Can't Find the Convoys

[sharkbit]

Late December 1939
I'm on my 4th patrol. The first 2 were in a IIA. I upgraded to a VIIB after my second patrol.
My patrol area on this patrol was north-west of England, where I sank one large freighter travelling alone. After my 24 hours on station, I moved over to about grid AM18 where I sank 4 other ships travelling alone.
I then get a report of a large convoy travelling east at 6 knots. I set up a intercept course, using what I've learned from this forum and used very sucessfully against single ships, and I reach the intercept point about 8 hours later. No convoy shows up. I dive and listen for them-nothing. Pop back up and back track down their projected course-nothing. :damn:
I figured they probably changed course. I pick off another single and cruise around the western portion of square AM for a while.

So I get another convoy contact report of a large convoy heading east. This time, I think maybe they will change course to the ESE or SE, so I plot an intercept on that possibility. Same result. :damn: I swan about the area looking and listening but still nothing. I manage to find and sink another lone ship however.

I know convoys probably aren't easy to find(if they were, the war would be over very quickly), but I'm on a convoy route and am getting contact reports, but I just cant' find them.

I think one or more of 4 things may be happening:
1.) I'm patrolling at a point where they may be turning from an easterly course to a SE course to port and I may just need to search further west.

2.) The convoys are making a sharp evasive turn immediately after the contact report-maybe picking up the signal and turning. I dont' know if the AI is that smart though.

3.) I'm heading too slow for the intercept point. I need to plot a faster speed for the intercept and try to intercept them sooner.

4.) I'm just screwing up the intercept course. Doubtful though-I use the same process for the single ships and have only missed finding one so far.

I think I may try 1 and 3 and see what happens. I have just under 50% of my fuel left and plenty of torpedoes left to keep looking. I'm still pretty pleased with the results of the patrol so far-6 ships for over 20000 tons(and I saved the game last night on an intercept of another, to be hopefully finished off today after work, however it is pretty stormy and the seas are bad), but I definitely want more and I want a crack at a convoy. :D

So, does anybody have any suggestions?
Thanks.:)

[danlisa]

Such was Real Life.;)
This is (you may not think so) an awesome report from ingame which mirrors the frustrations of the real crews.:up:

Convoys (ingame) do change course fairly frequetly but it's not impossible to plan an intercept. Not having the SH3 map infront of me, I would assume the convoy you reported as being in AM18 was travelling to AM52 and into the Irish Sea. If they were reported as travelling East, they would have either zigged/zagged to a NE or a SE direction, so you weren't far. In that situation, it was probably best to set up an ambush nearer AM52 and wait.

Trial & Error is the only way to learn this.

[Able72]

Good, let us know how it goes. I have a real problem locating convoys and task forces myself. Although a good portion of that could have to do with when in the War it is.

[mcf1]

Hi there Kaleun.
I think something like number 3 or 4 happens
In order to find them here's what I do. When I get a report, I estimate it's heading and draw a straight line on the nav map the direction it's heading and then I plot my course on that line and I follow it, and after a while I find the convoi.

[Brag]

Guessing the probable destination helps, especially for inbound convoys. But the surest bet is to intercept the convoy ASAP.

Keep in mind, convoys tend to change course at sunrise and sunset.

[Jimbuna]

Guessing the probable destination helps, especially for inbound convoys. But the surest bet is to intercept the convoy ASAP.

Keep in mind, convoys tend to change course at sunrise and sunset.

Do they do that in game http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1817/thinkbigsw1yo4.gif

[KeptinCranky]

Dunno Jim, not that I'm aware of, I HAVE however found out that intercepting a convoy at 50 or 100 km from it's initial contact report tends to give bad results, trying for 60km or 110 works better...

They tend to zig or zag every 50km or so... it's not set in stone yet but I've noticed that trend....

[Kitzbuell]

Hi there Kaleun.
I think something like number 3 or 4 happens
In order to find them here's what I do. When I get a report, I estimate it's heading and draw a straight line on the nav map the direction it's heading and then I plot my course on that line and I follow it, and after a while I find the convoi.

Yasas, mcf1

My favorite vacation locale when not hunting tommies...

