The Gibraltar strait is a bitch. It's a once-a-career-thing for me. I don't take it casually, and getting through it without detection is very unlikely. Remember, if you get detected, you can still get away! Use decoys! Listen to the hydrophone and when they drop the cans on you, turn and run! But as for avoiding detection, here are my tips:
- don't get near a destroyer in perfectly clear weather. This goes for convoy attacks, etc. In really high seas, DDs can't hear sh%t. If I was to do the Gibraltar crossing, i'd make damn sure it wasn't perfectly still.
- if you get visually detected, it's usually at a really long range (> 7km). When this happens, you have to 'clear the datum'. That is, dive, and change course and make a flank run for as long as you think you can. The DD will make a beeline for your last position, and he'll do it at flank. So he'll be deaf. You can take advantage of this by clearing the area. Listen to the hydrophone (or have your SO do it) - when he slows down to a medium speed, he can hear again so you should go silent. But by then he'll be searching in the wrong place (unless he hears you again).
- go really deep. If you're in trouble (e.g., 3 escorts are closing in), I go as deep as I possibly can. However, another trick is this - if you know they're closing on you, but you have a _bit_ of time before they get rigth on you, drop a decoy at say...50m - on your way down to 220m. Dive at 4kts, or even 5kts. Clear the datum. Then around 140m or so, go silent and hope that they take the bait. They often do. Or at least it will strip off one of the escorts....
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