GJO
06-24-14, 05:11 AM
There was a recent thread about whether it was worth patrolling the Caribbean Sea - well having taken command of a long range boat (Type IXB) in January 1942, I decided to explore the Caribbean and see what I could find.
The best hunting grounds turned out to be in an area from the North-West to the West of Curacao. Here on my first and on subsequent patrols, I found a healthy mix of lone tankers (or two tankers travelling together without escorts) and plenty of convoys that included tankers and merchants with a GRT that exceeded 10,000 tons.
The convoys are generally heavily escorted and the American crews are not as green as might be expecting given their lack of battle experience. The method of convoy attack that worked best for me in this area has been as follows:
Plot the course of the convoy on the hydrophones and position the boat ahead of it (if this is not possible without risking detection, I leave it because these convoys are just like London buses - if you miss one you can be sure that there will soon be another one!) - then keep at a depth of 20 metres running at 'Schleichfahrt' until I can come up to periscope depth well inside the convoy. I then choose the two most rewarding targets - these might be the Large or Modern Tankers, a Whale factory Ship, a Large Merchant or Ceramic type Passenger Liner (carrying troops?) - I get in close enough (between 450 and 550 Metres) and on a parallel course to be sure of hitting each of them hard with three torpedoes - two each from the bow and one each from the stern tubes - then having stayed at Periscope depth just long enough to confirm the sinkings, I order 'äußerste kraft voraus' and dive to 220 Metres and then cut back to a speed of 1 Knot before changing direction through 90 degrees to creep away - hopefully undetected. If an escort does chase after me I keep going in the same general direction away from the convoy but frequently change course through 45 degrees one way and 45 degrees the other way to shake them off - not easy at such a slow speed but as long as I maintain depth it seems to work - (The term 'Run Silent, Run Deep' comes to mind) - and I do not attempt to come back up to periscope depth or reload the torpedoes until the convoy and its escorts can no longer be detected on the hydrophones.
This 'running away' may seem a tad cowardly but in earlier careers, I have tried re-loading and attacking again only to be detected and killed by the escorts - so I now take the view that it is better to 'fight and run away to return to fight another day!' because my experienced crew are of more value that the chance of another sinking and sacrifice among a heavily escorted convoy.
Another jewel in this area of the Caribbean is a lone 'Clemson' class destroyer that seems to be stationary some distance due West of Curacao - The first warning I had of this is when it was reported that we were detecting Radar signals which caused me to dive and head in the direction from whence the signals originated. If the signals came from a warship I would expect to soon pick up sound on the hydrophones but all around was silent so I remained submerged believing that it must have been an aircraft. When I came back to periscope depth to take a look around there was the stationary destroyer right in front of me - I marked its position on the chart and closed to 450 Metres and then sank it with a single torpedo from one of the stern tubes. On two subsequent patrols, I have succeeded in sinking a stationary 'Clemson' class destroyer in the same location!
The Carribean Sea is an exciting area to patrol and has provided me with the highest tonnage of ships (mostly tankers) that I have sunk on a single patrol to date.
The best hunting grounds turned out to be in an area from the North-West to the West of Curacao. Here on my first and on subsequent patrols, I found a healthy mix of lone tankers (or two tankers travelling together without escorts) and plenty of convoys that included tankers and merchants with a GRT that exceeded 10,000 tons.
The convoys are generally heavily escorted and the American crews are not as green as might be expecting given their lack of battle experience. The method of convoy attack that worked best for me in this area has been as follows:
Plot the course of the convoy on the hydrophones and position the boat ahead of it (if this is not possible without risking detection, I leave it because these convoys are just like London buses - if you miss one you can be sure that there will soon be another one!) - then keep at a depth of 20 metres running at 'Schleichfahrt' until I can come up to periscope depth well inside the convoy. I then choose the two most rewarding targets - these might be the Large or Modern Tankers, a Whale factory Ship, a Large Merchant or Ceramic type Passenger Liner (carrying troops?) - I get in close enough (between 450 and 550 Metres) and on a parallel course to be sure of hitting each of them hard with three torpedoes - two each from the bow and one each from the stern tubes - then having stayed at Periscope depth just long enough to confirm the sinkings, I order 'äußerste kraft voraus' and dive to 220 Metres and then cut back to a speed of 1 Knot before changing direction through 90 degrees to creep away - hopefully undetected. If an escort does chase after me I keep going in the same general direction away from the convoy but frequently change course through 45 degrees one way and 45 degrees the other way to shake them off - not easy at such a slow speed but as long as I maintain depth it seems to work - (The term 'Run Silent, Run Deep' comes to mind) - and I do not attempt to come back up to periscope depth or reload the torpedoes until the convoy and its escorts can no longer be detected on the hydrophones.
This 'running away' may seem a tad cowardly but in earlier careers, I have tried re-loading and attacking again only to be detected and killed by the escorts - so I now take the view that it is better to 'fight and run away to return to fight another day!' because my experienced crew are of more value that the chance of another sinking and sacrifice among a heavily escorted convoy.
Another jewel in this area of the Caribbean is a lone 'Clemson' class destroyer that seems to be stationary some distance due West of Curacao - The first warning I had of this is when it was reported that we were detecting Radar signals which caused me to dive and head in the direction from whence the signals originated. If the signals came from a warship I would expect to soon pick up sound on the hydrophones but all around was silent so I remained submerged believing that it must have been an aircraft. When I came back to periscope depth to take a look around there was the stationary destroyer right in front of me - I marked its position on the chart and closed to 450 Metres and then sank it with a single torpedo from one of the stern tubes. On two subsequent patrols, I have succeeded in sinking a stationary 'Clemson' class destroyer in the same location!
The Carribean Sea is an exciting area to patrol and has provided me with the highest tonnage of ships (mostly tankers) that I have sunk on a single patrol to date.