What attack do you prefer?

[IceGrog]

I had once read that Otto Kretschmer said the best way to attack a convoy was to be inside it, I figure he had the most tonnage so he knows what he talking about. I’ve been trying to get inside for all my convoy attacks but inside my mobility is cut down and I can’t get a perfect 90 angle on the ships, and I see many of torpedoes just bounce and slide down the ship’s side without exploding. And then there’s the escorts they are always in the area close by and I don’t have enough time to dive to a safe depth before they start pounding me. I’ve tried to get in front of convoy and just wait for them to come to me, which is ok but when I take a head shot like that the ships can turn to easily away from the torpedoes and again my torpedoes just bounce away.
Now my last convoy I decided to attack from outside the convoy. I was able to get a good side shot on a big tanker, she went down and I was able to dive before the escorts got there.
So what do you men & women prefer, or what is your favorite way of attacking a convoy.

[Saukko]

I usually fire my first fish 1000 meters from outermost ship, and while my crew is releading next salvo I go inside convoy, easy shots for next salvo and to hide the escorts.
Of course I usually get bumped by a ship or two but in most cases there is no damage. And while inside convoy I can shoot my aft and fore tubes without turning.

[melnibonian]

Usually I make the effort to be inside the convoy so I can fire with the aft tubes as well. The other good thing is that once inside the convoy it's a bit difficult for the escorts to start throwing depth charges at you. It all depends on the situation though. I have attacked convoys from 3-4km away with great results.

[VIICDriver]

From 90 degrees to the side I pick one of the bigger ships in the front on the farther side from me for my 1st shot, that one is usually about 2800m or so then pick another one closer in and fire, then lastly one in the closest column to me and fire. If I do it all correctly I have 3 (or 4 if one is a salvo) hitting at about the same time. That way they do not start evasive maneuvers after the first impact and make the others miss. Also at least 2 of the ships are the first in the columns that way the other ships have to slow and turn around them. Whilst that maneuver is taking place I am usually in about 40m of water at ahead flank across the convoy and sometimes you can pop up to periscope depth on the other side and get an aft torp off at one of the tailing ships. Then I'm usually out of tubes but one of the front ones is about reloaded so I 180 turn and when that front tube comes up I can finish off any of the ships that just happened to be wounded, then I'm out of there with usually at least 3 kills, sometimes 5.

Its tricky to perform and does not work all the time, especially against faster convoys. And later in the war the "crossing the convoy manuever" will not cut it becasue the escorts have become too advanced for that.

Once early in the war I caught a small convoy (Vanilla SH3) with NO escorts in calm seas! I torpedoed all of them then sat on the surface and deck gunned them all! That was a memory that has not happened since after playing modded versions of the sim.

Hope this helps, just how I have been doing it!

Chuck

[Corsair]

I think the main interest of this game is that besides general rules, the tactical situation is never the same. There are so many factors, like what year it is, what the weather and visibility are, how fast is the convoy, how many escorts, where they are at the time of the attack, what time of the day (or more often of the night) that you have to find the appropriate tactic and balance between being greedy and safe. Above all I think you have to be patient and find the right moment. If you manage to get inside undetected it sure makes things easier to get close range shots and it makes life harder for the escorts to find you.

[IceGrog]

Originally Posted by Corsair

you have to be patient

Patience, something I don’t have, just one of my problems.
But it does seem to me, at least with my attacks, that the escorts have no problem finding me, bad or good weather.