Destroyer Evasion in XXI

trias10 · 10-14-09, 08:46 AM

Hello, as my first post I'd just like to take a moment and say I'm a huge fan of this forum and really appreciate the helpful community!

I have been playing the career mode for a while now, steadily racking up renown to purchase an XXI. I have played a few of the standalone missions using the XXI to prepare myself, so I'm a bit familiar with how it runs.

Last night I played a mission where I found myself facing a very juicy convoy in the XXI. The escort consisted of a destroyer up front, battleship in the middle, and, while I didn't see it, what I think was an ASW trawler. Long story short, 6 eels later, I had taken out the battleship, 2 tankers, and a whale factory ship. All shots were fired from about 2000 metres on the starboard side of the convoy. I had ample room to dive deep and run once the last eel fired.

To my surprise, as soon as I was 90 metres deep and turning to port, my hydrophones picked up an incoming warship. Apparently I had been spotted. Whatever this ship was, it moved very, very fast, so I assumed it was a trawler. Anyway, I went into the standard textbook evasive actions: silent running at 1/3, soon as the DCs drop and explode, go to flank and turn and zigzag, drop a bold, go back to 1/3 when you hear the ping.

So DCs are going off all around, but none are touching me. Eventually, hydrophones show the warship is about 800 metres away, so I decide to try something different. I remember once reading somewhere (perhaps on this forum), that in an XXI, you have SPEED, so you should use it. So I set to flank speed, thinking, okay, I'll just out-run this sucker, or come up behind him. I kept getting farther and farther from his hydrophone contact line, so I figure I'm in the clear. I speed up time compression. Suddenly I'm taking damage! He's right back on top of me!

I try a few more experiments of setting flank speed and running away at 16 knots (underwater), but soon as that ping starts, he's on me again. Eventually, after 45 minutes, I'm able to shake him off, using the tried and true silent running 1/3 ahead to evade the ping.

I've searched and searched this forum for the original post but can't find it. Essentially, how does one properly use the XXI and its fantastic underwater speed to their advantage? Is GWX 3.0 just too good at ASW? I can easily hit 16 knots on flank, and zigzag all over the place. The DCs never hit me, but at the same time, I was never able to shake him. Only when I dropped to 4-6 knots and slowly crept away did he lose me. I stayed at 90-100 metres during the entire engagement.

Any general tips on the best way to effectively use the XXI in such situations?

Many thanks Kaleuns!

10-14-09, 08:46 AM	#1
trias10 Swabbie Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 5 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	Destroyer Evasion in XXI Hello, as my first post I'd just like to take a moment and say I'm a huge fan of this forum and really appreciate the helpful community! I have been playing the career mode for a while now, steadily racking up renown to purchase an XXI. I have played a few of the standalone missions using the XXI to prepare myself, so I'm a bit familiar with how it runs. Last night I played a mission where I found myself facing a very juicy convoy in the XXI. The escort consisted of a destroyer up front, battleship in the middle, and, while I didn't see it, what I think was an ASW trawler. Long story short, 6 eels later, I had taken out the battleship, 2 tankers, and a whale factory ship. All shots were fired from about 2000 metres on the starboard side of the convoy. I had ample room to dive deep and run once the last eel fired. To my surprise, as soon as I was 90 metres deep and turning to port, my hydrophones picked up an incoming warship. Apparently I had been spotted. Whatever this ship was, it moved very, very fast, so I assumed it was a trawler. Anyway, I went into the standard textbook evasive actions: silent running at 1/3, soon as the DCs drop and explode, go to flank and turn and zigzag, drop a bold, go back to 1/3 when you hear the ping. So DCs are going off all around, but none are touching me. Eventually, hydrophones show the warship is about 800 metres away, so I decide to try something different. I remember once reading somewhere (perhaps on this forum), that in an XXI, you have SPEED, so you should use it. So I set to flank speed, thinking, okay, I'll just out-run this sucker, or come up behind him. I kept getting farther and farther from his hydrophone contact line, so I figure I'm in the clear. I speed up time compression. Suddenly I'm taking damage! He's right back on top of me! I try a few more experiments of setting flank speed and running away at 16 knots (underwater), but soon as that ping starts, he's on me again. Eventually, after 45 minutes, I'm able to shake him off, using the tried and true silent running 1/3 ahead to evade the ping. I've searched and searched this forum for the original post but can't find it. Essentially, how does one properly use the XXI and its fantastic underwater speed to their advantage? Is GWX 3.0 just too good at ASW? I can easily hit 16 knots on flank, and zigzag all over the place. The DCs never hit me, but at the same time, I was never able to shake him. Only when I dropped to 4-6 knots and slowly crept away did he lose me. I stayed at 90-100 metres during the entire engagement. Any general tips on the best way to effectively use the XXI in such situations? Many thanks Kaleuns!