A normal patrol for me would consist of the following -
- leave port by the safest route I can decide on.I will draw 1700km circles around UK and Rekyavik,the main air zones in the immediate area,and head for the small air gap that can be seen as the two circles almost converge.I call this the Biscay Air Gap.As air attacks have been quite horrendous the last few months most of this early phase of the patrol will consist of making frequent crash dives to evade aircraft,until I am approx 1700km west of France.I refrain from attacking them,as a Liberator tore into two of my watch crew the last time I tried to fight back,and my flaks were just bouncing off him.After that I have made it standard drill to crash dive.
I also have weather checks every hour while in the air zones,and take full advantage of poor weather to hide my uboat,and it has worked well during bad storms.This will allow me to make as much ground as possible on the surface.As soon as fog clears,or the skies become cloudy I dive,as I have been almost caught off guard during cloudy days,preventing a good crash dive in time.
- I will then naturally sail to my assigned patrol square,using the most efficient speed,usually between 8-10kts.Once I am free of the air zones,I will travel along the nearest lane to my postion,so my current patrol is in AK48,and looking at the map puts me in a spot where there is a major convoy lane,and a merchant lane to the south.I opted for the convoy lane in the north.
When I reach my patrol zone,I will normal face the uboat towards where I
expect contact to be made,so in this scenario that would mean facing SW.I then dive to 50m and simply listen for the next 24hrs,surfacing at dawn for an hr to get some air,then back down again.
- After 24hrs has expired,I will begin assigning myself new patrol zones,until contact is made.This will involve moving to either side of the suspected convoy track,making sound checks about every hour,for about 1 week.I worked out a convoy travelling from Halifax to my position would take somewhere between 7 and 10 days,maybe a little more.
I did in fact recieve a radio signal of an incoming convoy at about the time I estimated,and made all the neccessary plans for an interception,which is where I am now.
I will continue to harrass and attack my current target until my torpedoes are gone,or I get to about 25% fuel,in which case I will have to turn back.Making high speed runs to get ahead of the convoy for about 3hrs sure burns fuel.I wonder how many more runs I will manage at that rate?.
I plan to break off either way once I am entering the 1700km zone explained earlier.Trying to attack a major convoy while evading aircraft is not a wise choice
Oh,I forgot,I will go no higher than 32TC when in the air zones,and no higher than 128 anywhere else.
I expect my patrols to last at least 1 month,upto a total of 2 months including the return journey
Cheers
