I often play the flightsim IL2.
In the simulation there is a late war VIIC and a IIB.

I ran a test mission attacking the subs first with a Hurricane IIc

The IIB hardly posed little threat. Taking more than 5 20mm hits was bad for
me, but so long as I flew a good attack pattern and not lazy loops, the IIB
was unlikely to hit me. I flew several runs before it sank.

The VIIC was much more fearsome with 1x37mm and 2xdubble 20mm cannons.
Most of my attacks ended up in me being badly damaged unless I fired at very
long range. Flying over the boat was not a safe option. I did not have enough
ammo in the Hurricane to make a good impact from range. Time for a better
plane!

Bombing with the Mosquito wasn't a walk in the park. It is not a tough plane
and I often took 3-4 hits. This was never fatal, but could be enough to make
me want to RTB. I could drop my bombs over 90% of the time. If anything,
strafing was a little easier. If I aimed at the conning tower I could take out
2/3 guns each pass. Out of 10 separate attempts I was shot down twice
by a single hit from the 37mm and had to RTB once after several 20mm hits.

Finally I tried with a B24 heavy bomber. This was a walk in the park.
IL2s Uboat would have to be very, very lucky to shoot that down.


IL2 isn't a uboat simulator at all. The flak guns are not effected by the rocking
of the waves and it takes several cannon hits to disable the u-boats guns.
It would not be right to use it as anything but the roughest of guides.

I would conclude from it that any small aircraft with out bombs is not a critical
threat to a mid/late war u-boat, but anything with bombs or rockets is a big
threat and very likelyto be able to make at least one pass. Medium sized
planes with cannon are just as much a threat.

I would rather be in the airoplane any day.

If you take the strange manouvres of the planes into account, they should be gunned down easily. A real aircraft would turn a lot further away, giving the uboat diving time.
Also, as a vidid flightsimmer for many years, I know it is hard to find something in open water.
The aircraft spotting is too good imho!

Furthermore, the faster a plane flies the harder it is to aim correctly, also the higher it is, see for example the Mervile bombings.

The trick is imho to make it so that with some clever and fast reactions one can either down a plane or escape in the deep.
Now its always a no-no to even try, since the uboat guns are highly inaccurate and cause barely any damage, but the planes guns will!

I dont know if it has been mantioned here , but the 37mm AA gun was the best aa gun of its caliber in the war.I cant remember the source but it was considerably more useful even that quad 20mm gun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3.7_cm_FlaK_43

Same thing with the 40mm Bofors upgrades on our ships...