The problem with a multiplayer game is that it would have all players engaged at the same time, whereas in real life the U-boats would seldom attack simultaneously. Most times one boat would engage, then a short while later another boat would engage, and maybe two some time after that, and so on, throughout the day or two or three that a convoy action would last. Only rarely was a convoy beset by multiple attackers simultaneously.
What I think would be ideal is for a staggered onset of the U-boats, so that their attacks are spread out in time and space. Only rarely would two or more boats engage at the same time. This would allow the escorts to attack one or two boats, perhaps be drawn to one side and then another boat would arrive on scene to take advantage of the hole. Escort players would have to judge as to how long they would pursue a particular contact, knowing that there may be one or more new U-boats on the way to intercept. Or, there may not be any more U-boats on the way. Not knowing the exact number of U-boats that might engage would force the escort players not to send all of their resources after one contact, for fear of leaving the convoy naked. It would become very boring and predictable if the escorts knew "Here come 8 U-boats; when number 8 shows up we all bum rush him."
Time compression in such a multi-player game would be almost non-existent, limiting games to smaller sessions. This would have to be balanced against the number of players and compress the situation in order to get all players into the battle. This then would result in unrealistic engagement numbers. I think what would be nice is that players campaign individually, but when the master computer senses player controlled resources are in an area, it ports them to a tactical area and then the battle is on. I really don't know how one could balance the grand stategic and the local tactical games.
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