Convoy Attack

[Wigabee]

Up until now I have been singling out merchant ships but now that I have a favorite shipping lane full of British convoys I would like to know the basics of convoy attack. I am thankful for anything you can give me particularly regarding convoys in pre-1942. I am looking to do as much damage to the convoys as possible before they get to port so it may involve playing some catch-up. Thanks for the help and good hunting!

[TwoGamers]

So you want to look out for escorts those things will depth charge you into oblivion.

Make every shot count and focus on the 2 largest ships.

If a ship doesn't sink but stops moving and the convoy leaves it behind, sink it with the deck gun.

Don't attack at day they see your torpedoes.

Make sure you run silent.

Good luck

[padi]

Make night surface attacks. When you did it you are undetectable for the ASDIC. But be still pre-flooded,

[HW3]

Position yourself in front of the convoy off towards a front corner so the lead escort won't hear you. Be on silent running and at 1kt. Once the lead escort is well past you, move towards the middle of the convoy and pick out several targets that you can shoot at in rapid succession with all your tubes. The reason for that is that once the first torpedo hits, the convoy will start to zigzag. shoot at the furthest away target first, then work back towards the closest target. That way hopefully your torpedoes will all hit at about the same time, giving the convoy little to no time to zigzag to spoil your shots. Once all tubes are empty, go deep fast, then go back to 1kt, chances are they won't find you. If the convoy is still within hydrophone range when you start deck gunning cripples, watch out, the rear escort/escorts will turn back to investigate.

[Gustav Schiebert]

Like a few others have said, I sit myself in front of the convoy at all stop. As it approaches, at 1/5 speed and silent running (submerged), always at night, I ease myself into postition between two lanes, so for example imagine the convoy is heading north and you're drifting southwards. Drift like driftwood past the destroyers.

Then, once inside the lanes hold your fire. Wait until you are right in the middle of the convoy as that's where the juciest ships are. Come about 90 degrees so that you are facing towards the larger ship. Then, using the bow torpedoes, sink the ship in front of you. If you're lucky, and nice and perpendicular, you should have a ship astern of you, so use tube V/VI to try and get an extra kill.

This is where I differ from a few of the earlier replies. As soon as you're done, before anything sinks, set your depth to as deep as you dare (at least 160m) but stay at silent speed, then direct yourself towards the centre of the convoy.


It can take half an hour at this speed to drift to the bottom, but while you're at the shallow depths:

The destroyers aren't expecting an attack from inside the convoy anyway
When they do realise where you are, you should be at about 20m, but they won't be able to get you because you should be underneath the convoy
By the time the convoy has passed overhead, you should be too deep and too far away, even at silent speed, to be picked up.
Should emphasise these tactics err very far on the side of caution. You won't sink nearly as much tonnage as some of the other methods here - unless you have a Type IX with two stern tubes, probably only one ship. But you'll survive - I use these tactics for later war engagements, and even in 1943 I can sink two ships and get away without even hearing an Asdic ping. If you're early war, you can probably afford to surface and sink crippled ships with the 88/105 once the convoy has moved on.

Also I should say that this is fairly tricky to do, especially at high realism when you can't see the lanes easily and have to judge their speed/distance very accurately with only a quick glance through the 'scope.

[Harald_Lange]

I've tried the 'floating in front of the convoy' tactic using NYGM, I usually get pinged by the first escort so I find myself doing side on submerged attacks. Pretty much doesn't matter what I do anyhow, with the realism patches my torpedoes seem to run at 'crush depth' 9 times out of ten. If the aim of the game was to see how many torpedoes you could send underneath ships without the crews so much as stirring in their sleep , I'd be master of the seas!:D

[Troublous_Haze]

I would plant mines ahead of the convoy before torpedo attack if that was possible in SH3 :D

[Talisker]

Lots of good advice here. Heres a method I have found works very well.