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8192/120atwofhafkalamatahs4.th.jpg (http://img153.imageshack.us/my.php?image=120atwofhafkalamatahs4.jpg)

[flag4]

i have played the sea's for 4 years now and i have never encountered a convoy except in single missions.

i have seen them though, travelling along on the nav map hundreds of miles away from my position...

i have recieved messages as to where they are, but im too far away....

i have never lost heart, let them be i say, for when i am ready, they will come to me.

[Tessa]

Dunno Jim, not that I'm aware of, I HAVE however found out that intercepting a convoy at 50 or 100 km from it's initial contact report tends to give bad results, trying for 60km or 110 works better...

They tend to zig or zag every 50km or so... it's not set in stone yet but I've noticed that trend....

Also need to keep in mind your initial position relative to the convoy. Generally if they're 8 hours away or more you'll burn too much fuel in order to intercept them, let alone get ahead of them. If you look at the map there's a few major intersection points of several convoy routes that you can just cruise around wait for an inbound one to finally show up. Other way is to travel the route backwards slowly and hope that it is in front of you.

Chasing after a convoy is tough and usually burns a lot of fuel; though tougher its ideal to be in front of the convoy when its reported which gives you plenty of time to plot out its probable course and lie in wait. Convoys do zigzag, but pay close attention to the map, its your best tool as most convoy routes are not linear.

[KeptinCranky]

Meh, fuel, I don't mind :D I tend to sail everywhere in Uber-savings mode, 9 knots for a VIIc that way I have plenty of fuel left to chase after convoys at high speed, takes forever to get anywhere though,
I also mostly hunt just in the western approaches or south of Ireland so I don't spend a whole lot of fuel in transit...

It's different if you're in a type II of course, but then the only convoys you're likely to find are the ones hugging the British coastline, and believe me you do not want to take out a t3 tanker with your canoe only to find yourself in 25 meters of mine-riddled water with a DD on your case :doh:

[difool2]

If the course is given as say "NE" (this assumes you are in GWX where there's no tails), then I draw two lines from the contact, one at 45+11.5 degrees (12 really), or 57, and another at 45-12, or 33, and then I draw in my 32 km sonar detection circle. I will generally make a run on the convoy if the circle isn't significantly smaller than the space between the two lines at my calculated intercept point. That of course assumes that the contact will remain on the same course which as already discussed isn't a given.

[Huncowboy]

Stupid question but I have been away from the game for a while. Just got back to it with GWX 2.0.

Q:
I get these reports about ships, but I don't see any longitude latitude on the navigation map. All I see is AN21 etc...

So someone please tell me the secret. How do I define my lat/long position on the map? I know it is right there I just don't see it. Thanks!!

[Elmer Kosterman]

Reports involving positions in latitude and longitude are for immersion only, and don't correspond to real contacts in-game. If you're still interested, you can do a conversion on this website: www.ubootwaffe.net/quadrant.cgi.

[Bosje]

I tend to do this:

draw a line along the reported course and then get the compass tool. draw a circle extending to a maximum of 100-150 kilometers. set a course at full speed to the edge of that circle where you expect the convoy to be. that is the first course change.

then, as the boat is speeding up (maybe those extra minutes will prove vital), give it a closer look.

draw 2 lines from the reported convoy to the edge of that circle. rougly 20 degrees to either side of the projected course, this leaves you with a projected search area in a roughly 40-45 degree margin of error around the reported course

I hope this makes sense so far.

then you look at the speed of the target, the report should give the estimated speed, or else you will know it is slow (around 6kts), medium (around 8-9kts) or fast (never seen that happen so far on convoys)

you calculate when the convoy can reach the outer limits of your search area, make sure you are there earlier and draw 2 cirlces with a diameter of 30 kilometers. these should overlap or almost overlap. also draw a 30 kilometer circle on the reported course

then you time the whole thing. always get there as soon as you can, hopefully reach the first intercept point before the convoy travelled more than 100 kilometers. you then have 3 positions where you can spend some minutes listening on the hydrophone (listen yourself with all engines stop at a depth of around 20 meters), don't depend on your sonar operator

if you travel between those search positions fast enough during the hour or so which the convoy needs to travel through the search area, you really should be able to hear the screws on the hydrophone. even if no lookout reports a ship or the sonar guy doesn't report any contacts

did that make any sense?

