[Paul Riley]

washishu,

I trust you use your map at times in your game?,its useful for getting a basic fix on the major convoy lanes out there.
Try and lurk around choke points,such as the area between the Shetlands and the Orkneys (AN14-16).If you still have no luck it may be useful to lurk around a port submerged and wait for outgoing traffic.Follow this traffic by shadowing it until you are in a good spot with deep (if possible) water,and begin your attack.Try and make notes of the co-ordinates of this traffic for future reference.I have literally dozens of ship co-ords in my notepads,so I always have places to stalk if my assigned patrol turns up empty.This does demand high levels of patience and determination mind you,so,if you are after a more 'action packed' (trust me you get these moments and you will know about it!) game this approach may not be desired.
REMEMBER - When you are in an area known to have high traffic stay submerged,at a depth of about 25 -30m,keep speed no higher than 1/3 and you will increase your chances of contacts dramatically.After all,there is a lot of water out there,and you are about the size of a grain of sand in comparison.

Good luck.