[Penelope_Grey]

Surface attacks are not impossible at all, they are very possible right into 1942 they can still be done. Its all about positioning, and yes even in early war when the escorts were not that great but were still good enough to find and drive away an attacking U-Boat. The job of the escorts was to drive U-boats away and if possible, destroy them. Their primary goal is to protect the convoy.

Escorts sweep the area around the convoy so that you cannot get in close When U-boats get close there is more chance their torpedo will hit, getting past an escort requires a degree of cunning, sometimes you may have to submerge to PD and let him go by, sometimes you may just have to pull back and return again in 20 minutes or so till the escort has gone his way. The main thing ya need.... patience.... and another useful thing; persistence.

Some good tips are to put the boat low in the water, 7m is a bit too low in my view as it slows you down too much so I go with about 6m. This is a must in type IX's due to their long crash dives.

So you have to sneak, make sure the escorts can't see your broadside and the key thing, slow and steady. Doing a Das Boot, charging in at ahead flank only works if there are no escorts there to see your attack. The steadier you go the better, as you are not creating the same kind of wake that you would make at flank. Also, before you start the attack figure out what you are going to shoot at before hand, and try to make all the torpedoes hit around the same time.

The real remarkable thing... you may actually be able to escape on the surface too! If you can turn round and run like hell at flank you could well get away with it and not have to suffer a single depthcharge! Cool huh? This principle is the case for all versions of the game be it base game, GWX, WAC etc...

You say you are playing The Grey Wolves mod, you mean the first one, or the second incarnation - GWX?