I've been having a lot of luck up through 1941 with the "Dead Stick" approach.
Basically works on any 3-4 escort convoy. Pull up ahead of the convoy and just sit at periscope depth, real quiet. You have to be 600-800 meters to either side of that point escort. I also point myself "diagonal" to the convoys base-course, so I am able to shoot with my bow and stern tubes. Then just wait for the rear "rich" C3's and tankers to line up, and let'em have a full load; 4 out of the bow, and 2 out of the stern. Just make sure you pop your scope up, shoot shoot, then duck it back down and rotate to the next ship. I'm talking maybe 10 seconds at the absolute tops for each salvo, and definately finish shooting before the first impact. Mag-dets if it's calm weather, and nothing beyond 1200 meters. I generally shoot electrics first at the farthest targets, then follow up with any steamers set to max speed.
Then I do a real quiet dive out the back diagonal of the convoy, between a flank escort and the rear escort. The lead and flank guards usually swarm to the afflicted targets, and the rear escort just takes his lazy time as usual. Sometimes an escort will get a ping, and I'll flank it down to the thermocline, then continue sneaking. Once I've got some range, I pop up to reload (externals, weather permitting), and run an end-around to catch the rest.
Obviously this only works out in the deep ocean. Middle of AL37 has been my sweet spot for about the past 12 patrols.
So, those lone merchants are nice on your way to the convoys, but don't waste too many torps. And certainly don't risk a surface engagement with an armed merchant.
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