Destroyer Capability?

[Collin Dougherty]

Watching Frontiers lets play he metioned that when destroyers were escorting cargo's, they could only go about half way and then turn back due to Fuel. I would imagine that in real life Escorts from the other side would probably meet up with the cargo,turn around and escort them the rest of the way. Now this is real life.

Does Silent hunter 3 represent this? Has anyone ever seen a really (like huge) convoy without escorts? another thing do they run out of depth Charges? I still have had no sucsess evading destroyers.
In time im sure I will get better. But just wondering.

[Bakkels]

I don't believe that this is modeled in the game.
As for convoys without escorts; well early on in the war, you can run into quite big convoys with only one destroyer. As the war progresses, the merchant / destroyer ratio shifts quite a bit. My last career I made it to early 1943. By then even medium sized convoys have at least five destroyers escorting them. Sometimes more.
And yes, they do run out of depth charges. But I've never seen it happen. I only know because I heard other people say so on this forum. So you gotta wait a very very very long time for them to run out of dc's I guess.

[Gargamel]

Yes, I have seen minimally escorted Conviys (One destroyer), but that is not what you are asking. Have not seen any without. They went by the saying "A poorly escorted convoy is worse than no convoy".

They do run out of DC's, but that's ship class dependent.

AS mention in other threads:

Go deep (>150m, I like to sit around 220m, but test your boat each patrol so you know how far you can go)

Slow. (Click just below 1 knot is the consensus, but to each their own)

And long slow turns, 5-15' on the rudder. Don't give them a constant target.

If you're attacking a convoy, and if it's possible, use the convoy itself to peel the escorts off you. let the ships run over you, the escorts won't be able to get at you.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

If you're attacking a convoy, and if it's possible, use the convoy itself to peel the escorts off you. let the ships run over you, the escorts won't be able to get at you.

I have done this more than once, gone in on one of the front corners of the convoy... and then I take all my shots from as close in as possible and dive, adjusting my course so I am going right under the convoy but in the opposite direction. If it's a big convoy I can be plenty deep enough by the time the tail end of it passes over me, even if I drop to the minimum speed for silent running. Especially early in the war (which is as far as I've gotten) it seems like the escorts run their sweeps on the periphery of the formation, if they stay behind to continue searching I'm so deep by then that it's not a concern. I've done this several times and I don't think they ever made contact because they didn't stay around to keep looking, eventually they just took off after the convoy again.

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

I have done this more than once, gone in on one of the front corners of the convoy... and then I take all my shots from as close in as possible and dive, adjusting my course so I am going right under the convoy but in the opposite direction. If it's a big convoy I can be plenty deep enough by the time the tail end of it passes over me, even if I drop to the minimum speed for silent running. Especially early in the war (which is as far as I've gotten) it seems like the escorts run their sweeps on the periphery of the formation, if they stay behind to continue searching I'm so deep by then that it's not a concern. I've done this several times and I don't think they ever made contact because they didn't stay around to keep looking, eventually they just took off after the convoy again.

This is actually my SOP. I'll get within in 2-3 Km Fire off my bow Electric eels at my primary target. Let them start evading, get close enough to fire off some steam eels at the secondary target upclose, then find a tertiary for my stern tube. Then go Deep. This method will also put you right in line to surface, kill, and escape before the destroyers can return if you have disabled but not sunk a ship.

I'm really not a fan of the prescribed method found in the GWX manual, as it usually puts me right in line with the side escorts.

[kroll688]

Just today was the first time I saw an escort run out of DC. Playing GWX, in Nov 40, was hounded by a Black Swan for over 4 hours, finally it ran out of DC and I was able to come up to PD and sink her with a down the throat Magentic pistol shot. After two passes with pinging then no DC in the water I realized she was empty, but kept straffing me with ASDIC.

[Sailor Steve]

Early in the war it was standard procedure for escorts to go halfway and then pass the convoy off to a group which would take them the rest of the way, but it had nothing to do with fuel. The policy was to keep British escorts based in Britain and Canadian escorts based in Canada, mainly for logistical reasons.

