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Originally Posted by Seaveins
..in AM73, 9/26/39,
...snip...
currently chasing the convoy. The forward batteries and hydrophones are completely destroyed. All else works and I haven't fired a shot of anything. My hull integrity is 87%. It is now 1700, getting dark, and I am right behind the convoy. Is it it time to "cut and run" or should I call it a day and head home for repairs? You guys are the vets...
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In other words, your submerged endurance is 50% of what it used to be, and your boat is now utterly blind underwater. I would say you can't afford any submerged engagement. Your entirely reliant on periscope observations and if you get under another depth charge attack, your odds of getting sunk just skyrocketed being deaf, with a half dead battery.
If you weren't already incontact with a convoy id say return to base. However, you can still prosocute a night surface attack, and in 1939 YOU own the night. You wont have radar to deal with. I would say plot the convoys course, do an end round, and come up along the convoys broadside on the surface at night. Personnaly id give it a go once shoot what fish you have in the tubes, then desengage and go home. Maybe go at it twice if the escorts feel clueless, but realize you can't afford to be forced to submerge. If you submerge, they will have you in their pocket. All you can do is go very deep and pray if they do.
Another factor is the wind conditions, if its a calm sea, your chances of getting spoted on the surface increase. Id shoot at like 3500 meters, turn tail , shoot your aft tube, and run.