I am not sure about that. If you have already been detected, and you know you've been detected (Aircraft dropping sonobouys around you), it may pay dividends to take a -brief- look around you to get a picture of what is really happening.
You generally can't hear aircraft well underwater, so knowing how many aircraft are around you may be beneficial in planning an escape route.
If you see there is a helicopter doing a ladder or barrier search to the north of you and there's nothing off to the south, you may as well not go into his search pattern. You may be able to plan a flanking route or an escape route.
Frigates sitting with their engines nearly stopped are very quiet, you'll detect him on the scope farther than you will with passive sonar - you can get him up to around 15km away whereas you might not hear a silent warship until 3000-4000 yards away. If you fire on a ship from 6000-7000 yards, you will be able to clear the firing position and his helicopters or aircraft will have a difficult time finding you with nothing but a LOB on your torpedoes - you'll be long gone. Trawlers are virtually silent when they're sitting still or with engines off. The only way to find them passively is with a scope, or ESM if he's got his radar on.
Periscope can also help if you have information overload. Too many sonar, ESM, link contacts can be very confusing. Taking a quick look on the scope can really sort you out mentally.
Finally, using the scope around warships is not necessarily a bad thing especially if you've got torpedoes in the water already. If your firing position was bad, the enemy already knows where you are, it's not going to hurt to take a look before diving and clearing the area. Just don't waste a lot of time doing it.
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