Man....1943 is Tough!

[sharkbit]

I started playing with the 2nd Flotilla in 8/39. I only lost one boat in 4/40 near Narvik. A couple of Kaleuns were posted ashore after 6 or so patrols. Things were relatively easy.

Now.......

I've lost 4 boats in 1943:

U-176 in the Atlantic. 2nd Flotilla out of Lorient.
3/43 during 4th patrol. Forced to surface and sunk.

U-968 in the Med. 29th Flotilla out of La Spezia
6/43 on her first patrol with all hands.

U-81 in the Med. 29th/30th Flotilla out of Toulon.
10/43 on her 5th patrol (or 6th-can't remember for sure off hand) with all hands.

Lost my 4th U-boat yesterday:
U-516 in the Atlantic. 12th Flotilla out of Bordeaux.
5/43 on her 2nd patrol with all hands.

Anybody want to join my crew when I head back into the Atlantic with another boat?

All but one have been lost after attacking convoys. I get a bad feeling now when I get a radio report of a convoy, but orders are orders-sink tonnage.

In all but one, hedgehogs played a big role. Those things are scary . No "Wasserbomben!", just bang and a lot of damage.

In my last boat, I took some minor damage in the bow torpedo room from depth charges. 5 minutes or so later I'm deep and quiet at 165m and bang! I get damage reports, look at the crew management screen, and I'm at 40% HI and almost my whole boat is yellow and the HI starts dropping, the bow torpedo room went red, and before I could even try to blow tanks(if it even would have done any good)-DEAD.
I assume the last attack involved multiple hits from hedgehogs.

I'm taking a break from the Atlantic/Med for a bit. I started a new career with the 30th Flotilla in the Black Sea in 10/42 with a type IID out of Constanza. I'm hoping it will be a nice change of pace with a little easier pickings against the Russians.