Well, I didn't hit 100K in Feb '44, but I did discover a new, and deep love for T-IVs and T-Vs! Beside the new torps, I equipped the boat with dual 37s to replace the quad 20s, added improved radar detection and decoys, and I added a schnorkel.
So once again, I'm sent off to the Caribbean (it seems likes it's always there or Africa for me). I'm sent right around Guatanamo Bay, but I didn't stay there long because a) there was no traffic and b) that plays now gives me the creeps. Bad place to get captured!
So it's back to ED 94 and 98, my old hunting grounds. On the way there, I get a small convoy report (along with two big ones). Leaving the big ones alone out of respect for my last debacle, I decide to attack the small convoy. With hopefully just a couple of escorts, I should be able to take them out and then wipe out the defenseless convoy. Well, things don't go as I planned. I'm able to sneak in quite close, but there are FOUR destroyers guarding THREE merchants (two ore carriers, one small merchant). This clearly isn't worth it. Unfortuantely, one of the destroyers is going to pass very close to me on the right flank of the convoy. So I decide to take it out- thus salvaging some renown, as well as giving myself plenty of time to escape.
I estimate the speed, wait for it to get close and 80 AoB then shoot! BOOM! Impact, but it's at the
very tip of the bow. The destroyer stays afloat! Darn, didn't count on that happening. Panicked, I gun the boat to get her the heck out of there. Diving deep, I switch the boat to silent running. Unfortunately, I am picked up by an incoming destroyer with their now magical sonar. Even heavy waves 200M above me aren't enough to hide me. Fortunately, I have options this time around. I order flank speed, hard to starboard, and periscope depth. I use a decoy to stall the destroyer when he's making an attack run. Long story short, I just miss a stationary shot at this destroyer, with three others coming in to help. OK, homing time. Long story short, two Vs and a IV finish them off relatively effortlessly. A little bit of dogfighting, with decoys to slow them down, does the trick nicely.
I then dash after the convoy and sink 'em all, including a brief deck gun action on the surface against one stubborn ore carrier. However, the original target, the destroyer, limps away to port! Oh well, it wasn't really worth a second torpedo, and I've shot a lot of them this engagement. I continue patrolling, hunting solo and dual ships. I even get the chance to gun a few of them in the glassy-calm waters! My highly experienced gunnery crew are masters of reloading the gun, and our rate of fire, combined with our bow-bow tactics, makes these engagements short and successful. On the way home, I stop at the little islands north of the canaries to make a port raid. I hit a modern tanker with my remaining T3, but it doesn't sink. On the way out, my final T5 is sent as a parting gift to a large destroyer who was blindly patrolling the port.
Total for the trip = 14 ships, 4 destroyers, 68K, and 2400 renown. Not a bad little patrol! Some important lessons:
1- I'm pretty sure you can't detect ships underwater when you are running your schnorkel. That's realistic, because of the diesel noise, but it also limits your ability to hunt when using it.
2- Which is pretty much fine because Allied air cover is increasing, and the schnorkel is an airplane magnet! I was bombed 3 times while using it. Of course, I had no notice other than the impact of the depth charges, and once, some fairly significant damage to my topside (78% hull integrity, entire length of ship too minor damage). So I'm of the opinion that the schnorkel is pretty useless. If you surface at least you have a chance of detecting the airplanes. Enemy ships (including merchants) also seem to be able to detect the schnorkel fairly easily, and fire on it sooner than they would a periscope at the same distance. So again, I think it is of limited usefullness. Primarily, I would use it to quickly close the gap on incoming ships when they are far enough away that you don't want to drain the batteries (I tried to keep my speed under 7 knots with it to remain realistic).
3- By '44, bigger ships are essentially Q-ships. Although I did end up engaging an ore carrier and a medium cargo ship (separately) with guns, both were already damaged by a torpedo hit. I would NOT advise taking on any large merchantile ships with guns in '44 unless they are already damaged. They look like small cruisers with all their guns, and are probably as well armed, if not better, than a destroyer.
4-As before, wounded/engaged ships will sometimes have an aerial escort. Caught me off guard the first time I surfaced to take out the ore carrier I had damaged! Fortunately, the airplane was at the limits of detection and I was able to safely re-dive.
So now I have to decide if it's time for me to move on from my Type IXB to a VII-42, or even the XXI. It's an important decision because two big stealth upgrades just became available to the IXB, and I'd hate to spend the money on them if I don't need to.