Enemy Task Force

[robj250]

Has anyone ever successfully attacked an enemy task force? I have a VIIB fully upgraded with G7a torpedoes. It is night and the winds are 15 m/s July 5 1943. and I think I can intercept them (notified by radio message) they are doing 14 kts. They are in Grid BF19 and so am I.

What are my chances if anyone has ever taken attacked a task force?

[Mooncatt]

lucky you ive never seen a task force lol

[HunterICX]

I've seen one...in 1939 2nd patrol they pass Ireland....an small escort with 2 big Revenge cruisers in it!...but ****load weather saved their asses

[kiwi_2005]

Yes, and your chances are good. Commanding an IXB July 1942 I attacked a task force in the bay of biscay a few days out from Lorient, in the BF grid. At first i thought it was a pair of merchants i got no radio message warning me of a taskforce in the area, so i gave chase, spotted a escort and dived, went deep, then the sonar started yelling of numerous warship contacts so knew this wasn't no merchant convoy as they were moving to fast,(15knots) later in the hunt i ordered periscope depth, raised the scope and spotted a carrier with 5 escorts surrounding her. I was in a lucky position - ahead of her so all i had to do was sit and wait. She went down with 4 torpedoes in her side. hehe.

In an earlier career commanding a VIIC I managed to attack a taskforce with one Nelson BB and one small carrier, cruising just outside of gibralter heading west and moving fast, but I only managed to damaging the Nelson still she sailed away like nothing happen. Had to dive deep and make my escape there was no hope of chasing her.

[kiwi_2005]

Whoops i clicked on it twice, so deleted this one.

[Threadfin]

In my SH3 careers I've sunk around 30 battleships, maybe half that many cruisers. A few were in ports, but most were at sea. I've not sunk a fleet carrier at sea, but have sunk alot of jeep carriers. I use manual targeting, but it's not so hard because I know the exact speed of the task forces at sea. The difficulty lies in positioning, the shot itself isn't so hard because of the predictability of the target.

If your target is doing 14kts (indicated by the report) it is a carrier, probably a jeep carrier.

[Keelbuster]

Attacking TFs is my favourite part of the game. I try to intercept every TF radio report I get, if it's even remotely possible (this includes screaming across Biscay at flank to catch a TF going south to gibraltar). All tonnage scores aside, I'm happy with a patrol if it involves attacking a TF. I love the shock of discovering too many BBs to attack (i.e. two Nelsons and a Revenge).

As mentioned before, the really tricky thing is getting a fix on their course. I have to admit that I cheat a bit on this - even though i have map contact updates off, i can still find the exact position of a TF from a radio report by 'finding' the circle in that grid square with my mouse cursor. If I have a second radio contact with the same speed and general course, I assume it's a steady course and draw a line between the two readings. This can yield deadly accurate course info. Then I just get there, at maximum speed and lie in wait. My general strategy is to pick one target (the biggest) and make sure I kill or cripple it. Spreading your tubes over two targets tends to result in non-crippling damage. You only get one shot at most TFs, so it's gotta count. On the other hand, your TF is moving so slow that you could outflank it! Slow TFs can be disappointing - like a cruiser or something. One time in the med i found a TF that was doing about 15kts, and it consisted of 3 cruisers. I killed one in the first attack, flanked the TF, and killed the other two in the second attack.

The other nice thing about TFs is that they move so fast that their acoustic detection is poor (i think). So you can travel underwater faster without the same risk. Also, when your torps hit, the TF keeps screaming forward at high speed. If you turn against their direction right after you fire and get a little distance, the majority of the escorts will go too far past your initial position to pose a threat. It's just the rearguard you have to worry about.

TFs are the big candy in this game, for me.

Kb

[VipertheSniper]

Later in the game (with RUB) going out from Bergen I've sunk an Illustrious nearly every patrol, got a bit boring tho...

This carreer I've already sunk 2 Nelsons, one in a daring attack, heavy seas, at 8000m+ with magnetic pistol, and one from perfect position inside the escort screen with G7a's

[Threadfin]

BTW, you were asking about your chances (orginal poster).... I'd say a 14kt target is relatively easy to intercept, but as I mentioned the 14 kts makes me think hunter killer group around a Bogue. Ya never know with these characters. Some of the escorts are extremely skilled. I've been sunk every way you can be sunk in SH3, running aground, ramming, depth charge, hedgehog, air attack, well OK, never been sunk by gunfire. Anyway, I've probably been sunk by HK escorts more than anything else. Be careful!! If you have electrics you're better off. If you have steamers good luck!!

[spork542]

I'm going to attack a task force today. That is, once I load my save again. I got one hell of a task force and was there at the right place at the right time.

[robj250]

Originally Posted by spork542

I'm going to attack a task force today. That is, once I load my save again. I got one hell of a task force and was there at the right place at the right time.

Good luck to you spork. Do you have rough or calm sea, day or night?

[spork542]

Calm seas, daytime. See other thread for more info.

[JSalinger]

I just put down a Revenge BB on my last patrol to the N. Atlantic shipping lanes in a IXB (was trying to go raid Halifax harbor), and I came upon what I thought was a merchant convoy with a DE at the head.

Put up my periscope, and then...wham! There's 4-5 DDs/DEs, and right smack in the middle, a Revenge-class BB (I'm trying to figure out if this was a bug, because I always thought TFs were around England and the Med during late 1940...). Set my torps to magnetic once I got into position, fired tubes 1-4 in a ripple pattern, and was satisfied to see her listing heavily (my experience with trying to finish her off with the deck gun is recorded elsewhere). Put another torpedo into her, and then...38,000 tons, all mine. Had to deep six a Hunt I DD with a G7e to get away, but my gosh, seeing that battleship go down...::content sigh:: that was candy for the eyes.

[robj250]

Well, I was able to "partially" intercept the Task Force at 0028, July 6, 1943. A Clemson Destroyer was firing at me and U51 received some damage. Sunk it. Then a River Destroyer Escort came at me and I sunk it, then another River DE came at me and I sunk it, and yet another River DE came at me and I sunk it. Sonar report two warships left, but I could no longer keep up with them and sonar lost contact 0138. Because I could only do 13 kts now I called off the pursuit. I didn't care that there were two left. I could not catch them. They were gone, poof! Well, that was my first attack on a task force. I have no idea what the other two warships were.