What would you do?
 

Here’s the situation.

I’m trailing a convoy, waiting for nightfall, in which there are at least three large merchantmen worth c10,000T each. But there is also a Southampton class light cruiser. I have 3 torps forward and one plus two spares aft.

I’m opting to go for the Merchantmen because, realistically, they more directly affect the British war effort, apart from giving me a better tonnage in game. To go for the cruiser would however give me more kudos, but add nothing to my renown.

What would you do?

Go for the merchants as your first priority. The cruiser is no threat to a submerged uboat and not a higher target.

I'll second that advice. Go for the merchants.

On second thought, are the merchants armed? If not, sink the cruiser and go after the merchants with your deck gun. Then you can have your cake and eat it too.

The merchant men may be the priority but,.....IF you can get in a favourable attack position one eel in the bow of the cruiser might be enough to take him down,use his forward momentum to plough onward to his watery grave so to speak:03:if you hit the merchant men and cripple them,and the weather is ok,you can surface later and finish them off with the DG even if they are armed,as long as you stay at a respectable distance:03:Best of luck:salute:

I personaly would go for the cruiser.It would strike british morale down to the floor.In any case if i meet convoy and there is naval unit bigger than DD i tend to attack them.
In RL however it certanly is more useful to destroy the merchants.

What is the renown difference between the merchant ships and the cruiser?

BP

Large Merchants are 300 each and the Southampton is 450. I'd personally go for the Southampton and one of the merchies because it's always so fulfilling to sink a big warship. :arrgh!:

The more renown, the better for you. Go for the renown!

Go for the Merchants. With a bit of careful aiming you should be able to bring them all down with one torpedo each. (Just hit them under the first mast on the bow)

According to Onkel Karl:
This a tonnage war. :stare:
Tonnage, tonnage, and more tonnage. Starve England into submission.

Go for the merchants!

Are these the only ships in the convoy?
I assume that there are others with other escorts.
:)

Renown in game may give you nothing - but the real life U-Boat captain who can claim a cruiser (as well as other sunk merchants from prior engagements) would garner more respect than not sinking the cruiser - but sinking 2 more ships.

Also, destroying a cruiser takes one more 'escort' away from future convoys, making them easier pickings for you and your fellow captains. It takes alot more resources and time to build a cruiser than a transport ship.

Just my humble opinion - I always go for anything bigger than a DD first, and have started to take out escorts before attacking convoys just to make my life easier.

But you're the captain of your boat - YOU do what you like :).

I agree with mookiemookie....tis always nice to bag a big hitter http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif

I have been in similar situations many times west of Gibraltar. I will go after the Light Cruiser every time (even a 5000 ton Dido, and spend 2 torps for each). That what a real u-boat captain will do.

The tonnage war is about Destruction Vs. replacement. The objective is to sink more ships that the allies can replace. Two 10,000 ton merchants are easier to replace than One 10,000 cruiser, not to mention the 800 or so limeys on board compared to at most a hundred in any cargo ship.

A few days ago in my present career we came across a "convoy" consisting of 5 DD's and DE's in CO42. It was after midnight, clear, calm with no moon & for a second I was tempted to have a go at one of them (hadn't seen any merchants up to that point in the patrol). Decided that it really wasn't worth the risk so we took off in the other direction. The next morning we sank an unescorted large merchant in the same grid square. Sometimes it pays to be little "cowardly"...:D

For me, any warship CL or higher, I prioritize higher than freighters. If a convoy is lightly escorted (1 or 2 DE/DD) I may opt to sink the escorts to get free pickings, though that's something I would rarely do when in a Type II like I am right now, trying to go through the entire war in a canoe:D