Anti-Destroyer Tactics

[Majestik 909]

I have begun a campaign to destroy destroyers. My tactics have been quite successful. I am happy to share if anyone is interested....

[Hambone307]

Welcome to SubSim!

I guess we don't have to tell you to Be More Aggressive!

[Majestik 909]

I am 5 patrols into my career assigned to 33rd out of Batavia. Its not uncommon fot me to spend 12 hours real time in a single session. My impressive record of tonnage netted me the more modern U Boat, which I didn't like. I miss having a deck gun and stern tubes, both of which I used to great advantage.

After attacking a convoy successfully off Port Elizabeth, I was depth charged for 2 days. My boat was so heavily damaged that I was afraid to submerge below periscope depth. Ultimately, I returned to Batavia through sheer force of will. I would run surfaced at night, then submerge to periscope depth in daylight and remain motionless to conserve power.

I had already been using adverse tactics, such as surfacing alongside a freighter and firing at other ships in a convoy as they crossed its beam, damaging a freighter with a shot to the screws and attacking while hiding under the hulk, but destroyers proved to be a challenge.

One converted liner was escorted by 9 destroyers. It took me 4 days to sink it, along with 4 of its escorts. I barely escaped as the remaining destroyers pursued me over many thousand nautical miles.

I then decided to attack destroyers rather than hide from them.

My first experiment involved turning into the advancing destroyer on a collision course at 20 meters depth and varying ranges, depending on the contact's distance. I noticed most escorts attacked me in pairs and i made note of this.

Initial torpedo settings were 3 meters depth on a course of 357, 000 and 003. I would fire three and immediately dive to 100 meters and implement evasive turning movements.

The result were several head on strikes with the second torpedoes running alongside the target or sister ship and sinking other vessels in the convoy at great distance.

In two cases, a turning movement of the advancing destroyer netted impact at both bow and stern.

I have also launched successful dead-astern attacks on destroyers, and although risky, I am picking them off before poaching the merchant vessels.

Hope you find this interesting....

[Rockin Robbins]

Three torpedoes per DD times 4 destroyers is 12 torpedoes spent on very little tonnage. And those torpedoes are not available to sink the merchants which you were sent out to destroy. I don't think you accomplished anything toward the war effort.

[Majestik 909]

I have experimented with many tactics and in some cases, hiding from a destroyer makes more sense and some convoys are not protected. I refit numerous times on patrol and sink lots of tonnage and i always sink in excess of my quota. As far as "wasting" torpedoes on escorts, I would have to disagree. I always try to engage escorts with a dense background, scoring lots of hits on merchants...

[U505995]

In my experience, if I absolutely, positively, must kill a destroyer I do it on my own terms. I get the jump on the destroyer and fire an acoustic torpedo from a fair distance then turn around and go deep, this gives you a chance to slip away should the torpedo fail. I don't like letting the destroyer know I'm there before I begin an attack because if it knows I'm out there and my attack fails for any reason there's a good chance I could end up in a watery grave. When in the defensive, I'll fire an acoustic from my stern tube, cut the engines and coast down to the depths until my torpedo begins homing in on the enemy.

[Hambone307]

I usually wait until nightfall before attacking escorted convoys. Once it is sufficiently dark out, I get in close to the convoy, identify the escorts and then attack the trailing DD from close range with a torp on fast settings. After the trailing DD is hit, usually disabled, I pull back and circle to the front of the convoy. This leaves the remaining escorts at the back of the convoy, allowing me plenty of time to get shots on several merchants. Once the DDs start to move back towards me, I pull back and circle to the rear to get shots on the other side.

My personal preference is to apply this tactic to large escorted convoy. Once the trailing DD is hit, the preverbial pot is stirred and I have free reign on the merchants while the escorts run back and forth. I have done this for several in game months and have only been shaken up a couple times.

The only time I seek out destroyers is when I am low on tonnage and near a narrow strait with plently of water beneath me.

[Majestik 909]

I'm not certain I have acoustic torpedoes onboard U-796.

[Majestik 909]

I've recently enjoyed firing a spread of manually targeted torpedoes into a dense convoy and letting them run around causing panick. You would be amazed at how much tonnage I have amassed like this....

[Hambone307]

The Germans have a homing torpedo (Falke and Zaukonig I believe) later in war. On my fleet boat, I usually have one or two loaded in my stern tubes to be used in a SHTF situation. Knock off the screws of that DD and then its fish in a barrel.

[Majestik 909]

Rockin Robbins - I prefer killing warships.

[Dave Kay]

One of my favored tactics is to get inside the convoys and try eliminating the lead DD of the larger convoys. Once I get him out of the way it's much easier to enter the convoy submerged and inline with whatever row shows the fattest targets and have my fun.

While I'm stalking the convoy on their flanks and pulling ahead of them, I plot which row the lead DD is traveling in and once ahead of the convoy I go to periscope depth, silent running and lay in wait for the hapless DD. The lead escort must be sailing in a straight-ahead pattern and NOT doing their usual Gunda-dance, e g, zig-zagging. Usually, I use stern tube and aim an electric torp from about 1500-1200 meters. Ideally, this should be done at night and in very calm seas. Set your torp to magnetic, just a meter below the DD's draft depth. I get more than a few this way but it IS pretty tense lurking that close to a DD while at periscope depth waiting to fire... but also very rewarding too~!

[Majestik 909]

Thanks, Dave!