First, identify the convoys general range, course and speed (if not already known) by ploting several hydophone contact positions. Surface and move to a position well in front of the convoy. Try to stay about 10 - 12 km away when surfaced as the escorts do venture out about 6km. Always attack at night. Approaching the convoy from the front corner at a 45 angle keeps you away from the front and flanking destroyers.

When within visual range, submerge and pop your periscope and identify the vessels. Using your map try to plot the course of each column. (HINT:they are usually all travelling the same course). Next, draw the convoy on a piece of paper identifying each ship. If you are doing manual targeting (which I havent mastered yet) I would enter as much data into the targeting computer as possible before going in on your attack run. In theory the TDC keeps track of your sub movements so the data should still be valid after you've moved.

Next determine a course that puts you in a position that will allow you to target multiple ships without having to move your sub between shots. keep in mind some of the excellent tips mentioned in earlier posts (you'll want to fire all your torpedos so they hit their targets at roughly the same time). With the course of each column already recorded on the nav map, and the composition of each column recorded on paper, this should be a relatively simple task. Ideally I set-up all my torpedos ahead of time and know the targets and order of firing and write down this information. After that, just run silent and move in. Keep your distance from the lead destroyer and your periscope down as much as possible and avoid being rammed! A good position is usually inside the first column facing 90 degrees to the middle rows of ships - you'll have some juicy targets in front of you and a bonus small merchant for the rear tube. Recommend using under the keel magnetic detonation as you'll likely be targeting ships at less than ideal bow angles.

Exit Stratagy: once you've launched your final torpedo immediately go deep and run silent and continue right underneath the convoy. Destroyers cant run a search pattern within a convoy (although I did have one chase me into a convoy once!). Optionally you could reload torpedoes and get a second attack after coming out the other side but you will make noise while doing so (this might not be wise with high realism and post '42 destroyers!). Wait for the convoy to be well on its way then finish off any stragglers. If you're feeling lucky - go back and do it again!

This is based on my experience with a type VIIB U-boat in the North Atlantic 1941, Silent Hunter III.

Hope this helps!

[sharkbit]

A lot depends on the year.

1940 night surface attacks=:up:
Mid-Late 1943 and on, night surface attacks=:dead: because of the increasing use of radar by the escorts.

Late war, I've been using more submerged attacks from a little longer range. It is extremely difficult to sneak in close on the surface or even submerged late war because the escorts are getting too good. It can be very frustrating.

Early war, there is nothing more satisfying in this game than launching a sucessful night surface attack and slipping away while the escorts are hunting in a totally different direction. :up:

No matter what, getting ahead of the convoy is key. Anybody can line up targets and shoot torpedoes at them, getting ahead of the target and in position to shoot is what seperates the men from the boys. :arrgh!:

:)

[Wigabee]

Okay guys! Thanks for the replies. I have gathered enough information from the posts that now I just have to practice it. As usual, I have come up with a second question and it goes as follows. How did real u-boat captains gather their information on a merchant ship or convoy? How did they find the target's speed, range, aob, and course? Whenever I gather information it seems like I'm cheating so I would just like to know how those four pieces of information were really found, not just by the guess of an experienced eye. Thanks again, you were all a big help!

[vanjast]

Get ahead of the convoy, submerge to scope depth and face the front escorts. Use hydrophone to face escorts directly, popping the scope up and down (just breaking the surface) for brief glimpses to confirm escort position.

Once the escort passes you, you'll be 90 to the convoy, worm your way into the second column (rear torp needs a target). Usually a convoy is wide with short length (to get more ships pass a point) so you target the furthest 'practical' column with electric torps(steam for closer targets), manually firing at set intervals so that you strike one torp per ship(no hurry to sink them yet). Don't forget the rear target.

Dive deep, silent and head out at a direction of 45degs to the convoy rear.
The mopping up begins after the escorts lose you. Use hydrophone to track damaged ships. Be careful of the 'escort lurker'
:)