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The subs in this game have gutsy, brash AI and have a nasty habit of unloading a full salvo of torpedoes on any surface ship they encounter, including destroyers. They aren't choosy. Which makes alot of ASW engagements dicey in the opening moves. And you still might not find them due to the fact the game lacks ways to plot search areas on the map. Ships in this game are nearly blind to subs that are traveling slow and not cavitating (which is often the case). I know that's realistic, but without the right tools, ASW is a real chore, and it really shouldn't have to be that way.
You can sometimes spot subs by their water disturbances: masts, periscopes, or the shadow they produce on the water at shallow depth, using binoculars. But your crew is so dumb they don't seem to see this themselves.
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100% spot on here. I've put in several more hours since my last comment and have been getting the hang of the game and it's quirks. It's absolutely a click fest, in fact my right hand is sore from all of the clicking!
I've noticed when you begin an encounter, if you don't spot surface ships within the first 10 secs or so, there's already a salvo of torpedos coming your way. So you have to individually click each ship, click "Break", throttle full, and hard rudder port or starboard each time. Then, send your destroyers to the area where the torps look to have originated from.
I always seem to have a sea state of 5, so I rush my destroyers to where I think the torps originated and immediately throttle back to <10kn. Sometimes, I even set it around 3 kn if I get desperate. You are correct and that you need to zoom out and look for the shadow of the sub yourself as your crew is absolutely blind and the sonar absolutely sucks.
So basically, my strategy has been keep a bunch of subs in rotation, lone wolf style. I was able to sink a Yamato class this way with a single sub and some creative use of the fore and aft torpedo tubes.
My convoys I use to level up my bases and such are basically just some C3's, a Cimarron, and maybe 3-4 destroyers. I've found the Japanese subs much more dangerous to my convoys than any sort of massed fleet in the early game so far.
On patrols and my previously mentioned lack of a patrol search area option, I believe the game wants you to upgrade your airbases and naval yards as that expands the area of detection around them and is in, in essence, your "patrol". In practice, I'm doing an awful lot of clicking manually sending aircraft out in search of enemy subs on the surface or fleets.
The game has good bones, but it is absolutely a click-fest. I intend to keep playing, but I sincerely hope some QOL improvements get patched in. I'd like to focus on my strategy and not straining my wrist sending out constant air patrols or making tedious sub patrol routes.
P.S. If the US torpedo "dud" rate is historically accurate, I feel for our sailors. It's insane how many duds I've seen so far!