I cant find ny merchant ships to destroy.

[shio]

I am doing career mode and i got a objective to engage and destroy merchant shipping in Celebes Sea but i cant find any ships there. I see the red square markers but when i go there there is no ship. What am i doing wrong?

[Torplexed]

Sometimes you have to be patient and wait for one to come along. Perhaps expand your search area a bit. Command assigns you to an area in hopes that shipping will pass through eventually. However, that doesn't mean they will automatically be there waiting for you when you arrive.

[cazorp]

Originally Posted by shio

I am doing career mode and i got a objective to engage and destroy merchant shipping in Celebes Sea but i cant find any ships there. I see the red square markers but when i go there there is no ship. What am i doing wrong?

If you get a red square its pretty easy, use the ruler to plot their course (zoom in to se the squares tail, which is were they are heading from) and plot a course which will give you either a chase on their course, or a head-on course, and use speed to gain on them - your submarine has more speed on the surface than most merchants, and they rarely go faster than slow/medium speed 6-12 knots, compared to your 19-20 knots at full speed on the surface, when getting closer make sure sonar/radar is scanning constantly and sooner or later you will have them close enough for a attack - good hunting!

[shio]

But i try to follow them but i never see them.

[breadcatcher101]

They could have changed course on you. Far easier to plot a course to lie in wait ahead of them as long as they are not too far away.

Good chance though that they were on an established route, another convoy will probably come along on the same general course.

I like to wait in Sibutu Passage area or the northern end of Makassar Strait if I can, or on the eastern side of the Celebes Sea just southeast of the Philippines.

[Armistead]

There are two types of contacts. You can get contact reports from base of enemy movements. I think in stock these show up at random showing the base course of the enemy. But this is seek and find, you have to plot a course to hunt them.

Then a real contact from your sub, where you have a visual or sonar contact.

Basically the stars put you near shipping lanes, something may come along. The easiest thing to do is figure where they're heading and cut them off, because they will change direction. Try to cut them off at a strait. Almost always they're headed to a port. Sit around the straits.

Sometimes you're not going to find a ship easily. It's rare, but sometimes I've headed home without a kill. However, in stock...ships seem to always be around.

Also, you will get what we call PC lag if you get a contact. If you come close your PC will slow down before you get an actual contact. It simply means one is in you best sonar/radar range. If you get PC lag, check your sonar. You can hear ships long before your sonarman will throughout most of the war. When you get a bearing at sonar, head that way, eventually your crew will give you a contact.

[cazorp]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Also, you will get what we call PC lag if you get a contact. If you come close your PC will slow down before you get an actual contact. It simply means one is in you best sonar/radar range. If you get PC lag, check your sonar. You can hear ships long before your sonarman will throughout most of the war. When you get a bearing at sonar, head that way, eventually your crew will give you a contact.

Luckily, my new uber-computer does not provide this lag, which I honestly think is a relief!

[cazorp]

Originally Posted by shio

But i try to follow them but i never see them.

if they are more then 12 hours worth of sailing away, I'd say there is a big chance they have altered their course, which means not worth pursuing (unless its a big convoy or task force etc - then I go for it anyway! )

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by shio

I am doing career mode and i got a objective to engage and destroy merchant shipping in Celebes Sea but i cant find any ships there. I see the red square markers but when i go there there is no ship. What am i doing wrong?

But i try to follow them but i never see them.

You do know that they move away from the location of the report, don't you? They could be far away from that location by the time you arive there. You need to steer to their future location.

This is a neat trick to intercept:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=118988

[jerm138]

Originally Posted by Pisces

This is a neat trick to intercept:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=118988

I've tried this method a couple times and it does work well. It's not exact, because you're basing it on imprecise data, but it gets you in the general area. Once you're close enough to the intercept point, dive and go slow so that your sonarman can get a fix on the target.