Great tips. I am all for rule number one from here on out.

Use a XXI boat in 1944 :D stay deeper and run at 17 knts can save you

Strap a trampoline to the front of your boat, Hedgehogs will bounce right back up and go boom on the destroyers! SOooo simple yet so effective!:haha:

I don't think hedgehogs give out the "DC in water" warning...

The sacrifice of tonnage for storing a few extra T-IV / T-V's is worth it.
This of course presumes your aware of your surface contacts and an escort doesn't sneek up behind your screws.

That's correct, they don't.

You lot are a bunch of wimps - imagine if the Squid mortar was modelled in game. How does a 40-50% kill ratio sound?

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/851/squidchic58.jpg

The first successful use was by HMS Loch Killin on 31 July 1944, when she sank U333. The system was credited with 17 submarines in 50 attacks.

That less than 1/3rd kill ratio. Good odds for the Kaleuns:salute:

You mean your suppose to be warned when DC's are in the water. hmm my hydrophone guy has never once warned me. Is this because he is too green or is there some setting to turn on for the DC in water warning?

That's 1/3rd per attack. Those kind of odds will kill you quickly. Think of Russian Roulette with 2 chambers loaded instead of one, and playing more than one round.

Still sound attractive?

Well the Hedgehog was a super weapon for the Allies so it's gonna be a problem if you are facing it. Your best bet is to understand how it works, how it is employed, and anticipate what you must do to avoid it.

The hedgehog works so well because:

1) the destroyer can shoot it while it still has you in contact, since it is an "ahead thrown weapon." so the destroyer will still have you in sonar contact when it fires the hedgehog. And:

2) it is not set to explode at some depth, but only explodes on contact. So if it explodes, it has hit you and that means you're probably dead.

The hedgehog throws a ring of bombs which actually look really cool. I recall one narrow escape in which this chandolier of death floated just of my stern.

So you might use the external cam for a while - yeah, it's lower realism, but you need to watch how it works.

A ship that shoots it at you will be charging at you, so you might think about getting the mod that shows escort contacts in red on your sonar. When you see one charging at you, anticipate the hedgehog, and instead of waiting for the depth charge warning, drop a bold and floor it out of the area. I don't know exactly how far ahead the hedgehog fires or if this is variable, but I would guess it is about 300 meters. I don't know if this is variable.

Unfortunately, all this information will likely only give you a better idea why you died. The hedgehog was a GREAT weapon because the escort still has you in it's sonar cone when it's fired.

The deeper you are the more time that ellapses between when the death chandolier enters the water and when you get hit, so deep is good.

One question I have is how many hedgehog attacks a typical escort has. It's like 24 mortars so they can't have more than half-a-dozen, but if anyone knows how many hedgehog salvos escorts typically have I'd like to know.

Avoiding detection is of course the best possible scenario. After 1942, I don't attack heavily escorted convoys if seas are not rough because unless the water is stormy they are going to find you and kill you.

Of course, one other way to avoid them is to play SHIV - the Japanese escorts don't have hedgehogs:P

When do the allies first start using hedgehogs?

I believe from my limited naval knowlege, it was late 1943.

Ah thanks.

This is from uboat.net.
The first Hedgehog installation was put onboard the frigate (DE) HMS Bayntun on March 12, 1943.

Your SO calls out "wasserbomben" when DC´s are in the water, but not always. If Jim says there is no such call for Hedgehogs I take his word for it:cool:
Stay in the control room or your SO station and listen for the destroyer to accelerate and then the splashes. Order higher speed, depht cange and change course. To port or starboard? Your call, Kaleun.