Will convoys zig zag?
 

Searching for zig zag won't return results, so I aplogize in advance if this is known or been asked a million times before, but will Japanese convoys zig zag on a base course? Or dare I say it, constant helm a course?

In most of the reading on convoy attack by U.S. Subs, they seem to acted independant of each other under attack. More than once there were collisions due to ships paths crossing each other. Many had be armed with depth charges to drive off subs (even if they had no way of guessing when the sub was). A couple of subs got a good shaking from there effots.

You mean the convoy on the way to Pearl Harbor in the winter of 1941 or the convoy on the way back from Pearl in 1941?

I'm not sure, but a lot of Japanese and their allies cargo/freighters hugged the coast line to stay away from American Submarines near the end of the war and like Bookworm said, most of them were armed and ready to duke it out with any captain foolish enough to attack them on the surface.

I'm talking about Japanese marus. Escorted Japanese shipping in a small convoy zig zagged on a base course as an asw effort. Sometimes they even constatntly adjusted their course by a few degrees to make wide sweeps off a base course to keep subs from having an easy time setting up torpedo shots.

Will this be in shIV? Or will it be like sh3 where every merchant ship out there plods straight along unaware and uncaring of the submarine threat?

errm convoys DO zigzag in SH3
i dont know about stock because i never attacked a convoy in stock but in GWX they sure do

I never downloaded GWX :oops:

But if the devs didn't do it in sh3, will they do it in sh4? I'm guessing even if they don't, if it was moddable into sh3 it will be moddable into sh4 then, so I'm a happy camper :D

They do zig zag in stock SH3. The Japanese did create convoys from around 1944 onward, but there was little orgaization and few escorts untill it was too late. Earlier convoys were just pairs of ships steaming together for mutual protection.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, after intense discussions with the dev team, they admit that the convoys will zig, but there is no code to zag :(

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

So the ships will alter their course but won't get back to their original course or what does that mean?:doh::oops:

lol. I think military convoys were a tad bit more cohesive, but still, stragglers seem to be common place in the convoys

Depends on whether the Japanes like to roll their own...depth charges that is. ;)

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/im...1_24_059_a.jpg

Well, of course they can get back to their original course! They will merely have to execute eight regulation zigs, each zig being 45 degrees, to return to their previous heading. Are you sure you passed basic training, sailor? :ping:

I'm reading James Calvert's book, Silent Running, about his time aboard the USS Jack as the TDC operator and he writes about zig zagging Japanese merchants. His first patrol was in mid 43. Perhaps he only encountered the better Japanese merchantmen and navymen, but nearly every encounter involved them having to plot their prey's base course off a zig zag and try to time their closing on the enemy so as to be in the right position after a course change.

When I say convoys describing the Japanese system, I'm considering groups of as little as 4 or 5 ships considering they never really put together huge merchant convoys. Maybe I'm too deep into Calvert's book, but that's the way he describes these groups of 2 or 3 merchantmen and a couple minesweepers or DE's as escorts, as convoys.

But back to the original point, is this in sh4 or not? If it was in sh3, I never saw it. Ships went in straight lines between waypoints and you never had to be wary of a target zigging out of your fiiring position at the last moment. Just get out in front of their course drawn out in a straight line and you'll be fine.

Brother James also writes about a little zig zagging of his own when he breaks down in quasi true confession time about an affair he has with a young lady from the islands. While he doesn't come out-right and admit it.....take it from an old salt...he did the dirty deed......:up:....I wonder if he was looking for absolution all these years later. Maybe he should have run it past the chaplain first. Couple of hail Mary's and a little extra in offering plate....should have filled the bill.