tankers, and where they are?

[raduz]

ahoy,

are there any special grids where the tankers (singletons) can be found? I read all the posts about this topic including wiki community manual but they all repeat the same: go to the US coast. however, it is early 1941 and the US are neutral so the american grids are not yet available. do you have any suggestions? thanks

[Tachyon]

Hmm... Early in 1941 eh...that's kind of hard to get, but of course it's a fact that Russia is rich in oil, so you may want to check out Murmansk. Although, to be honest I haven't seen a tanker myself :)

[stabiz]

Check out convoys, usually some tankers in there.

[melnibonian]

Early in the war you can find tankers around the British isles. They are not many but they do exist. After you get a bigger boat (IX) you can try the US Coast, the African Coast and the area around Cuba. They are plenty there.

[drussxx]

after america enters the war. try grids eb,ec,and ed. thats where a lot of them gather before crossing the atlantic.

[Stealth Hunter]

I'll let you in on a piece of advice, hunt around the British Isles or in the Aegean. I've sunk a passenger liner in the New York area, though (thank you modifications!). If you go into the Aegean Sea area expect tankers, carriers, and destroyers. The Celtic Sea area that surrounds Britain holds tankers, destroyers, battleships, and more.

HAPPY HUNTING!:D

[nativetexan]

I am finding lone tankers on the route between Iceland and the British Isles. Plus, of course, assorted large Cargo ships.

[VIICDriver]

Just sank back to back T3's in grid AM53, May 1940. They were singles. Then caught a convoy same grid and bagged a T2 and a T3.

VERY good patrol. Got assigned to the exact same grid next patrol and currently am running around it and have only gotten 1 large cargo so far. Have sighted numerous Trawlers and fishing boats though. It is now July 1940.

Overall though I really like AM53.

Chuck

[Corsair]

AM52 AM53 are certainly some of the most appreciated grids at this time, together with BF15 BF13 as they have all heavy traffic going through, coming from or going to Liverpool or Bristol.
They get a little more tricky later with the increasing airplane cover and destroyer patrols...

[Jimbuna]

Early war try BF 10-30 :up:

[Kingcobra24]

ahoy,

are there any special grids where the tankers (singletons) can be found? I read all the posts about this topic including wiki community manual but they all repeat the same: go to the US coast. however, it is early 1941 and the US are neutral so the american grids are not yet available. do you have any suggestions? thanks

BE39
ED98
DN84
EC96
ED85/ED86

:lurk:

[Stealth Hunter]

Hunt along the actual open Atlantic region. Download SH3 Commander and you'll get a map with all the trade routes. Check there, worked for me. I've sunken almost 120,000 tons of ships total on my career of Adolf Wilhelm. I'm in 1944, so I don't have much longer till the war ends LOL.

[andy_311]

Early 41 yes the US is neutral but go vist some of the ports there eg NY,Newport,Boston etc there are british Tankers in them ports.
I also think there's 1 or 2 in Southend but am not completely sure on that been a while since I've been in there.

[Subwolf]

I haven't seen a single tanker outside convoys, what's the meaning of this? :stare:

[Jimbuna]

If you really can't be bothered to go looking for them then just lie off Bristol or Liverpool (approx 100 Clicks) and let em come to you :arrgh!:

[Corsair]

Confirm I crossed a few on my way in and out to Bristol harbour in my present patrol Sept. 39.

[tycho102]

AM52 and AM53 are excellent for the first two years. A Convoy going through there every 72 hours, easy to get to, at the absolute fringe of aircover.

Once the Amerikaners join, you have to head out further west. AL-38 is a good one. No air cover, away from where the task forces patrol (no CAP), deep water, sometimes every convoy goes through there and sometimes it's every other one.

[raduz]

wow, thank you guys, i didnt even expect so many replies! i will try all the locations near great britain you mentioned.

subwolf: off course, there are tankers outside convoys. they are rare in comparison with the c2/3, though. maybe you just had not enough luck...

[bigboywooly]

Try near the Port of Spain if in the Caribbean
Couple of good harbours there with tankers

[Gogs]

There is a T2 I think in Hartlepool harbour and quite an easy raid I thought (Nov '39).

G

[Cpt.Thorne]

I have found lone tanker in the Caribbean, every time I go there I spot atleast one T3 sailing alone...but they do sail quite fast so prepare your attacks well.

Cheers

[FlyinS]

I'm also in May of '40 and also have found AM53 to be the most lucrative hunting ground at this time. Constant convoys, my last one had a T2, 2 T3's, and assorted others (C2, Coastal, Small).

