Real U-boat captains knew a lot about merchant ships and could easily spot the weak points on those ships, their aim was to send the ships to the bottom using only topedo's. The reason for that is simple, you could indeed use 1 torpedo for 1 ship but this meant you had the change the ship would sail futher even with the damage or that it comes to a dead stop and you have to finish it off with either another torpedo or use the deckgun. Using a deckgun was a risky business, the boat wasn't crashdive ready and if a destroyer (or even worse, a plane) popped up then you could really be in serious problem and lose the boat and the crew. That's why most captains tried to finish the ships off with torpedo's rather than to have them shelled and expose themselfs to hostile retalliation. Especially later in war the risks to use the deckgun increased dramaticly.
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