters (max depth in this area) and switch to silent running. In the same time I return to my Lorient course. With 50 rpm I hope to sneak away but soon I hear the ominous ping of a destroyer and the depth bombing begins. The destroyer asks 2 others for help and now they take turns trying to blast me out the water.

They have been chasing me for over 3 and a half hours now! So far I only sustained minor damage. They don't seem to run out of depth charges and they don't give up. I am used that at some point they will return to the convoy but that must be over 30 km's away now. I am getting close to 50% of my batteries.

My tactic to avoid depth charges is to go at 1 knot and when my hydrophone oprator informs me of charges in the water I go to full speed.
All 3 boats seem to have sonar so I can't sneak away. In the end I will have to surface. For the moment I am going the opposite direction of the convoy in the hope the destroyers will soon return to them.

I am considering to go to periscope depth and try to take out 2 destroyers with my aft torpedoes but I know this means almost certain death and will in the best scenario still leave one destroyer.
Any tips to get out of my situation?

I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to let the convoy go, because it's 90m and you have just four torpedoes left. Maybe it's better to just find a single undefend ship and fire two torpedoes and than go to Lorient for resupply?

Dronston · 01-09-15, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince82

I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to let the convoy go, because it's 90m and you have just four torpedoes left. Maybe it's better to just find a single undefend ship and fire two torpedoes and than go to Lorient for resupply?

Yeah, that would have been the wiser decision. But considering it is only just '41 I thought I could get away with it (which in the end I did even though I thought me and my crew were toast). And someone told me to "be more aggressive". But you can be sure after this I will only risk such an attack in deeper waters or simply return home with my handful of eels, especially when the counter measures will only get better as the war progresses.

Aktungbby · 01-09-15, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dronston

Yeah, that would have been the wiser . But you can be sure after this I will only risk such an attack in deeper waters or simply return home with my handful of eels, especially when the counter measures will only get better as the war progresses.

Quote:

and in shallow water to boot.

WELL GRASSHOPPER...something 'sank in'

...besides your expensive U-boat! Halsschmerzen — "sore throat" or "itchy neck;" was the term used to describe a reckless or glory-seeking commander, implying an obsession with winning the Knight's Cross. Try not to let what is 'hanging (hopefully) around your neck' interfere with what is 'between your ears'.

BigWalleye · 01-09-15, 02:38 PM

As has been said: "There are old Kaleuns. And there are bold Kaleuns. But there are NO old AND bold Kaleuns."

Jeff-Groves · 01-09-15, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Try not to let what is 'hanging (hopefully) around your neck' interfere with what is 'between your ears'.

A very good example is Franz Stigler.
One kill away from the Knight's Cross, he followed what was 'between his ears'.

01-04-15, 12:04 PM	#1
Dronston Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Netherlands Posts: 263 Downloads: 68 Uploads: 0	can't get rid of destroyers Patrol 8, january '41. On my way back to Lorient and I'm at the south entrance of the Irish Sea when I stumble upon a large convoy. I have two eels left in the bow and two in the stern so I decide to try and sink the biggest ship in the convoy which happened to be a British tanker. I had to get within 4 km because I only had electric eels. I release the torpedoes and immediately dive to 90 meters (max depth in this area) and switch to silent running. In the same time I return to my Lorient course. With 50 rpm I hope to sneak away but soon I hear the ominous ping of a destroyer and the depth bombing begins. The destroyer asks 2 others for help and now they take turns trying to blast me out the water. They have been chasing me for over 3 and a half hours now! So far I only sustained minor damage. They don't seem to run out of depth charges and they don't give up. I am used that at some point they will return to the convoy but that must be over 30 km's away now. I am getting close to 50% of my batteries. My tactic to avoid depth charges is to go at 1 knot and when my hydrophone oprator informs me of charges in the water I go to full speed. All 3 boats seem to have sonar so I can't sneak away. In the end I will have to surface. For the moment I am going the opposite direction of the convoy in the hope the destroyers will soon return to them. I am considering to go to periscope depth and try to take out 2 destroyers with my aft torpedoes but I know this means almost certain death and will in the best scenario still leave one destroyer. Any tips to get out of my situation? __________________ Live to fight another day!

