It sounds as though you've gotten the hang of it and I'm sure you would improve steadily if you want to continue your training at the Naval Academy. Of course, you don't have to do that and you're as ready as any new player to tackle some single missions or start a career.
Regarding the questions:
1). The C-2 is tough...most of the time it takes 2 torpedoes and she does sink very slowly. I have had some "lucky" hits on C-2s that sank them quickly, sometimes even with one torpedo. They have an "Achilles Heel" (fuel tanks) just forward of the bridge, about 4-5m above the keel; one hit there sinks them, sometimes breaking them in two.
2). There's no cowardice in getting away and living to fight again another day. But, it is a game after all and you can afford to "die" many times in the process of learning what works well and what doesn't work so well.
3). You can stay at periscope depth, turn away from the Trawler and the rest of the convoy and let them sail away over the horizon at TC 32 before you surface to end the mission. Keep your speed slow and you won't drain the battery completely while putting some distance between you and them.
I was a little surprised that you weren't able to get into the middle of the convoy and use your stern tube on the tramp steamer in the right-hand "column" of the convoy. Every time you raise the periscope, be sure to quickly check the navigation map and mark the position of every ship you see there (you can cheat a little and pause the game to do that). You might try to speed up and turn to use the stern tube...you have to be careful that you're behind the Trawler (in his baffles) when you do that, otherwise he'll hear your propeller noise. A quick periscope observation will tell you if it's safe to speed up or not.
Or, after you fire the last forward torpedo, turn East and parallel the convoy's course for awhile, making sure you don't make too much noise and give your position away to the Trawler (and dive to 20m to avoid collisions that could damage or destroy your periscopes...been there, done that
). If you've fully manned the forward torpedo room, you should get the first tube reloaded in time to make another attack...they won't have gotten much farther ahead of you even when you're staying at slow speed. But, if you do make another attack, the Trawler will head for your position straightaway; so don't forget to move away from that firing position.
As an alternative...remember, you've got all day...you can slowly withdraw and reload all of your tubes while tracking the convoy by sound. Once they, especially the Trawler, are all nearly out of sight, you can surface and run around the convoy to a position out ahead of them. Use the ruler on the navigation map to plot their extended course and find a position for another ambush. You should generally stay at least 12km away from the nearest ship, in order to run at Flank speed to get around and ahead of them.
Another good way to deal with this convoy after your initial "surprise attack" is to use magnetic pistols on the rest of the ships. You can shoot with a less-than-perfect solution, since you don't have to be concerned with the angle of impact that sometimes causes impact pistols to malfunction. Set the depth one to two meters below their keel depth; note that the "pointer" on the depth setting dial reads a little higher than the actual setting (the tip of the cursor arrow is somewhat obscured).
Anyway, I'm sure we are all happy to see that you've passed the exam and I wish you the best of luck in your future missions and patrols. Good luck and good hunting!