[Jimbuna]

Dunno Jim, not that I'm aware of, I HAVE however found out that intercepting a convoy at 50 or 100 km from it's initial contact report tends to give bad results, trying for 60km or 110 works better...

They tend to zig or zag every 50km or so... it's not set in stone yet but I've noticed that trend....

That's how I understand it too http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/9708/piratebf4.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[Huncowboy]

Reports involving positions in latitude and longitude are for immersion only, and don't correspond to real contacts in-game. If you're still interested, you can do a conversion on this website: www.ubootwaffe.net/quadrant.cgi. (http://www.ubootwaffe.net/quadrant.cgi.)

Even with the GWX? Thanks for the help!

[sharkbit]

Thanks for the advice everyone!:)

I finished the patrol without anymore convoy reports, but managed to sink 3 more ships on the way home for a total of 8 on this patrol. Sorry, can't remember my total tonnage-I'm at work now and don't have it handy.

I did 2 booby things on this patrol:
1.) I fired a torpedo at nothing. Cruising along, in the middle of nowhere, I went to hit the + sign on my number pad to increase my TC and hit ENTER by mistake and off went a eel into the nothingness.....:oops: .

2.) I ran into the pier at Wilhelmshaven coming home. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
I had my plotted course too close to home and the time compression too high, too close to port, and add a little bit of distraction and before I could hit backspace to pause....BAAAAM-WTF. I start getting damage reports. I zoom in and see that I hit the docks. My hull integrity was down to 37%. :damn:
So I cheated. I had saved a little bit ago while I was a couple hundred kms from home and did a redo. ;)
Of course in real life, I probably would have lost my command and been sentenced to permanent latrine/bilge cleaner-outer and barnacle scraper.:D

Oh well. I'm looking forward to my next patrol. I'm going to try to get GWX2.1 and SubCommander3 mods installed first later on today. Hopefully, all will go well.
:)

[Able72]

Almost on topic here.

Is there a mod out there, that is GWX 2.1 compatible, that will make sure we get a position report on all convoys that spawn and will renew and repost that convoy's position every so often? Say once an hour or so? Regardless of where on the map they are?

Just wondering because I would realy like the opportunity to take on a carrier fleet and drop a flat top in a career.

Not to mention that convoys are just plain fun. By comparison, single ship encounters feel like practice. Yes, they are fun in their own way, but not really much of a challenge to them, especially single merchants.

On a related tangent, the biggest ship I've encountered to date, through almost a dozen careers (mind you none of those have progressed passed about 1941) is a measly 10,000 tons. Are there any bigger boats out there? If so, where should I hunt for these big fish so to speak.

[Able72]

Thanks for the advice everyone!:)

I finished the patrol without anymore convoy reports, but managed to sink 3 more ships on the way home for a total of 8 on this patrol. Sorry, can't remember my total tonnage-I'm at work now and don't have it handy.

I did 2 booby things on this patrol:
1.) I fired a torpedo at nothing. Cruising along, in the middle of nowhere, I went to hit the + sign on my number pad to increase my TC and hit ENTER by mistake and off went a eel into the nothingness.....:oops: .

2.) I ran into the pier at Wilhelmshaven coming home. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
I had my plotted course too close to home and the time compression too high, too close to port, and add a little bit of distraction and before I could hit backspace to pause....BAAAAM-WTF. I start getting damage reports. I zoom in and see that I hit the docks. My hull integrity was down to 37%. :damn:
So I cheated. I had saved a little bit ago while I was a couple hundred kms from home and did a redo. ;)
Of course in real life, I probably would have lost my command and been sentenced to permanent latrine/bilge cleaner-outer and barnacle scraper.:D

Oh well. I'm looking forward to my next patrol. I'm going to try to get GWX2.1 and SubCommander3 mods installed first later on today. Hopefully, all will go well.
:)
In real life your crew would have mutineed rather than hit the dock. So I call it a wash and fair play :D

[gord96]

I always find convoys in the Irish Sea! Perhaps because its so small. As a loyal Type II/D kaleun I find thats the best spot to ensure finding a convoy. And at 70-100m in most spots thats plenty of room for the Type II to hide :up:

Be sure if you take out the 'canoe' to talk BdU into letting you take the 6th torpedo. It helps. :arrgh!:

[FIREWALL]

In the movie Das Boot IIRC they only sank 1 tanker thru the whole movie.;)

[von hally]

lo guys

thought id jump in here....doesnt anyone else get a second and third convoy report???

ive seen myself mis -judge the intersection point and lose the convoy...only for an updated position to be given...therefore being able to judge the new intersect point. move in and start my attack.

