True, that is certainly a problem. It's a problem that matters to the player, though, since I imagine that the DD's capability against surfaced subs is just as tied to AI quality.
So set a DD to "poor" and it'll do nothing well, even permitting a sub to cruise right by on the surface.
You are right about strictly military convoys though.
As I posted in the research thread, about 41% the shipping was civilian. This shipping simply got not escort before maybe late '43. ASW sweeps that were a zonal thing, but not escorts sticking with them as SOP. The rest was merchant shipping commandeered by the IJA and IJN--more of the former than the latter. The IJA had few escorts, and since the IJA didn't get along with the IJN, that means another 35% basically unescorted. That's 76% unescorted as a baseline. Sure, the odd improtant ARMY convoy might manage to convince the IJN to help, but it would be rare.
tater
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