Why oh why
 

BDU keeps sending me on really long patrols out of Lorient all the way to the Freetown area.

The voyage is long and generally uneventful.

If I have enough fuel I can usually catch a convoy on the return trip near the English channel....but these missions are generally yawners.

I should like to ask those who might know: How much did the captains decide their patrol areas? Were they simply given orders without being to any meetings or speaking to any higher officers?