The only reason you managed to be so successful in sinking all those ships was because you had the luxury of risking everything in that hunt, having only to Click-Restart-Button as a consequence in case you had lost.
In a real situation I REALLY doubt anyone would be brave enough to continuously risk their lives and crew to engage the enemy after being depth charged one or more times. The risks were too great, unless you were a mad captain.
Imagine youself in that situation you described, imagine that if you loose you will not be able to play silent hunter not ever again and see yourself heading back to the nearest port in most situations.
