Engaging Convoy

[peabody]

I need any suggestions for evading (spelling?) detection when attacking a convoy. I am at 165 ft, "rig for silent running"-ON, "All Stop", positioned where I have calculated , with my limited knowledge, where I think they are coming through. And almost every time I get detected before I even do anything. Am I too close? I sit quietly and then get messages on Warship closing fast or something to that effect. So I use the external camera to see what is actually happening, so I can learn what the messages from the sonar are actually telling me and I see destroyers coming directly toward me full speed, not searching just straight line at my position. Next come DC, so I hit Flank and head for the center of the convoy to try to confuse them. Then change direction often, usually toward a destroyer that just DCed where he thought I was, and a lot of times it works, but not always of course.
Here's a funny side note: I was sailing along and suddenly my boat stopped dead in the water. Figured I must have taken some damage-No damage. I go to full stop then back the 'ahead slow'-nothing. I click the button to follow plotted course-Nothing. I then notice "rig for silent running is on" so I check the crew. I had left "rig for silent running' and 'battle stations' on and did some time compression to get to my next location and the ENTIRE crew was sound asleep!! Good thing I wasn't in WWII Japan may have won it.

Peabody

[1480]

Are you running the stock game? TM? RFB?

This thread may be of help:http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=enemy+sensors

[John Channing]

Here is how it worked in real life.

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/....html#section4

Works in the game, too!

JCC

[ridyard12]

Originally Posted by John Channing

Here is how it worked in real life.

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/....html#section4

Works in the game, too!

JCC

thats a very helpful website, and well pointed out.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by 1480

Are you running the stock game? TM? RFB?

This thread may be of help:http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=enemy+sensors

I think that is it, I will give it a try. I think from that thread it is probably Quillan's idea, I have used TC because I have limited time to play and the Merchants are so slow. I will try without TC and see what happens.
Thank you to all who offered help!!

Peabody

[Rockin Robbins]

Part of John Channing's reference:

A persistent enemy may remain in vicinity 24 hours or longer; therefore, conserve the battery by balancing or bottoming, when practicable.

Do you know what "balancing" is? It is a twin to bottoming, which is sitting on the bottom lightly by carrying just enough ballast to sit motionless on the bottom without use of engines of other noisemaking equipment. This is dangerous as if you are too heavy, localized stresses could cause hull damage.

Balancing is similar exploitation of a thermal layer. With the boat at neutral buoyancy, a condition never exactly achieved, if you sit motionless in the water you could remain there suspended until someone uses the head and your buoyancy is no longer neutral. Maintaining neutral buoyancy for fifteen minutes drove many a crew batty while they were being evaluated by the Captain's CO. It was a useless exercise, whose main value was determining whether the crew could continue to work together efficiently under severe stress.:rotfl:

However, with a friendly thermal barrier down there, we have a new water surface. Neutral buoyancy in the top, less dense water, is flotation buoyancy in the colder and denser water below. There is a range of displacements that will sink in the warm layer, yet float on the cold layer. See what I'm driving at? If you hit the middle of that range, now you can sit on top of the dense layer with all power off. Since there is a range of displacements that satisfy your suspended conditions, this is something you could do for days, if necessary, with all systems turned off. This is absolutely the quietest a sub can be, and the only limitation is your air supply so the crew can continue to breathe!

On a trim dive, the object was to mark the negative buoyancy tank at the neutral buoyancy position. Then you decended across the thermal barrier and marked it for neutral down there. Any level between the two marks allowed you to sink to the the bottom of the upper layer and float on top of the lower! I've always wanted to issue the order, "Flood negative to the mark!" Now you know what that means.

Now the bad news. We have no control over the ballast tanks. We can't do this. An important evasion stragegy, which saved several subs, is totally outside our grasp. Merry Christmas!

[peabody]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Now the bad news. We have no control over the ballast tanks. We can't do this. An important evasion stragegy, which saved several subs, is totally outside our grasp. Merry Christmas!

Gee, Thanks Rockin "candy bars taste good but you can't have any"

Peabody

[-Pv-]

It's proably been noted:
Battle Stations increases your noise level. Turn it off for max quiet and stand down your DC crew. Keep your profile to the enemy at mimimum. I have found using 1 knot is preferable to all stop. The noise is not that much increased and the manouvability allows you to keep turning toward the closest enemy escort. Alert escorts means you have to plan your attack so you launch torps at max range and hope for the best.
-Pv-

[walrusbomb]

it could be they spotted you before you submerged.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by walrusbomb

it could be they spotted you before you submerged.

I kinda doubt that because I was submerged as I was coming up to my "sit a bit" site. It's the Northwest cornor or the Celebes Sea when it connects with the Sulu Sea. If you sit there for a while something WILL come by.
It was a good idea, and could have been the reason at other times, but on this occassion that made me finally ask the question I was submerged for a while because I know there may be something there when I get there.

Peabody

[-Pv-]

How good is your crew? You might want to try this area again when they are more seasoned if they are below 90% on average. Looks like you found a challenging area some of the more bored players will want to visit. If this is around the time or shortly after the Philippine invasion I can see you might be up against elite crews.
-Pv-

[DS]

This happens to me a lot. If the escorts pass close by in good water conditions, they will detect you even at all stop and silent running.

I counter this by keeping a bit further away from the convoy's base course, and start creeping in after the lead escorts have passed. I get detected less often that way (at least, until I start the shootin', but by then, it's too late for some merchants)

[seafarer]

Have you tried sitting even deeper? Say 250ft or so. I've crept right into convoys, under the very noses of the escorts at 250ft (or more, depending on sub class), silent running and 2 knots.

I also try to intercept and wait to come in from the flanks. It seems sitting right in front of the path of the convoy puts you in a more likely position to be detected. I like to sit 3000-5000 yards off their base course, wait for the lead escort to pass, then move in. Of course, if I've screwed up my plot of their base course, or they've changed course, it all falls apart

[walrusbomb]

Originally Posted by seafarer

or they've changed course, it all falls apart

I love when that happens... that old maritime paranoia. I've seen DD sweep directly at me as if they KNEW, only to see them turn back once the paranoia wore off and then immediately turn the entire convoy 35 degress.

ruined my lineup greatly, but felt so real.

[tomoose]

165ft is not very deep at all in the grand scheme of things. As previously mentioned go much deeper than that and real slow. Once the convoy starts over top then come up and have at 'em.