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Originally Posted by Capt. Morgan
Just a quick point. If you sink a ship but don't see it sink (either because you are no longer in visual range - which can be quite short at times - or submerged, periscope-down) there will be no mark on the map to indicate the sinking, but you will still get the credit. 
If you move too far away (50km IIRC) from your sinking ship, or something else - like bad weather, or a collision - causes it to sink faster, then you won't get credit. |
You must be still be in contact range of the ship at the moment when the game considers it to be sunk because of the amount and nature of the damage it has received.
At that moment, if you are in range, one of your crew (I think it's the Navigator) will report that "She's going down!" and you will be credited with the kill.
"In contact range" means close enough for you and your crew to visually confirm that the ship is sinking (if you are surfaced) or close enough for the sinking to be heard on the hydrophones (if you are submerged). You don't have to watch it happen personally, either from the bridge or through the 'scope. But the boat must be close enough for visual or sonar confirmation of the kill.
If you move out of contact range before your crew has given you the "She's going down" message, there is no way for you to confirm the sinking because no one aboard your boat could have seen it or heard it happen. Even if you did enough damage to make the sinking inevitable, you must remain close enough to confirm that the boat is indeed sinking before sailing away.
Bottom line is, once you receive the "She's going down" message, the ship is a confirmed kill and you will get credit for it. You are free to leave the area with another notch on your gun barrel, even if the ship is still on the surface and is taking its good old time about actually going down. You've done enough damage to sink her, and hung around long enough for that fact to be confirmed. That's all you need to do to get the credit.
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On a semi-related unrelated point, the reason Von Richthofen painted his aircraft red was that WWI german fliers needed a witness to claim a victory. Having the only scarlet plane in the sky greatly increased the number of credits he could claim.
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Kinda the same idea here - someone on your boat must "witness" and confirm the sinking, and report it to you (whether you're watching/hearing it happen with your own eyes/ears or not). That's how you know that the game has credited you with the kill. A kill you don't witness is a kill that didn't happen as far as the game (and your renown score) is concerned.