[the.terrabyte.pirate]

Argh, it's time for a lesson:

So it's 1939, 2nd or 3rd patrol (don't remember), and I'm off the West coast of England/Scotland intercepting a convoy. I don't really have to nail it, and could almost certainly find better pickings in solo ships. Which I am tempted to do. But I tried to go in any how. It's about 6 AM (dark, but not pitch), the water is glass, and the sky is clear. I've read several threads/articles on convoy attack, and the advice is varied. But the most frequent tactic is what I did in my last attack (I mainly wanted to try other types first for my own learning's sake)- go in slow, attack, go really deep.

I pick up the convoy, run in on the surface to 4500M, get spotted by a Black Flower Corvette, lucky gun hit ends me quickly.

Running on the surface in anything but pitch black is asking for trouble. You're a lot more visible, and depending on your speed, you make a pretty bow wave and wake too. If you need to do it, go in decks awash, and no faster than ahead slow.

OK, don't go in on the surface. Make a run in, speed up to ahead 1/3 at periscope depth to line up a shot, get detected, DC'd to death by escorts.

Too fast, too fast. Ahead slow. They'll pick you up on the hydrophones. Remember silent running

OK, don't go above ahead slow. Make a run in, nail 3 or 4 ships (not sure, but get 4 hits on 5 torps), one confirmed kill before I go under (coal ship- 1 2M impact torp). Descend slowly to 100M. At 60 M, rear escort starts to ping. I turn towards him to get bow-on so as to reduce sound reflection signal. As soon as I start turning, his pinging picks up. At 90 M, get reports that we're being pinged, 100M get nailed by depth charges and sink into the depths- implosion.

You were too slow getting down.

So, what did I do wrong? Should I have immediately gone to flank and tried to get deep faster? I did linger to fire all my torps- do you really have to be on your way down before the first impact? Should I avoid turning at all when trying to be silent? Is there anything you can do when being pinged deep other than go deeper and pray? Forget convoys and just pick off the easier solo targets?

Okay, my tips for convoys...

1) You should never actively attack a convoy. It's the wrong attitude, and it'll get you killed. What you should be doing is setting a trap for it. Plot the course, calculate an intercept, and be ahead. Get in silent running. Stay submerged. Use the hydro guy to keep an eye on the convoy. Pop the peri up every now and then to pick your target. You should have a clear idea of the layout of the convoy.Get in nice and close once the lead escort has passed, ideally less than a km from the predicted path of your chosen vessels. Ensure you know how deep the water is.

2) Fire your torps. If you're close to other vessels, pop the peri up, fire, drop it down. If you have breathing space, you can leave the peri up to trace your target. Remember, they don't know you're here. If they get spooked, they'll start to zig zag, and chances are your running fish will miss.

3) Once the torps hit, well, the cat is out of the bag. They know you're around, and they have a good idea where the torps have come from. Crash diving will put you at ahead flank. After you hit 50 meters or so, drop your speed back to ahead slow, pick your depth, and change heading. I usually run ahead flank into and under the convoy's line, then turn to head out the back of the convoy at ahead slow, silent running. The remaining ships will make it harder for the dd's to make dc runs. Instead of facing your bow at the dd's hunting you, put them behind you. Your sonar man may lose them occasionally, but you're trying to put as much distance between you and the dd's as possible. You'll know when you'e bing pinged, and you'll hear the propellors if they come on a dc run. Try to keep your arse to the enemy.

And finally, if I get this right, do you have to surface to record kills, or are unseen kills still recorded? What if the ship sinks unseen-any credit?

If you're close, it'll count. If the ship sails 40 kms away and then sinks, you'll get squat.