Having a hard time convoy hunting in poor weather.

I'm not far off the coast of Ireland, hunting a convoy that BdU sent me a contact for. I've been able to home in on the convoy by plotting an intercept to its route and following hydrophone contacts, but I'm having one hell of a time actually scoring any hits! The seas are very heavy with 15 mps winds, rain, and high waves. It's nighttime and visibility is very poor. I thought that this would make for perfect hunting weather, since I've been able to get inside of the escorts without even trying (and without knowing it). The problem is, I can't get close enough to see anyone, much less sink them! If I run underwater, the waves cover the scope and I can't see the ships until they're right on top of me. If I run on surface I get spotted long before I can see the ships I'm hunting. I dont really understand this, since my Uboat should present a much smaller visual target. I've got my officer on deck and a qualified watchman also up there, but they can't seem to see ships until they are *right there*. I was surfaced, looking at the chart while my men were standing watch up top. I got the "ship spotted" message and when I got on the bridge to look, there was a tramp steamer clearly visible just 300 meters off starboard! Two other times I was running surfaced and was fired upon by destroyers without my men even seeing them!

So, why the heck can't my men see ships when the ships can see me just fine? It's especially frustrating considering how poor the weather is and how big the waves are. I've tried tracking targets using just the hydrophone, but can't figure out how to get a firing solution. "Long range", "Short range", etc. just doesn't cut it.

Any tips?

[subvers4]

Yes Cueball, I know how how you feel, weeks of virtually nothing then a golden opportunity presents itself and the weather turns against you .
In those conditions I would normally shadow the convoy hoping the weather improves before it got to safety. Or as a last resort, you could infiltrate the convoy submerged, marking out the lanes by the hydrophone, ready the tubes for a snap shot, and take out whatever presents itself. Ok you can't pick your target, but better than nothing, and the evasion will be a bit easier in that weather. It all depends on the philosophy of your current Kaleun.

[Brag]

Cue Ball,

Yes, it is fruistrating! This can go on for weeks at a time. You don't mention the date. After 1940, the enemy has radar, to mess you up even further.

[Kapt Z]

I've had 3 convoy contact reports in my area(500m W Gibraltar) in the last few weeks(ingame) but haven't found one due to heavy seas, heavy, fog and heavy rain. I can barely make out the bow of my own boat! The weather has finally cleared so I hope to find something before I run out of fuel(below 50% now).

[TarJak]

You could try shooting using your hydrophones rather than your scope. You'll need to get familiar with manual targetting though.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by TarJak

You could try shooting using your hydrophones rather than your scope. You'll need to get familiar with manual targetting though.

I've done this a few time with pretty good success. (blind luck though, no pun intended) I set my torps at 8m, set a pretty wide spread, and fire all at once. The best I've done was 3 out 4 hits. Total luck though.

[Cpt. Angry F...]

Fog and high seas... So much for realism.

I have also noticed that sometimes with high waves the bridge will go underwater, and the electric engines switch on and off and on and off. Highly irritating! Is ther a way to get around this?

[irish1958]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Angry F...

Fog and high seas... So much for realism.

I have also noticed that sometimes with high waves the bridge will go underwater, and the electric engines switch on and off and on and off. Highly irritating! Is ther a way to get around this?

There is a mod which turns off the bad weather for a while which is activated by JSGME after saving and activating and then resuming via saved game. Other than this, no. See, Stop the Rain in the download section .

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Angry F...

Fog and high seas... So much for realism.

I have also noticed that sometimes with high waves the bridge will go underwater, and the electric engines switch on and off and on and off. Highly irritating! Is ther a way to get around this?

Is it fog or just reduced visibility due to spray or rain? Reduced visibility could be caused by other atmospheric events other than "fog".

The only way to get around the engines switching to electric is to submerge and just use electrics. Or get a schnorkel. Other than that stay in port and you won't have the problem.