Quote:
Originally Posted by Walruss
Well, I trialed Otto Kretschmer's tactics of slipping in in the middle of the night between rows- and damn if it wasn't brilliant! I got within 400 meters of several boats, was able to sneak right up to the targets I wanted and align myself with them, fired 3 shots (2 forward to run under an ammunition ship in a self-set spread) and 1 stern to bend to a m31 at a bearing of 135-140ish, then crash dived just behind the merchant, slowed and ran silent at 70 meters with a target depth of DEEP - 130-140 meters. I'm still going down but the escorts have to weave and weave to get at me, with all the merchants around.... oh, and I scored a direct hit with one torp on the ammunition ship and it virtually exploded, loud explosions on the hydrophone, and immediate report of it sinking. About 45 seconds later I got a second impact report, I suspect on the stern shot.... 3 torps, 2 hits... that's bloody good for me. Now back to dodging these aimless destroyers, pics of my approach and the aftermath incoming when I shake 'em.
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Glad to hear it worked for you!
Yesterday I decided to try, contrary to my own advice earlier in this thread, a surface convoy attack in bad weather - heavy fog, rain, 6 m/s wind and visibility of maybe 1000 meters. This was in December 1939. I had a good idea of convoy position, course and speed due to two earlier contact reports and a hydrophone check just before I reached the convoy.
All went well at first, and I finally spotted a merchant about 800 meters from me at bearing 30, aob 60, perfect for a nice 90 degree aob shot.
But then things started going wrong. I spotted another merchant heading straight towards me, much closer than the first one (maybe 400 meters?), forcing me to order full speed ahead to avoid being rammed. And in a few moments I was spotted, flashlights tore the fog, someone fired starshells and everyone started zigzagging.
I decided to look for targets anyway, believing that no ship was armed at this early date and that the destroyers were still far away. I fired a total of 3 torpedoes, missing with each one of them. Fully manual targetting is difficult when everyone, myself included, is turning, visibility is limited and estimating accurate distances is almost impossible.
Suddenly one of the merchants opened fire on me, and only seconds later, a destroyer emerged from the fog and likewise opened fire. Two shells from the destroyer hit me before I managed to crash dive, as did several smaller rounds from the merchant. I had flooding in 5 compartments, lost my radio, hydrophone, fore batteries (all of them destroyed) and half of my fuel, as well as got some minor repairable damage. Furthermore, the first depth charges took out one of my periscopes. I could dive no deeper than 85 meters without getting additional damage.
Lucky for me, no other destroyers joined the attack, and, possibly due to the bad weather, that one destroyer finally lost me beneath the convoy after four depth charge runs. I surfaced when the convoy had long passed and headed home. My hull integrity was 36%.
So, take this as a warning: do not attack on the surface in bad weather!