SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Severe weather tactics

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- - Severe weather tactics (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=105658)

Yes, it is an early war tactic for the most part. But alot of fun :up:

I have no doubt this will change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scalelokt

Thanks for the comments everyone. I know its risky to go in surfaced against a convoy, even in a strong storm. From a survival standpoint it makes more sense to either just let the convoy go or at best try to attack submerged and see if you get some lucky hits. I guess I'm trying to find a way to use the storm to my advantage, even though all signs point to it being a very dangerous scenario. If the weather is that bad for what seems like a pretty large portion of the game, I was hoping to find a creative solution. Maybe its a lost cause, I'll keep working on it. At the very least its good for some stimulating conversation, thanks for the replies everyone!

The way I see it so far, the advantages of stormy weather (at least eariler in the war) are:
1. You can travel at high speeds surfaced with a low risk of detection, which is all but impossible submerged.
2. DDs are quite a bit slower in bad weather
3. DDs detection equipment wont work as well
4. Ships can be sunk with one torp instead of two or three
5. If a DD does come up on you the bad weather makes it pretty easy to escape assuming you dive quickly enough

The disadvantages are:
1. Visibility is so low that often times when you spot a ship they are already too close for torpedos
2. Cant use the deck gun
3. DDs can sneak up on you and its too late to dive when they appear in front of you (this is the biggest disadvantage of course)

Right now I'm thinking a submerged attack is the safest for sure, however a surfaced attack will yield more tonnage but with much higher risk. I guess no matter how you look at it, submerged attack is the way to go. I have to tell you though, its a lot of fun cruising around at high speed in a convoy taking out ship after ship while the DDs are hopelessly lost trying to find you. The other night I actually had a DD firing at their own ships because there were merchants between me and them. But the point isnt just to get tonnage, its also to survive so I think you all are right, its just too risky to attack like that. I've only been killed once donig it, but I think I've been pretty lucky.

Excellent observations there, it all depends on your style, boat, crew and weather I suppose :up: And I agree ofcourse, it is risky. Points 1 and 5, where the advantages are concerned, are key for my surfaced attack in storms at night. I come in at high speed on the surface, fully benefiting from my steady UZO, and I dive quicker once I have fired my eels. Not unlike the convoy attack in Das Boat, angriff fangt an!! :D

At the very least it's quite exciting ;) Fuer eins bis vier!! ALAAARMMMM!!! :arrgh!:

Quote:

Originally Posted by scalelokt

Anyone here been able to wreak havoc on a convoy in terrible weather by firing torpedoes submerged using only hydrophone readings? I havent tried firing using hydrophone data only, but I'm sure its possible. I figure if you watch long enough to get the speed of the target, from there you should be able to take a decent guess of the AOB and distance using the hydrophone map readings. Then fire a spread to allow for a bit of miscalculation. I'll bet that would be a really satisfying kill if you pulled it off! :up:

It was discussed like a two weeks ago IIRC, and said (or rather believed) that this is not a valid, i.e. historically correct way to sink ships. However it doesn't mean you can't try to do this, but it's going to be extremely hard. I've tried it a few times, always missed. :) Hydrophone is not exact enough to take a good shot.

If visibility is very poor, submerge and shadow until the weather improves or drop back a little and follow on the surface :yep:

It's also a matter of what sub you're driving at the time and where you are in your patrol. If you are in a IX on the way home after a successful one and have a couple of torps left, you can accept to risk them on a nice target in poor visibility. If you are on the way to your patrol grid in a type II with only 5 torps, you really are looking for the best conditions to shoot at something valuable...:D

As far as attacking on hydrophone data only, seems like theoretically (I havent tried it yet) you could get enough data for a decent shot so long as you take down a lot of data points over a substantial amount of time. I figure with about 5 different readings a few minutes apart, even if the hydrophone isnt all that accurate you should be able to get a good idea of speed. As far as range goes I think you could make up for some inaccuracies so long as you fire at about 500 meters and the target is moving slow (which most convoys are it seems). That way if you are off on the range by a hundred meters give or take, I think you would still get a hit. Finally for AOB readings, I think so long as you are at or close to 90 degrees you should be able to get a hit if you are close enough. I'll try it and let you all know how it goes. I've had stormy weather on every patrol and the crew is getting antsy, plus the Brits aren't going to lose many ships if all I do is tell stories to the crew and play poker. Its time for some action. :rock: