Whats the ideal range for attacking covoy's

[selfhighfi]

I find if i am at a distants I usualy am not noticed, but then its a challege to catch up to pack. But in close and i am surrounded by destroyers.

[Wolfhound]

It's best to fire your torpedoes from a distance of around 1000 yards or less which gives them a better chance of hitting in general, as well as gives the enemy ships less time to change speed and course to evade if/when they notice the torps coming at them.

Of course the problem with this is if you get in too close you risk getting noticed by the escorts and this can ruin your day.

If you can figure out the general location, heading, and speed of the enemy ships from SJ or from sonar or the contact report, keep your distance and dart around on the surface at flank far from where you are visible and get yourself near where the convoy is going to pass, aim yourself so you'll have a good angle and then dive, all stop and just wait there very quiet until the convoy passes in front of you very close and gives you some good shots. Dive deep and get out of there before the escorts come over top of you... or you could stick around to watch your torps hit first if you dare.

Best to try this maneuver at night and keep your scope down as long as possible. Fog or storms or other low visibility conditions can help too.

[Armistead]

Depends...with tmo, it's hard to get in close unless good conditions, but I like about 2500 yards. I can shoot a few and seldom get caught and usually get away from the dd's at flank speed and come back in for a closer attack why they're elsewhere looking.

[V.C. Sniper]

Anywhere 9000 yards <

[mello85]

yeah 1000 yards is probably the optimum distance, you could probably get away with 1200y.

[Rockin Robbins]

I'll stand with Armistead on this one. Especially with TMO, on first approach you're not going to see 1200 yards or even 1800 yards. An approach to 2000 yards is pushing it. I find that usually my first shots are best taken at first darkness from about 3000 yards at the largest target in the convoy.

Why? First, over 3000 yards a significant portion of your torpedoes, somewhere between 30% and 50% by my tests, will run out of power and never reach their targets. That's unacceptable for a low percentage shot to begin with. Then, you will never get to within 2000 yards with TMO on your first approach to an escorted convoy.

Even the 2500 yard shot isn't guaranteed to sink anything. But that isn't its primary purpose. The reason for that first shot is to bunch up all the escorts on your side of the convoy to leave unguarded approaches for later. Shooting from 2500 yards lets you hit the jets on the surface to get out of there before the escorts can develop a hard contact on you. They will follow at high speed and just circle your last known position.

OK, you've shot your first spread of two torpedoes, you've broken contact, the escorts are circling. You have 30 to 40 minutes to make and end around and approach from an unguarded side of the convoy.

NOW get in unreasonably close, well inside 1000 yards and hit 'em hard! Turn tail immediately and run away full throttle on the surface if the merchies aren't armed. Run away fast underwater if they are armed. Break contact, rinse and repeat as necessary all night.

[Sniper297]

Correct answer to this is "whatever works", the reason the escorts are there in the first place is because their job is to stop you from doing your job. It's one of them "calculated risk" command decisions, the closer you are the better your chances of hitting, but once you're detected they're gonna start evasive action which reduces your change of hitting. So it's an art, should I shoot from 3000 yards and hope they don't see the wakes in time to avoid, or try to get in to 1000 yards and take a chance on having an escort pick me up on sonar or spot my periscope? Split the difference and shoot at 2000 yards? "RUN SILENT RUN DEEP", Captain Blunt said it best - "Once you get in front of him, anyone should be able to hit the target - the problem is getting in front of him." That actual shooting is simple science, the approach is the real art.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6530/30661247.jpg

I did some copying and pasting here to show the active sonar arcs for both destroyers. Best way to approach is to come in ahead of the wing escort (the one on the right) and stay just outside the arc for the lead escort until he passes. Again, tricky, you really can't go to full speed and sprint after the lead escort passes because the wing escort will pick you up on his passive sonar. When you're making the approach, use the chart tools to lay out and measure the track of the target, and the general course along with the closest point of approach for the lead escort. Draw a line parallel to the target track which corresponds to that sonar arc for the lead escort when he's on the near zig, don't go beyond that line until the lead escort passes.

A different technique, if the thermal layer isn't too deep, dive down below the thermal layer directly ahead of the convoy, come up to periscope depth after the lead escort passes and line up your shots inside the screen. Even once you're detected, if you're shooting at the beam from 500 yards there's nothing they can do to dodge the fish.

For long range shots on important targets SOP was to fire four fish - two to hit fore and aft of midships, one deliberately aimed to miss ahead, one deliberately aimed to miss astern, that guaranteed at least one hit regardless of how the target maneuvers. When I shoot destroyers I do "down the throat" three shot salvo at 600-700 yards, one aimed to miss left, one aimed to miss right, one at his nose.

[Armistead]

I'll stand with Armistead on this one. Especially with TMO, on first approach you're not going to see 1200 yards or even 1800 yards. An approach to 2000 yards is pushing it. I find that usually my first shots are best taken at first darkness from about 3000 yards at the largest target in the convoy.

Why? First, over 3000 yards a significant portion of your torpedoes, somewhere between 30% and 50% by my tests, will run out of power and never reach their targets. That's unacceptable for a low percentage shot to begin with. Then, you will never get to within 2000 yards with TMO on your first approach to an escorted convoy.

Even the 2500 yard shot isn't guaranteed to sink anything. But that isn't its primary purpose. The reason for that first shot is to bunch up all the escorts on your side of the convoy to leave unguarded approaches for later. Shooting from 2500 yards lets you hit the jets on the surface to get out of there before the escorts can develop a hard contact on you. They will follow at high speed and just circle your last known position.

OK, you've shot your first spread of two torpedoes, you've broken contact, the escorts are circling. You have 30 to 40 minutes to make and end around and approach from an unguarded side of the convoy.

NOW get in unreasonably close, well inside 1000 yards and hit 'em hard! Turn tail immediately and run away full throttle on the surface if the merchies aren't armed. Run away fast underwater if they are armed. Break contact, rinse and repeat as necessary all night.

Works wonders doesn't it.... I usually just shoot 2, maybe 3 if I have overlapping targets, then run. As stated I'll move to the weak flank in close for my next attack while the dd's are searching way stern. Course the goal is if I don't sink em to leave em dead on the water. Do the second attack and I'll run then, maybe using the deckgun. Course usually the dd's come back, but one will usually stay with a DOW ship, so you must watch and attack away from him. If I have a target DOW from the first attack I'll go back there and finish it off, which brings the dd's back again, letting me go back to the second attack area and finish off anything there.

Main thing is to keep the dd's going back and forth. This works great on merchants with lot's of dd's, but just one attack method. If I have rough water conditions, fog, ect...I may move in for the kill to start with. If it's a fast TF I usually want a kill at first.

Main thing that helps me is willing to track longer for better conditions. If they don't come, i'll play whe game of keeping the dd's running back and forth.

Really each situation is different and you have to decide the best attack.
Some don't, but I ID as many of the escorts, so I know what I'm dealing with.

It also depends on how you play. If you play dead is dead, don't use saves, don't use the cam, ect...it changes you style. Also mods make a big difference.