Later in the war they realized the advantages of both keeping one escort group with the same convoy all the way across the Atlantic, and letting the crews get a change of scenery once in awhile.

No, it's not reflected in the game, but then it's something a u-boat kaleun would neither know nor care about.

[Walruss]

My SOP early war is run in in the absoloute dead of night (after the moon has set) with a manned deck gun, pick two ships in one collumn and hit them with bow (i allocate 2 torps per target in case one misses, but only fire 1, and short range <600 meters). On first impact I open up with deck + flak at tertiaries, as well as the stern tube at a collumn behind me while making headway with the convoy.
First escort that lands close to me is the one that sends me deep- crash dive to 70 meters, go slow at 70 and set depth to 1120 while executing a sharp 90 turn to put me in a different lane under the convoy, then I follow UNDER the convoy at silent speed, slowly dropping back- normally this allows me to hit a convoy 2-3 times in a single night, inflicting maximum damage on the convoy

[kapuhy]

I have met one unescorted convoy - it was my first one actually, back in 1939, in straits between Northern Ireland and Scotland (so it had nothing to do with representing escort range issues. If anything, one could assume it was a convoy that reached area considered to be safe and was then left by escorts before entering port). My deck gun crew had a field day, at least until a patrolling destroyer came to the rescue.

Early war, the convoys got an escort for 300 miles, from either side of The Atlantic. That's it. There was no escort across the middle. (There were also vertualy no uboat attacks in the middle either. Almost all the action was fairly close in to England.)

Usualy the escorts went out with one convoy, then picked up another coming in.
Eventualy the KM got wise, and the RN was forced to stretch their resourses beyond their limits. Thus, the Flower Class Corvettes, and the Lend Lease Destroyers.

SH3's game engine does not allow for joiner/leaver convoys, nor escort changes.
As a uboat commander, you see about what you should.

I have on rare occasion met an unescorted convoy in very early war.

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Walruss

My SOP early war is run in in the absoloute dead of night (after the moon has set) with a manned deck gun, pick two ships in one collumn and hit them with bow...

Sounds like you are getting good results, but it would have to be early war with moderately-skilled escorts.

In my past dozen or so careers, I have emphasized magnetic pistols, and ignored the doctrine that you should only fire at gyroangles of 355-005.

The result is a new SOP of placing myself at P depth between two columns, parallel to their course, facing the rear. I fire two fast steamers at two ships further down the line, one to right, one to left. Then two slow steamers at closer targets. And, if I am feeling fly, a stern shot to left or right.

The results can be spectacular, usually netting me at least three kills (though not always immediate, of course), and, surprisingly often, four or five.

With good luck, you can be passing 50 m by first impact, won't need to fire deck gun, and can be on a new course at 160-170m before the first escort shows up.

It requires some patience (which I have) and a good sense of timing (too often not).

• Also: know which are your starboard tubes and which are your port tubes. If you are firing at gyroangles as wide as 320-40, it helps to know.
• Set all torpedo depths beforehand. You won't have time to fiddle once you start shooting.
• Take the cards dealt. If you end up in a column full of coastals and small merchants instead of bigger fry, either shoot them anyway, or abort entirely. It is almost impossible to jump over a column or two, re-align, ID four targets, set depths, etc.

[FlankSpeed]

As Sailor Steve and others have mentioned, the lack of fully escorted convoys in the early war was nothing to do with the range of Destroyers. Infact, I believe that even smaller escort vessels like Frigates and Corvettes could easily make the crossing on one tank of fuel. It was really a question of resources...

Even though Britain was a naval super power, its fleet was stretched very thin and they just didn't have the ships to spare early in the war. Britain was a dwindling Imperial power, and its far flung colonial assets required naval protection which tied up resources. Also, much of the fleet was held back to protect the British coastline from the impending threat of invasion from across the channel, and to patrol against expected incursions from the German surface fleet, which although small was feared due to its powerful and modern heavy cruisers and battleships.

Once these threats faded away, and once the USA made the very significant contribution of lend lease, escorts could then start to be provided for most if not all of the trip.