GAAHHH!! December 23, 1942!

[maillemaker]

Didn't even make it to 1943 this time.

Massive convoy. About a day off of the coast of Spain. Huge, huge ships in this convoy. 3 Whale Factory Ships. At least two Ceramic Ocean Liners (14,000+ tons).

I made a perfect approach at night, flat seas. I put two into one Whale, two into another Whale, spun around and put my stern two into a Ceramic. All three sank. All torpedoes exploded.

Went deep, but they were on me like white on rice. 5 escorts pounding me. I went down to 200m, but the charges were raining all around me. Prior to this they never seemed to drop this deep. Now they were all around me. I got hit a few times causing damage, but no loss of hull integrity.

3 of the escorts left me, leaving only two. They kept at it. Suddenly, both my sonar and radio man are DEAD, and I have massive damage to the boat - 67% HI and dropping fast. I'm blowing like crazy but things keep cracking and popping and my hull integrity is dropping 10% every 15 seconds. I think it got down to about 20% at 180 meters when it crushed.

It was my 30th patrol. I was WEEKS into this campaign and had an absolute expert crew. Nobody fatigued anymore. GAH!

Back to 1939.

Steve

[Brag]

toom de doom.

[unterseemann]

Ouch, bad luck... sinking more than 30k grt in a single convoy attack at the end of 1942 was a big achievement but you paid it the hardest price... We'll remember your boat and crew.

But flat seas are not our friends as they make detection way too easy for escorts and once they start to pound you with depth charges or worse, hedgehogs... well, you know the story. I never attack convoys in flat seas past 1941, luckily weather is bad most of the time in my patrols!

[u crank]

To bad mate, that's a tough one to swallow. But yes attacking convoys from '43 on is dicey business at best. To many escorts with better Asdic and as unterseemann said flat seas are better for escorts. BDU should have given you a desk job.

Better luck next time maillemaker.

[Hinrich Schwab]

ASDIC can find you at over 200 meters in ideal conditions in the late war. BOLD dispensers and a codified escape plan are a must before attacking the convoy. BOLD 1 canisters really do not last long enough, but it is better than nothing. It gives you a chance. Even so, if the seas were perfectly calm, the odds were against you from the get-go. Just out of curiosity, what type of torpedoes did you use and what range did you engage from?

[Mittelwaechter]

Know your enemy.

For every bold released an other escort comes after you.
Deal with one watchdog as long as possible and let the others sail with the convoy. Finally they'll need some time to come close to support number one dealing with your first bold.
Your chance to sneak away.

After 8 to 10 attack runs your friend is short on stern rollers and shoots only with k-guns. Now let him pass directly over you - from bow to stern or vice versa if possible - to ensure the cans won't hit your bow or stern. Shortest shooting range for k-guns is 36 meters - that's half the length of a type VII u-boat.

(GWX)