[Jimbuna]

lo guys

thought id jump in here....doesnt anyone else get a second and third convoy report???

ive seen myself mis -judge the intersection point and lose the convoy...only for an updated position to be given...therefore being able to judge the new intersect point. move in and start my attack.

Yeah....that should be a frequent event http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Able72]

Almost on topic here.

Is there a mod out there, that is GWX 2.1 compatible, that will make sure we get a position report on all convoys that spawn and will renew and repost that convoy's position every so often? Say once an hour or so? Regardless of where on the map they are?

Just wondering because I would realy like the opportunity to take on a carrier fleet and drop a flat top in a career.

Not to mention that convoys are just plain fun. By comparison, single ship encounters feel like practice. Yes, they are fun in their own way, but not really much of a challenge to them, especially single merchants.

On a related tangent, the biggest ship I've encountered to date, through almost a dozen careers (mind you none of those have progressed passed about 1941) is a measly 10,000 tons. Are there any bigger boats out there? If so, where should I hunt for these big fish so to speak.

maybe got lost on previous page, anyone know of one?

[Tessa]

Almost on topic here.
On a related tangent, the biggest ship I've encountered to date, through almost a dozen careers (mind you none of those have progressed passed about 1941) is a measly 10,000 tons. Are there any bigger boats out there? If so, where should I hunt for these big fish so to speak.

Excluding warships of any kinds (which range from 10,000 - 50,000) there's a few merchants that are bigger catches.

Whale factory ship: 11,507
Large Tanker: 11,335
Large Troop Ship: 24,000
HMT Aquitanaia: 40,000
Ceramic-type Ocean Liner: 14,000

[Bosje]

make sure you are near grid BE53 (is it BE53?) early morning may 27th 1941

Force H from gibraltar followed by several battlecruisers/battleships pass through there.

I was there on my 2nd patrol in a new career, sunk the ark royal, damaged a renown class BB which slowed down and once the destroyers had gone, I sunk the BB too

about 70k tons of warships for me on that patrol, lovely

[difool2]

Almost on topic here.

Is there a mod out there, that is GWX 2.1 compatible, that will make sure we get a position report on all convoys that spawn and will renew and repost that convoy's position every so often? Say once an hour or so? Regardless of where on the map they are?

Just wondering because I would realy like the opportunity to take on a carrier fleet and drop a flat top in a career.

There was the so-called Spy Satellite mod which did this, but it hasn't been updated for any of the recent mods. Do a search if you like, I think there was one for vanilla.

[gord96]

In the movie Das Boot IIRC they only sank 1 tanker thru the whole movie.;)

i thought they sank 3. the 2 they hear sinking when they crash dive and then they finish off the tanker when they surface.:hmm:

[Able72]

In the movie Das Boot IIRC they only sank 1 tanker thru the whole movie.;)
i thought they sank 3. the 2 they hear sinking when they crash dive and then they finish off the tanker when they surface.:hmm:

Just watched the directors cut this evening. 3 hours 29 minutes, lovely piece, ashame what happened to Johanne though. Anyway, yeah, it was 3 from what I saw. at the very least it was two. The one tanker they finished off and the one they heard the bulkeheads collapsing on.

[Able72]

Almost on topic here.

Is there a mod out there, that is GWX 2.1 compatible, that will make sure we get a position report on all convoys that spawn and will renew and repost that convoy's position every so often? Say once an hour or so? Regardless of where on the map they are?

Just wondering because I would realy like the opportunity to take on a carrier fleet and drop a flat top in a career.
There was the so-called Spy Satellite mod which did this, but it hasn't been updated for any of the recent mods. Do a search if you like, I think there was one for vanilla.

thanks, found a utility that will adjust the likely hood of radio detections. Also figured out how to change the range. I can now see single ships and convlys in the gulf of mexico from Wilhelhshaven if I want to.

