Convoy Attack '45 - how to survive?

[mido]

How do you guys attack a convoy in 1945 and get away with it? The convoys are in 150' to 200' feet of water, the escorts are up to 8,000 yards from the convoy and sometimes outnumber (!!!) the merchants. I can get close enough for a good shooting solution but after firing the torpedoes detection is almost unavoidable and if I cannot go deep enough then it is impossible to out-maneuver 4 or 5 escorts which are attacking you at the same time.

[Armistead]

Obvious mods effect play. Playing TMO with RSRD 44/45 makes for some good hunting. RSRD mimmicks the larger convoys the japs started using later war due to lack of escorts, but most use the Palalwan shipping lane or Formosa, you can run into shallow water. If you run into TypeAB escorts with 6 Y guns and double roll offs, you're in for a time.

Don't attack in shallow water unless you feel other conditions make attack and escape possible. I will attack in shallows with 15m wind speed. If not, stay ahead of the enemies track just within radar range. Get as many conditions in your favor, deeper water, night, fog, etc... Obvious you can't wait forever, but for sure plot to deeper water, taking on 4 escorts in 200ft deep is about sure death with TMO. You can track for days if needed, don't feel the need to rush in. However, keep an eye out, if you're using RSRD most groups despawn at ports, if you see a group tracking for a close port, you may need to attack. Stock, heck, traffic is terrible, ships spawn and despawn anywhere.

If you must attack in shallows try to do it as a night surface attack. As you say escorts are roaming, try to time a shot. Sometimes it's best to shoot some M14's from long range from your stern, that way you can run off on the surface without turning. The escorts will come looking where your torps came from, but you'll be long gone, attack from the unescorted flank.

[mobucks]

great info:salute:

[Bubblehead1980]

How do you guys attack a convoy in 1945 and get away with it? The convoys are in 150' to 200' feet of water, the escorts are up to 8,000 yards from the convoy and sometimes outnumber (!!!) the merchants. I can get close enough for a good shooting solution but after firing the torpedoes detection is almost unavoidable and if I cannot go deep enough then it is impossible to out-maneuver 4 or 5 escorts which are attacking you at the same time.


Night surface attacks from long range with Mark 14's set on slow speed are the best option.There is a mod that brings down the enemy radar to be more realistic as it's default range and accuracy are way too.Tater made it its a "radar fix for TMO RSRD. Many times you can get in around 4500-5000 yards fire off a salvo and once they hit, run away. You can outrun most escorts or at least if you have a head start they cant close the distance once you get up to flank speed on the surface.Rarely in RSRD in late war are your escorts full fledged DD's or DE's that can overtake you, just have to see if can spot any before attacking.I've had to run away with shells splashing around many times and only once do I recall getting hit and it was more a near miss than a hit, caused minor damage to stern, they give up eventually and turn back .Also, you nail then with a down the throat shot from the stern tubes while running away.

Definitely provides for some excitement and pucker time.Key is to try and attack from the side of the convoy where you are running away into deeper waters.Variables such as moonlight etc have to be considered also.Firing from ushc long ranges also means you need to make sure your firing solution is as perfect as possible as small errors can mean a miss.

[merc4ulfate]

I prefer to get out to about 10-12,000 yards and use the mark 16 torpedos. So now we are talking a day light shot since the visibility is down at night. There are two advantages to this. I can see the smoke trails of the ships against the horizon helps in keeping an eye on the escorts. Two I have noticed that the escorts do not like to venture to far out to search for the boat. They may go 5 or 6,000 yards from the convoy but if they find something in short order they tend to go back to the convoy.

I try to shoot in such a manner as to effect hits on three vessels. I do it by firing at the farthest of the three ships first and trying to guesstimate my next two firing times so they all hit close enough to each other that the ships do not start evasive maneuvers causing the fish to miss.

It is a one time deal ... fire .... get out... surface, sprint ahead of the convoy keeping an eye on the radar. Reload and set up for another shot far enough away from the first area so that they have time to calm down and cease the zig zag pattern. I might get five ships doing this.

If the first strike has left cripples I will wait till the escorts and convoy leaves and finish them off before moving on.:rock:

[IonicRipper]

Im just starting year '44 but so far my technique has worked fine: Get at about 1500 yards from the convoy at periscope depth, fire a spread and then dive under the convoy as deep as possible at 2 knots and on silent running. Although i am not running TMO or RSRD... I dont know if my technique would be possible using these mods.

[Bubblehead1980]

Im just starting year '44 but so far my technique has worked fine: Get at about 1500 yards from the convoy at periscope depth, fire a spread and then dive under the convoy as deep as possible at 2 knots and on silent running. Although i am not running TMO or RSRD... I dont know if my technique would be possible using these mods.


Classic scope attack is a favorite of mine(really fun on 100 realism, no external view, esp with the 3-D TDC mod and is very possible in TMO RSRD .Evasion after attack in shallow waters with TMO (coastal areas of china where all the convoys shift to in 45 as in RL) is the problem, unless you have really rough seas(and even then in waters with 100 feet or less in many cases, its suicide in most cases or they will damage your boat bad enough you have to go home.Stock game I would risk a shallow water attack at times because stock AI was easy to to handle but TMO between the patterns of charges and accuracy, shallow water attacks are just not wise most of the time unless on the surface at night and you can outrun or at least have an equal speed to open the range if needed.

[indy]

I have been lucky at this game. I can usually get in close maybe 1500 to 1000 yards no matter what large mod I use. I go deep silent running, wait until the DD passes over me, or passes by me. Come up slowly in the middle of the pack and let them have it, do some quick maneuvering under a freighter and shoot a couple of more torps and bug out! I don't run faster than 2-3 knots while making my get a way, doesn't seem to be to challenging to me any more. Any one have any Ideals? Indy:dead:

[Hylander_1314]

Sometimes, I will stalk a convoy for days, until they get to a place where the water is over 400ft deep, and preferably over 500ft. The more depth later in the war, the better.

If I can get them in deeper water the better. But ialso like to take on DDs in a game of chicken.

[indy]

I have a mod that makes DD's more aggressive. But I still try to fight them. Lets say I have attacked a convoy and the DD's are looking for me. I'll try to pick one that is at my rear, at about 170 degrees. I go flank raise my scope, to get hes attention. Hes now moving in on me, lets say 1200 yards and zig zagging right to left. Torp doors have already been opened and torps have been set to run shallow and at max speed. I wait for him to make a comment to the right or left just as he does this I fire my first torp. If he sees this and tries to avoid I shoot the other one to the other side. If one misses the other one is sure to get him, well maybe LOL. :har: I crash dive right after I finish shooting, don't wait for the show, get down NOW! I go to my max depth or a little deeper. Make sure you shoot no sooner than 600 yards or he'll almost certainly get away. Also remember that there are other DD's watching all this and are setting up for a run on you! Sometimes the DD that you are shooting at will hang back at about 12 knots or so. (Be aware of whats happing around you). This could be a sure sign that he is trying to set you up and is waiting for help. Of course this does not factor in the dude torps. :shifty:
If your torps are dudes go deep, you are about to be beat like a red headed step child. lol. Good luck keep practicing. Indy:rock: