ASW tactic: Baiting

[Avatar]

I've found that when youre attacking a convoy from abeam, it's best not to do it from outside the convoy. Why? Because that's where the flank escorts go when ships start sinking! I use the electric torpedo, so the wake has nothing to do with this ASW tactic. It's almost as if they bait you in attacking from outside the convoys forward beam and then pounce on you.
Instead, see if you can get within the midst of the convoy before you start shooting at the flank columns. I call this the Pump-fake, after the novel Red Storm Rising. Get as close to the lead escort as you can, between 2km and 1.5km. As he goes by, get even closer to the middle of the convoy(assuming there are no biggies in the middle) Then turn towards the outer flanks and hit them that way.
I did this by firing from the middle of the convoy at the starboard flank escort and a 12kton Merchant, sinking them both and the lead escort took station where the stbd. flank escort would have been. Asside from burning ships, no one knew I was there!
The reason there were no big targets in the middle of the convoy was because they were sunk after a previous attack.

See if this works for you and if you have any other tactics, feel free to post.
thanks

[Grayson02sept1980]

will try it!

Thanks!

[Brag]

there are three other advantages to getting in the middle of a convoy.

1.) You get to use forward and aft tubes

2.) The noise of the convoy will mask your movements when near the surface, for example doing the wiggle-waggle.

3.) Ships in the convoy will get in the way of escorts. :D

[Jimbuna]

Not so sure about no 2 http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/621/thinkbigsw1.gif

Sensors in game can hear through land masses http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2108/thumbsupkc7.gif

[Sailor Steve]

Brag is special. He gets away with it because the escorts can't hear through Balz's new tinfoil hat.:rotfl:

[difool2]

Wouldn't the convoy scatter eventually if it took enough casualities?

[UnterseeBoogeyMan]

Wouldn't the convoy scatter eventually if it took enough casualities?

I am finding that no matter what, convoys in GWX don't scatter. I took out a lone Black Swan as escort, and fully expected the convoy to scatter. They did not. Infact, they zigzagged ONCE, and thats it. Someone on one of my threads says its a hard-coded limitation. In real-life they would either scatter or you;d see some of the faster merchants high-tail it away from the convoy, but the Creator of real-life doesnt have any hard-coding limitations. He exceeds his system requirements by omega.

[Jimbuna]

Brag is special. He gets away with it because the escorts can't hear through Balz's new tinfoil hat.:rotfl:

LOL :lol:

[Choronzon]

Tin foil hats come in handy. More info here:

http://zapatopi.net/afdb/