[Aktungbby]

Steeemer!

What is your strategy for getting close enough to the target under diesel before submerging with full batteries and air tanks?

MY PREFERRED METHOD IS TO SNEAK UP ON THE CONVOY AT NIGHT FROM THE REAR OTTO KRETSCHMER STYLE AND GET WITH IN 500 YARDS(MINDFUL ALWAYS OF THE EELS' ARMING DISTNCE OF 300 YARDS) DECKS AWASH, WITHIN THE CONVOY WITH THE ESCORTS ON THE OUTSIDE. GET DIRECTLY BEHIND TARGET ONE AND FIRE AT HIS STERN THEN DIVE TO PERISCOPE DEPTH AND BEGIN A SLOW TURN IN THE VESSEL COLUMN TO PORT OR STARBOARD-YOUR OPTION: FIRiNG THE REMAINING 5 EELS AS U BEAR( SCOPE ON ZERO-NO NEED FOR A LOT OF TDC WORK; JUST AIM THE U-BOAT ITSELF) ON A NEARBY TARGET'S BOW. USE STEAM EELS SET ON HIGH SPEED IF POSSIBLE. THE ESCORTS WILL BEGIN TO RESPOND BUT THE CONVOY ITSELF WILL INTERFERE WITH THAT. WHEN ALL TUBES ARE EXPENDED: GO DEEP, EVADE, AND WHEN THE CONVOY AND ESCORTS ARE GONE, RESURFACE, RELOAD, AND FINISH OFF ANY CRIPPLES OR STRAGGLERS WITH THE DECK GUN. RELOAD EXTERIOR EELS AND GO AFTER THE REMAINING CONVOY OR SEEK ANOTHER...... https://time.com/5772665/uboat-wargames/ <REQUIRED READING!

One of WATU’s first tasks was to restage a battle from a few weeks earlier, in December 1941, in which the British ships had successfully hunted three U-boats. Roberts and his team believed that this, the battle for convoy HG.76, held the secrets they were searching for. The team arranged 48 ships in 12 columns. Then they added the tracks of the three U-boats known to have participated in the battle, U-434, 574 and 131.
The stage set, Roberts began to move the convoy, which spread across six white lines on the floor to represent its six-mile width, in two-minute intervals and at a simulated rate of ten knots. Each move was made in precisely the same pattern as the actual escort a few weeks earlier.
Blow by blow, Roberts imitated the action, as per the official reports. Seeing the battle from a crow’s-nest perspective above the board, a question formed in his mind. If the U-boats were firing from outside the perimeter of the convoy, as was widely believed, how had HMS Annavore, which was in the center of the convoy, been sunk? Might it be possible, he wondered, that the U-boat had attacked the ship from inside the columns of the convoy? phoning his superior ADM HORTON, Roberts explained who he was and asked Horton if he might be permitted to ask a question. During the last war, Roberts asked, would you ever have crept among the ships of a convoy to fire a torpedo?
“Of course,” replied Horton. “It is the only way of pressing home an attack.” “Thank you, sir,” said Roberts, then hung up Between them, Roberts and the Wrens began to plot different scenarios that might have enabled the U-boat to sneak into the convoy without being detected. Only one checked out: the U-boat must have entered the columns of the convoy from astern. And it must have done so on the surface of the water, where it was able to travel at a faster speed than the ships it pursued. By approaching from astern, where the lookouts rarely checked, the U-boat would be able to slip inside the convoy undetected, fire at close range, then submerge in order to get away.

THEY DON'T CALL ME 'SILENT AKTUNG' FER NUTHIN'