Actually, gun duel even with an convoy's all escorts is possible, and to walk away from alive, thought with damage. Is possible
Even after 1942, actually. It's a bit easier then, when more and more DD's are hunt class with only 1-2 deckguns. Due to the concerning of hunting underwater submarines.
Althought, this requires a quite of exprience with surface engaging.
And distance, and by distance I talk about 10KM
Because, in this time you got time to calculate the distance between you and the ships, and perhaps deliver some damaging hits on the closest one.
But this requires patience, and the balls to not dive after getting couple of hits
I recommend practising on lone DD's before launching an surface attack on a convoy
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