[Zosimus]

Originally Posted by CCIP

It's that attitude that usually gets one killed Though I don't know about it in GWX, it's been a long time since I played with it! I'd consider counting on being able to shoot down aircraft an unrealistic tactic, if nothing else.

The most important skill to dealing with planes (and this was very true in the real war) is being able to quickly judge their distance and decide on when to dive. If a plane is far enough to dive safely, pull the plug right away. But if it's already closing in, diving is one of the worst things you can do, because that's when the U-boat is at its most vulnerable. Most of the kills were on U-boats in the process of diving, often a few seconds after they submerged. If a plane is close enough, the best thing to do is fight back and maneuver hard, then dive as soon as it moves away for another pass. For larger aircraft, that usually takes a while. For smaller aircraft, they only have 1 or 2 passes in them anyway.

Otherwise, fighting it out with aircraft is a bad idea. Although it's true that more airplanes were shot down by U-boats than vice versa, it wasn't by much - the ratio was never acceptable and no U-boat ever scored more than 4 aircraft kills.

Well I must be no U-boat then, because I already have 7 aircraft kills to my name–all Swordfish. I've suffered some damage from planes, that is true, but I've never had a person injured or killed (knock on wood).

If an aircraft shows up and I'm on the surface, I simply turn tail and run at full speed. Yes, it's true that you cannot outrun a plane, but the anti-aircraft batteries are at the back of the boat, and the speed gives the men a few precious seconds to acquire the plane and shoot at it.

Once the plane has made its attack run, by all means dive! No need to crash dive, a simple dive will work. Go at least 100 meters under, run silent, and resume your normal course. Stay under until your CO2 hits 2, then come up for air. Problem solved.

If, on the other hand, 3 planes show up you're in trouble. There really isn't much you can do. Yes, you can try to crash dive, but as other posters have pointed out, even if you're 20 meters under, a plane can easily score a direct hit and kill you instantly. Your men can probably shoot at least one of the planes down, but it's small comfort if you kill two planes and the third kills you.

My tactic, as I've said before, is to run submerged as often as possible. The only time I run on the surface is when I have 16 km of visibility, when I'm maneuvering for attack against a convoy, or when I'm moving torpedoes inside. Hydrophones work WAY better than 8.5 km of visibility for finding ships.