Convoy without escorts.

[Fregattenkapitän]

Is this normal that there was a Convoy located east of Engeland
without any destroyers and escort support.

Manage to sink 4 ships and damaging 1
it is by the way the first mission where you start off at Kiel.

Perhaps it is just too realistic, because convoys where almost not protected in 1939:DL

[Dogfish40]

I love these !!
Your going to run into these small convoys early in the war. They usually are found in the coastal waters not far from land. Beware, depending on which mods you have, some of these "sitting ducks" are armed, and even sinking might still be able to fire on you.
Otherwise, chalk up a few thousand tons on your ships log and have morale party!:woot:
Good Hunting! :salute:
D40

[Michael13]

Found two of this convoys already: in 2nd and 4th patrols.
First was 6 ships (~34000 brt). 6 torpedoes from 350-450 meters - 6 kills. All operation did surfaced in night.
Second 7 ships (~45000 brt). There was 2 tankers with flak guns, they not so dangerous, but can damage equipment, so I sunk them first with torpedoes from periscope depth, then 2 liberty cargos, after surfaced and sunk rest ships with deck gun.

[Trevally.]

Ah those happy times :D

[captianbear15]

The other day I met one of those on my British supplies mission and I took advantage of it. I used all my torpedoes and almost all of my deck gun shells but not a single ship got away from me. I like it when I run into those wile having a full load of weapons.

[Hinrich Schwab]

Convoys without escorts are fun! Beware Liberty Cargos and Large Steamers (War Supplies) They are both Q-ships and have deck guns that pack as much punch as your own. If you can keep of of their gunner's engagement range, they are just as helpless, though.

[Maki4444]

I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade here, I mean I love unescorted convoys, but I always like to attack completely concealed. I like to stay covert, because I think in real life the goal of the sub was to stay undetected, like messages from BdU say, "keep the impression of a mine hit".
Secondly, wouldn't a surface attack on a convoy(in real life) leave the convoy enough time to signal for help from a squad of fighters or destroyers (it is the british coast).

Lastly now I am wondering, in what situations did u-boot captains actually use the cannon??

[Michael13]

like messages from BdU say, "keep the impression of a mine hit".
It was said about neutral ships which is sailing in british waters...

And u-boats usualy attacked surfaced in night (not with cannon of couse).

[Hinrich Schwab]

Lastly now I am wondering, in what situations did u-boot captains actually use the cannon??

According to Section V, Paragraph 272 of the U-Boat Commander's Handbook, The deck gun was to be used to stop merchantmen for the process of search and seizure under the concept of "prize rules" and to challenge unarmed or poorly armed merchantmen.(1)

The deck gun was meant to be used at short range, to neutralize any issues with the instability of a submarine as a gun platform and only in situations that greatly favored the sub, yet precluded the usage of torpedoes. It was meant to threaten merchantmen during challenges at sea under prize rules and deal with targets not worth a torpedo or too small to make a torpedo practical.

While going after undefended convoys with the deck gun can be done, the stock game is very lenient regarding the problems of a sub trying to play the role of a low-rent corvette. Torpedoing unarmed convoys would have been quicker and more practical as well as incurring less risk.

In the game, do what works. :arrgh!:

Notes.
1. High Command of the Navy, The U-Boat Commander's Handbook, Reprint ed. (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1989), 82.


Bibliography

High Command of the German Navy. The U-Boat Commander's Handbook. Reprint of 1943 ed. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1989.

[THE_MASK]

If you are using the mod IRAI then enjoy unescorted convoys and no hunter killer groups early in the war . Especially if playing 100% .

[Maki4444]

Well Thank You Schwartzritter :D Great answer kamerad ;)

Really interessting stuff. Yeah I had the feeling the stock game is a bit forgiving.....exactly like you said "a low rent corvette" hahaha :D

[Hinrich Schwab]

All of the stock games are pretty forgiving about the deck gun. The biggest issue being that the sub's low profile makes the platform unstable for standard gunnery. The other issue is the damage model. The stock damage model can sink ships with little issue because of the "hit point" model. Realistically (which several mods amongst the games address), it was flooding that sank ships, excluding catastrophic structural damage.

The standard 8.8cm deck gun could do damage, but it required precision shots at the waterline. That was the problem. A lone 8.8cm deck gun trying to sink freighters while fighting its own bob-and-weave in the water was an exercise in frustration and wasted ammo. This is why the manual reserves the gun for light and unarmed ships; to get close enough to get the job done in as few shells as needed.

Likewise, the average surface ship had multiple guns of equal or larger size and a higher, more stable profile to make gunnery a practical choice. Subs are torpedo boats first, ultra-light corvettes a very distant second and only under ideal conditions.

[iambecomelife]

All of the stock games are pretty forgiving about the deck gun. The biggest issue being that the sub's low profile makes the platform unstable for standard gunnery. The other issue is the damage model. The stock damage model can sink ships with little issue because of the "hit point" model. Realistically (which several mods amongst the games address), it was flooding that sank ships, excluding catastrophic structural damage.

The standard 8.8cm deck gun could do damage, but it required precision shots at the waterline. That was the problem. A lone 8.8cm deck gun trying to sink freighters while fighting its own bob-and-weave in the water was an exercise in frustration and wasted ammo. This is why the manual reserves the gun for light and unarmed ships; to get close enough to get the job done in as few shells as needed.

Likewise, the average surface ship had multiple guns of equal or larger size and a higher, more stable profile to make gunnery a practical choice. Subs are torpedo boats first, ultra-light corvettes a very distant second and only under ideal conditions.

Well said.

As an aside, something needs to be done about the lack of convoy escorts in modded campaign layers. Sometimes in Silent Hunter supermods I find convoys with few/no escorts - even after 1942. In reality, most unescorted convoys were (1) only found in the early stages of the war, and (2) only unescorted temporarily - in midocean, when it was difficult for wolfpacks to locate convoys. As they got to the Western Approaches the escorts sailed to meet them. To my knowledge, no version of Silent Hunter allows you to mimic escorts leaving and joining a convoy. So to prevent unrealistically easy patrols, the best thing to do is always assign a few escorts.

I hate to seem like I'm knocking supermod creators, but this is a very basic thing. Deck gun massacres of helpless convoys aren't fun (IMO).

[USS Drum]

I once found a unescorted convoy with like 50 ships and about 7 juicy troop ships in the middle.

[Fregattenkapitän]

lol funny, manage to sink only 3 ships with all me torpedo's
they mainly detonated to early or they missed the target.

And i sunk 5 more ships with using the deck gun.