Quote:
Originally Posted by nemchenk
If only I could understand what OKM are trying to tell me, Sailor Steve  Those message seems to first state that all Polish vessels can be engaged at the discretion of the Kaleun, but then later OKM starts talking about the Prize Regs... As you say, it was very confusing for the Kriegsmarine skippers in the early days of the war!
Re cruising with the merchantman -- will he not start weaving and trying to evade? I had to chase down a Tramp Steamer who was running flat out, and it was quite tricky to get alongside him and fire on him with my 20mm Flak  He kept weaving, trying to ram me while I was getting alongside. How on earth would you hit a target like that with an eel?? |
If you're going to fire a torpedo, best to do it
before they know you're in the vicinity. If you surface close enough to a target to be spotted they will begin evasive maneuvers making it very difficult to line up a good shot. And if they turn out to be armed they will start firing on you.
Best bet during daylight is to run fast enough on the surface to get ahead of them on a roughly parallel course to theirs, but staying far enough away to keep from being spotted. When you get far enough ahead of them you can turn in towards their projected path and, if it's still daylight, go to periscope depth and move towards an intercept point that will put you within range of a torpedo attack without them spotting you as they also approach the intercept point.
If it's nightime you may be able to turn in and approach on the surface without being spotted - heavy weather will also help in this respect. Either way, you need to get within attack range before they know you're there otherwise the jig is up.
I have on occasion had a merchant spot me and begin zigzagging, and I just submerged and shadowed them until they stopped doing that and then turned in and fired. Of course if the ship is moving too fast for you to shadow at max submerged speed, that doesn't work.