Man....1943 is Tough!
 

I started playing with the 2nd Flotilla in 8/39. I only lost one boat in 4/40 near Narvik. A couple of Kaleuns were posted ashore after 6 or so patrols. Things were relatively easy.

Now......:nope:.

I've lost 4 boats in 1943:

U-176 in the Atlantic. 2nd Flotilla out of Lorient.
3/43 during 4th patrol. Forced to surface and sunk.

U-968 in the Med. 29th Flotilla out of La Spezia
6/43 on her first patrol with all hands.

U-81 in the Med. 29th/30th Flotilla out of Toulon.
10/43 on her 5th patrol (or 6th-can't remember for sure off hand:hmmm:) with all hands.

Lost my 4th U-boat yesterday:
U-516 in the Atlantic. 12th Flotilla out of Bordeaux.
5/43 on her 2nd patrol with all hands.

Anybody want to join my crew when I head back into the Atlantic with another boat? :D

All but one have been lost after attacking convoys. I get a bad feeling now when I get a radio report of a convoy, but orders are orders-sink tonnage.

In all but one, hedgehogs played a big role. Those things are scary :o. No "Wasserbomben!", just bang and a lot of damage.

In my last boat, I took some minor damage in the bow torpedo room from depth charges. 5 minutes or so later I'm deep and quiet at 165m and bang! I get damage reports, look at the crew management screen, and I'm at 40% HI and almost my whole boat is yellow and the HI starts dropping, the bow torpedo room went red, and before I could even try to blow tanks(if it even would have done any good)-DEAD.:dead:
I assume the last attack involved multiple hits from hedgehogs.

I'm taking a break from the Atlantic/Med for a bit. I started a new career with the 30th Flotilla in the Black Sea in 10/42 with a type IID out of Constanza. I'm hoping it will be a nice change of pace with a little easier pickings against the Russians. :sunny:

I lost one boat in Med, February 43. I'm now in April 43, again in Med, but different career.
And it is tough. Almost every convoy attack ends up with hours of pinging and DC. Easy attacks are very rare.
Can't wait to get VIIC/41 later in the year. Her ability to dive deeper should make things easier.

I have lost a few in 43.

mostly attacking convoys en route from north africa bound for "the arsenal of democracy."

usually its a combination of depth charges and hedge hogs as i get pounded at 230 meters depth

Huh, you think the atlanic was tough, just wait till you are stuck in the north sea.:rotfl: and cant realy dive too deep.:yep:

What do you mean by "arsenal of democracy" ?

On the topic, i never reached '43 , though total i have had 5 or less careers all started at '39.

Yes...43..yes hedgehogs... the horror..the horror.. :cry:

See here:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel...r2/arsenal.htm

msalama hit it on the head.

this term stuck and came to serve as a descriptor for the men, machines and munitions of war being stockpiled daily on the island nation of Great Britain.

(interchangeable term for the capacity of industrial war-time production for the allied powers as well)

Been to '43 once - got sunk in the Bay of Biscay. Won't be going there for a while.

'43 is a cakewalk compared to '45.:D More planes than you can poke a schnorkel at and even better crews and kit on the DD's.

The way to survive 43 is to go to the South Atlantic park your boat at Rio flying a white flag and wait out the end of the war.

I've yet to make it to 1943 since I only get limited play and keep tyying out new mods and subs.

Thanks for the warning.

You landlobber :arrgh!:, start your campaign in 44 without a snorkel on VII with a fresh crew and no renown. Then you'll see the true meaning of "horror".

Read iron coffins by Herbert Werner for an account of the real life situation. Im not surprized non of you are making it.

Im amaized that Herbert Werner survived at all.

At one point just to leave port he sunk to the sea bed to wait for the tide to turn so that he could drift under the blockadeing allied ships.
He was recieving messages all the time about U-boats sinking.

Biscay sounded absolute hell. During the Normandy landings they were sailing in line surfaced and each U-boat was picked off one by one from the last one to the 1st (mind they did have dodgy orders from high command to coap with :damn:).

He had a radar detector which anounsed his position to allied aircraft! :damn::damn:

Hmmmm.....not a bad idea. I was actually heading down that way on my last patrol in the Atlantic when I ran into the convoy.

Next time, I'll make sure Bernard keeps at least one sheet clean, just in case. :D

I agree that 1943 is tough. See this thread.