Basic convoy tactics

[Kpt. Weyprecht]

I know my questions are far from being original, still that's what costed brave Werner Weyprecht his young life.
I failed twice to do any harm to a convoy, the third time I got killed. All this off Ireland, in 1939.
First thing: when gathering information, my best if not only help is my WO reporting the bearing and range to the "Closest Ship". But when I'm preparing an attack on a convoy, the closest ship (in my case, it was a very bright night, glassy calm, co I wanted to stay as far as possible) would most probably be an escort, circling outside of the convoy. I know the speed from the radio message (Fühlungsmeldung) but I still need to know the heading precisely, and my plot got really erratic because the WO was reporting a Black Swan which was constantly changing it's course.
Ihen I have to take position ahead of the convoy (till I see it in Lage Null), turn towards it and pass through the front screen, placing myself between the columns, right?
That was done in my last and fatal attempt. When I got the radio message I was roughly ahead of the convoy and the weather was bad enough tho limit the visibility. When my lookouts spotted the targets I was already between the columns and an escort was passing aside. Now I should fire torpedoes at maximum of targets and run - but how do you actually perform the attack itself?
If I am to swing the entire boat and fire at gyroangle 0 I'd have to just pick one ship? So, I should turn to a heading perpendiculat to the track of the jucier column and update the range before every shot - then if I m'doing this on surface, I have to deal only with the simplified scale I have in the UZO (OLC GUI)... My God, they are passing fast!!!
Or is the 45° position better? I actually tried, hoping that some targets would overlap. Well, they didn't.
One more thing: Teddy Suhren describes an attack from ahead as somethig new that he chose instead of the "textbook" attack form the position 45° off the convoy. But I don't ralle know how to perform this "classic" approach?

I hope that even younger Franz Ressel succeeding to Weyprecht as early as October 39 will do better... concentrating on lone ships till he earns some experience?

[Brag]

You may want to read the articles on this subject on my Kielman website

[sharkbit]

The GWX manual has an excellent section on convoy attacks.

Do you have map contacts turned on or off?
If they're on, don't rely on your WO to plot ships. He only reports the nearest and that is very likely an escort if attacking a convoy and we all know they zig all over the place.

Find a couple of cargo ships thru your UZO, lock on to one, mark him on your map and start plotting.

Patience is key. If you are able, gather as much intelligence as you can-columns, juicy targets, position of escorts, etc.

Get close enough to track some of the cargo ships over time to get a good course and speed. Once you get that information, you can start planning how you are going to approach the convoy and attack.

If map contacts are off, well.....I can't really help you yet. I'm not quite to that point myself.

[Captain Birdseye]

I'm completely hopeless with convoys, but during a depth charge run, I realised I was directly below the merchants, meaning the DD was blocked from his attack run. So I got to periscope depth, blew the engines off a coastal freighter and waited for the convoy to carry on, surfacing maybe 3 hours later to finish him off

[karamazovnew]

So far I haven't had too much problems from convoys. The fact that they never change course even after being attacked, means that I can hit them again and again. Here's the basic rules.

1. Only use electric torpedoes with impact detonators, at the smallest depth. They almost never fail and are invisible.
2. Attack from as far away as possible. If your furthest target will be at the fire bearing (the bearing at which your gyro is 000) at 5000m, the torpedo will have less to travel.
3. If you can fan the shots do it. If you hit an enitre row, you'll need to wait too much and even though all the torpedoes will hit at the same time, you'll have less time to get out. If however you use the fast 90 AOB tehnique, start backing up slowly as soon as you shoot the first eel.
4. Uhmm... same as before, back up, as you're already presenting the escorts a low profile, and the slow backward setting will give you 3 knots instead of 2 for forward. Don't turn, just back away while diving. In case **** hits the fan and you get pinged don't rush to go flank speed. Wait for the pings to stop. If there's a DD sound on top of you, go to flank. If not, laugh at their puny efforts.
5. Dive as deep as you can after an attack, don't wait to see the results.
6. If they really know you're there, keep track on the closest warship and always try to turn to keep it at your 000 or 180. Think of it as an aircraft dogfight. Always turn into his turns. If you have map contact updates on (shame on you), keep the bulk of the contacts to your bow or stern.
7. Mark the position of the convoy at the attack. Any crippled ship will be on their usual course, behind the convoy, waiting for your finishing blow.
8. As you approach the convoy again, remember to keep your spacing, better to stay at >20 km away and keep track of them by sonar.
9. Remember that as you go parralel to them, depending on their speed, you need to overtake them by certain degree, regardless of range. If for example they go at 9 knots, and you go at flank while submerged you need at least 45 degrees to be on top of them, so wait till they're at least at 135 bearing (port or starboard), since you'll be going at 2 knots, not 8. It's actually better to NOT be already at the firing place as they approach as you might get pinged by the front/side escorts.

Remember that if you attack at a perfect 90 Aob, with gyros at perfect 000 you don't ned to find the range. Simply wait for the targets to reach their fire bearing (and they do, one by one, column by column), and let slip the eels of war. You'll still get about 2 minutes to get the fudge out. Actually, since you're using OLC, this might help http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=151431. It will tell you how to do a faster than fast 90 AOB attack.

[Pisces]

Also, ships in convoys have that nice tendency to line up in rows and collums. So if you manage to move alongside of them, and notice you are lined up to a row you know they are in a direction that is a certain angle to their course. 90 degrees if you are on the beam of the convoy. But you could also be behind a colum (direction is same as course), or looking at a diagonal of the convoy (then it's 45 degrees from the direction). Getting their course is very easy.

Same goes for their speed. If you stay lined up alongside them for a certain period of time you know you advance with the same speed. Just measure your own movement.

But getting inside the convoy is indeed a tricky thing. But other allready covered that.

[Kpt. Weyprecht]

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely try all that next time I stumble on a convoy. Trying to avoid getting smashed on surface by the escort which turns ont to mora than a destroyer. I was wondering why he didn't even bother with any attack run or depth charges... Well, it was a Southampton
In the meantime Franz Ressel in his U-31 after a shakedown prewar patrol raced through the channel before the Brits joined the war, and scored over 40t in his first patrol. No convoys yet.

Originally Posted by Kpt. Weyprecht

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely try all that next time I stumble on a convoy. Trying to avoid getting smashed on surface by the escort which turns ont to mora than a destroyer. I was wondering why he didn't even bother with any attack run or depth charges... Well, it was a Southampton
In the meantime Franz Ressel in his U-31 after a shakedown prewar patrol raced through the channel before the Brits joined the war, and scored over 40t in his first patrol. No convoys yet.

Southampton class warship is not a destroyer, it's light Cruiser. So cruisers as battleships did not had any depth-charges.

[Melonfish]

wow, lucked out if the escord is a cruiser you can stay under and torp what you want whilst he vainly tries to waste you without sonar or DC's

[Rhodes]

With GWX 3.0, due to the enviroment made by OLC, that already was in his mods, you can perform good night surface attacks! And the key is, has said, pacience and getting to a good firing position! If not, let the convoy go and retry.
I manage to do good surface night attacks and try to position myself at 90º angle or do the 45, to get inside the escorts. Also, I try to make a run after the torpedos are fired, if not, dive deep to the centre of the convoy and choose a route away from it, evading escort if need! If you fire the els from a distance of 3km you might no be detected and can escape at surface (of course, this is before the radar...)

By what I have read, and I also read teddy suren's biography and the is last voyage book, several things that happend in real life would and will not happen in the game. He talks of escorts passing by the u-boat very near, in pitch dark nights! In game, well it's a another story!