Quote:
Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen
Not at all. BdU's required protocol was different than SubPac's. Torpedoes were treated as premium weapons; not to be wasted. Since the uboats' mission was to strangle Great Britian, it was imperative to maximize each boat's effectiveness. It is also why attacking escort ships was frowned upon. This was also true given the small number of frontboote available at the start of the war. You needed each boat at sea for as long as possible between refits.
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An interesting what-if involves Doenitz making escorts a high priority target, for like six months or a year or so, stripping convoys of a significant amount of their protection, THEN going to town on the merchants. Wouldn't it be better to sink more merchants in a smaller amount of time than to spread the same tonnage out over many months? Wonder if you could do this in the game-mod it so that you have Zaukonigs right from Sept. '39, sink every escort you encounter, and by '42 see 40 ship convoys shepherded by only 2-3 escorts (if I am reading the press release correctly).