01-04-15, 12:53 PM	#2
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 30,042 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	Well if OTTO Kretschmer could endure the humility so can you. Destroy your enigma. and all codes. Set your charges and blow ballast. Remember your thankyou to the crew speech and have your cleanest T-shirt on a pole so they don't open fire as you broach...you or the exec must handle that detail and it could be dangerous. The fatherland thanks U....... __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

01-04-15, 02:54 PM	#4
Dronston Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Netherlands Posts: 263 Downloads: 68 Uploads: 0	@Aktungbby thanks for the moral support @vanjast wow, I really hope it won't last that long... I am not sure what you mean with 'beam away', does that mean speeding away or sneaking away? Problem I have now is one destroyer starts a run and even before the last depth charge explodes the next in line is already pinging me...I feel I have no chance to escape except for if they leave the scene eventually. I guess I'll take my chances and preserve battery power as much as I can to buy more time. If necessary I will try to attack on my last 10% or so. How I wish settling on the bottom would work... __________________ Live to fight another day!

01-04-15, 03:54 PM	#6
sublynx Sea Lord Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: In the conning tower of my VIIC scanning the sea through the periscope Posts: 1,698 Downloads: 173 Uploads: 7	NYGM, GWX, LSH or vanilla? What is the sea condition and visibility? Day or night? Do you use Stiebler's and/or h.sie's mods? Do you have a guesstimate of who the escorts are? Are they equally good at detecting you? Do they have radar? Any corvettes? Have they lost contact with you for a longer time? 90 meters is pretty awful. I sure hope the seas are at least rough. One mistake I've done is to take the depth charges in the water alarm too seriously. Often the dc's are dropped quite a distance from me. If you cause noise by escaping faster they might spot you again. Changing depth at times and maybe even 0 Rpm at times might be of help. Try to guess where the escort depth charging you is going to turn aftef its run and turn away from it. Go port if it turns to starboard. The one dc'ing you might not be the one that needs to be avoided most. It might be the one going very slowly perhaps listening to you.When you have to use speed try to gain distance to the one escort that you think is the best at spotting you. I hope someone with shallow water experience can help you with some hints. I haven't been hunted in those kind of waters in years. Good luck! __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] NYGM+H.sie v16+Stiebler 4C+MaGui WS

01-04-15, 03:55 PM	#7
Dronston Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Netherlands Posts: 263 Downloads: 68 Uploads: 0	@Aktungbby you suggest giving up before actual defeat. This will not do sir, this will not do. At least not yet... __________________ Live to fight another day!

01-04-15, 01:40 PM	#3
vanjast Sea Lord Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Somewhere else now Posts: 1,740 Downloads: 825 Uploads: 4	You still have 4.5 hours to go before you beat my record .. Track them on the hydrophone and always follow (turn towards) the one that attacks you.. but only after the attack, as this is the next one that will ping you. A gap will soon appear when they're all on the same side... this is when you 'beam' away from the scene.

01-04-15, 03:10 PM	#5
Kommandant_Wesser Seaman Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Somewhere in the Atlantic Posts: 37 Downloads: 183 Uploads: 1	i was in this scenario in american i was assigned to raid a harbur and i was getting depth charged at 15 meters i had to ride the bottom (17meters) to escape at 1 knot.

01-04-15, 04:12 PM	#8
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 30,042 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	Well I suspect your up against a well trained 'hunt to destruction' oriented flotilla with its act together and in shallow water to boot. " One highly successful tactic employed by Walker was the creeping attack, where two ships would work together to keep contact with a U –boat whilst attacking; a refinement of this was the barrage attack, which had three or more sloops in line to launch depth charges to saturate the area with depth charges in a manner similar to a rolling barrage by artillery in advance of an infantry attack." It's a little early in the war yet for Johnny Walker. You'd best have some of the Schnapps yourself and hand out the medic's medicinal brandy...that water's cold. Have a better day than Prien or Schepke! It's what I love about SHII: the option to surrender! Who want's to die for an Austrian corporal who doesn't like the navy anyhow-" At sea I am a coward"-der Fuhrer!??? __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

01-09-15, 02:38 PM	#12
BigWalleye Sea Lord Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: On the Eye-lond, mon! Posts: 1,987 Downloads: 465 Uploads: 0	As has been said: "There are old Kaleuns. And there are bold Kaleuns. But there are NO old AND bold Kaleuns."