The one previous had C2's, C3's, 2 Troop Transports, and 1 Passenger Liner. Sadly I onl had 3 fish when I ran into that one!! Got a C2 and the Passenger Liner, had to watch the rest sail safely away.

[Jimbuna]

If you really can't be bothered to go looking for them then just lie off Bristol or Liverpool (approx 100 Clicks) and let em come to you :arrgh!:

If you really rally really can't be bothered to go looking for them then just download the spy sat mod from UBRS :nope: :D

[Hondo314]

There is a T2 I think in Hartlepool harbour and quite an easy raid I thought (Nov '39).

G

There is indeed a T2 in Hartlepool. I've seen one every time I raid it, which has been 3-5 times late '39 - March '40. However, I have had difficulty sinking tankers in port in my IID with minimal numbers of eels. Following a shot to the engine room with impact pistol which creates the secondary explosion you described, the stern hits bottom preventing sinking. After much experimentation, I have had the best luck as follows. Firing one eel at 10 m (1/2 m below keel) under the aft edge of the forward superstructure (forward of midships) breaks the back 30% of the time. The 1/2 m is important b/c with 1 m below keel depth, the back doesn't break as often (I didn't finish the calculation once I saw the probability was less than 30%:know:). If the back doesn't break, a second eel set to impact hitting the engine room increases the probability of sinking by 30% (60% probability with 2 fish).

I was hoping a single eel on impact to the engine room would be sufficient in deeper water, and I am in the middle of attacking a convoy just departing Southend. Even in deep water , one eel to the engine room with impact pistol complete with secondary explosions still didn't sink a T2. It was dead in the water and I finished it with a second fish (no deck gun on my IID) at 10 m and magnetic pistol under the forward half of the forward superstructure.

There are many posts reporting 90% sink probabilities for T2s with one fish, but I can't duplicate those results. I don't know how much GWX, convoy mods, or ship model mods may be affecting the results. I'm using 1.4b patched vanilla right now before switching to GWX so I can appreciate the difference.

Anyone else perfected the one-eel technique for tankers? Please include torp depth, location of detonation (as accurately as possible, but tough to see when evading escorts), and mods.

[ReM]

There is a T2 I think in Hartlepool harbour and quite an easy raid I thought (Nov '39).

G
I only found a medium merchant there

[melnibonian]

Most Tankers can be found in the US East Coast. After 1942-43 when convoys in the Atlantic become bigger and bigger you can find them almost everywhere.

[KeptinCranky]

for me, going to the south-western corner of bf17 and sailing slowly towards the north-eastern corner of bf15, mostly underwater and when on the surface at night, I usually get overtaken by 1 or 2 small convoys consisting of tankers in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from small tankers to whaling factories to T3s, it pays to lurk there, except for the planes, but in 39-40 it's fairly safe

[Umfuld]

Last patrol I was bored so I went to Canada. (Mid 1940 - IXB out of Wilhelmshaven)

I had a feeling I'd find some tankers there and I was right!


In between Sydney and Argentia, grids BB59 or BB55. First day there I sank 3 tankers. (GWX1.03 - not sure what you'd find with stock)

Then a convoy came by and after I attacked them I had to get home because of fuel. (I ended up with only 500km left when I got back)


I'm out of France now and intend to make another trip to Tanker Alley before things get too hot over there.

[KevinB]

What's happened to the Pyro ships? In GWX 1.1 there were plenty but I have yet to see one in 1.03.

[Vacillator]

What's happened to the Pyro ships? In GWX 1.1 there were plenty but I have yet to see one in 1.03.

Likewise, I've not seen any Pyros recently. I seem to see lots of whale factory ships which in reality were in use as tankers. However, they're always in convoys.

Got some nice big single large mechants recently heading towards Gibraltar, but that was late 1940 so not sure about later on.

[Umfuld]

I think the deal with Pyros was that they didn't travel in convoys irl, so that was fixed in GWX1.03.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Happy Times]

And are there to much whale factory ships in convoys? How common were they in RL?
In one IXC patrol May 1941, between Freetown and Kap Verde i encountered the same convoy three times. Atleast it looked the same, allways had two factory ships in the middle. The other one British and the other Norwegian.

[bigboywooly]

The Pyro was altered to a type=100 so it didnt spawn so often
Only where scripted

All to do with the naming used on the ship classes
Will look into the Whaler too

[Happy Times]

The Pyro was altered to a type=100 so it didnt spawn so often
Only where scripted

All to do with the naming used on the ship classes
Will look into the Whaler too

:up: