Bent Periscope,
I agree totally about planes becoming more of a menace.I am in the very last day of Oct 1942,and my last 2 patrols have seen some very hostile air attacks,mainly around the bay of biscay.On my last patrol I tried to fight it out with a single bomber,only to witness in horror as my AA fire just bounced off his plating,while
his MGs opened up on the watch crew,killing 2 of them instantly.Now this may have been a combination of only having 2 double AA guns (VIIC mounting),and inexperienced flak gunners (my priorities seem to be leaning more towards observation and detection lately instead of sheer firepower).My personal opinion is get under as soon as you can and look after your watch crew,because unless you have some serious calibre and excellent gunners you are gonna get torn to shreds in a slugging scenario.You may fare better against incoming fighters,as I downed 6 on my last patrol,but against the heavier bombers its safer to dive.And in any case,you never really get much time to react in order to see exactly what is coming your way
Another thing,always make regular weather checks every hour inside known Air Zones,and on days with even minimal cloud go under,I have been caught off guard during those conditions.Clear days are perfect for Em.Dives.
We could save this conversation for another post on AA tactics?