[Brer Rabbit]

Well I finally lost my depth charge cherry. I've been hounded by two destroyers while trying to infiltrate a large convoy. I've relagated myself to licking my wounds and pride shadowing at a safe distance and sending in contact reports.
This is only my third convoy engagement in 14 missions. I am now in Jan 41.
My first contact with a convoy was one that ran over me while I was out of torpedos without detecting my presence. The second I positioned my u-boat in front of the convoy, and remembering the advice to go silent, and redice speed to 2 Kts, I confused other advice and went deep - very deep. By the time I was behind the lead escorts, I began my rise to the surface at 2Kts. By the time I reached the surface the convoy had passed me by, in frustration I fired my last two eels on a magnetic fuse, in hopes I would hit something -- what a pipe dream.
I surfaced, sent a contact report and slunk away to RTB.
Given my igmonious results, I think I will stick to single ships or weakly escourted convoys-- at least until my experience and nerves improve enough to tackle another convoy.
The troubling side is that I am playing stock SH3. I just got GWX installed on my lap top and am currently running a concurrent career -- just departed on Mission 1.

Convoys are real good for a adrendlin rush.

[gord96]

able,

what mod is it? also does it work with GWX 2.1?

thanks:hmm:

[Able72]

able,

what mod is it? also does it work with GWX 2.1?

thanks:hmm:
Yes, it works with GWX 2.1. Thats what I'm running.

Its actually a combination of a couple of things.

Run the utility found at this link (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=127598)

This utility modifies your RND.mis file so that you can set what percentage chance is to detect radio contacts within range.

The other step is to modify your Contacts.CFG in order to adjust your detection range.

That file can be found at this location if you used the default installation settings: C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\SilentHunterIII\data\Cfg

You need to change these two lines:

Display Range To Opportunity Radio Contacts=250 ;[>0] kilometers
Display Range To Important Radio Contacts=750 ;[>0] kilometers
So that they read as follows:

Display Range To Opportunity Radio Contacts=99999 ;[>0] kilometers
Display Range To Important Radio Contacts=99999 ;[>0] kilometers

Those two changes will allow you to see the entire map. All contacts, ships, convoys, and Task Forces.

[Kitzbuell]

Reports involving positions in latitude and longitude are for immersion only, and don't correspond to real contacts in-game. If you're still interested, you can do a conversion on this website: www.ubootwaffe.net/quadrant.cgi. (http://www.ubootwaffe.net/quadrant.cgi.)

Thanks for the link, Elmer. I have been in search of such a quick and easy long/lat/grid conversion method (yes, I love the immersion but sometimes simply wish for a time saver when I am in a lazy mood).

[difool2]

One issue with doing all that: your map might lag horribly when you are zoomed in (as you would be when in close to an enemy ship or convoy you are stalking). I upped the contact distance as Able72 outlined (but didn't change any of the campaign files), and even with a moderate amount of contacts on the map I got significant lag when zoomed in. I can't imagine how bad it would be if there were 300 contacts on the map at once.

[Able72]

One issue with doing all that: your map might lag horribly when you are zoomed in (as you would be when in close to an enemy ship or convoy you are stalking). I upped the contact distance as Able72 outlined (but didn't change any of the campaign files), and even with a moderate amount of contacts on the map I got significant lag when zoomed in. I can't imagine how bad it would be if there were 300 contacts on the map at once.

That all depends on your machine. Mine didn't do to badly, but I quickly turned it down cause it just seemed to easy. I wanted it to be a little easier to find good targets that were out there, increase my chances of taking on some big boys, but not make it a cake walk. It has taught me some important lessons so far about where what boats tend to spawn. That alone has changed my hunting habits to something more successful.

[Kaptain Hans Wolf]

good luck on finding convoys, i myself usually seem to encounter single ships, convoys being more prominent during the later war.

[danlisa]

I really don't know what you're all complaining about. I can find them just fine. :smug:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s64/danlisa_photo/SH3Img27-4-2008_173043_3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/Spider-Hulk/GWXforum/Smileys/tongue.gif

[Jimbuna]

LMAO :rotfl: