Your procedure for when the convoy scatters?

[hachiman]

So you've made your first attack. You've had a couple of hits. The escorts are turning in towards your suspected position, but will take a long time to reach there. However the ships in the convoy are now moving independently and turning away in different directions and also different speeds.

I'll admit probably illogically that although turning, I assume the merchants are still travelling at the same speed as before the attack. At this point I am heading into the convoy at periscope depth at fast speed and trying to get much closer shots in. I'm gauging distance by eye. Sometimes I hit and sometimes I miss.

What is your procedure for follow up attacks? Do you do accurate range and speed checks again or like myself, using the speed reading taken before and guess range?
Thanks

[btruwo]

Originally Posted by hachiman

So you've made your first attack. You've had a couple of hits. The escorts are turning in towards your suspected position, but will take a long time to reach there. However the ships in the convoy are now moving independently and turning away in different directions and also different speeds.

I'll admit probably illogically that although turning, I assume the merchants are still travelling at the same speed as before the attack. At this point I am heading into the convoy at periscope depth at fast speed and trying to get much closer shots in. I'm gauging distance by eye. Sometimes I hit and sometimes I miss.

What is your procedure for follow up attacks? Do you do accurate range and speed checks again or like myself, using the speed reading taken before and guess range?
Thanks

Just wait minutes. Generally, after attacked, the merchants will act like herd of sheep which is shocked. They will speed up and change course randomly.
Eventually, perhaps passing 10-15 minutes, they will calm down and reorganize themselves, which leads to a new common course and speed again except some sheep who have gone astray. Don't shock them again when they are escaping or they will spread all over the map finally.

[hachiman]

Thanks for the reply.

[Jonas Grumby]

Originally Posted by hachiman

So you've made your first attack. You've had a couple of hits. The escorts are turning in towards your suspected position, but will take a long time to reach there. However the ships in the convoy are now moving independently and turning away in different directions and also different speeds.

I'll admit probably illogically that although turning, I assume the merchants are still travelling at the same speed as before the attack. At this point I am heading into the convoy at periscope depth at fast speed and trying to get much closer shots in. I'm gauging distance by eye. Sometimes I hit and sometimes I miss.

What is your procedure for follow up attacks? Do you do accurate range and speed checks again or like myself, using the speed reading taken before and guess range?
Thanks

After I fire I immediately turn towards original convoy heading and start setting up the next intercept. Don't spook the herd and they will settle. I don't like my odds of wasting torpedoes with guesswork on alerted and escaping ships. I know it is educated guesswork, however, the limited time you have before the ships get far enough away to really degrade my solution and chance of hit isn't worth it to me. I like the slow and methodical method of repeated attacks that whittle away at the convoy.

Usually somewhere in the neighborhood of five minutes, give or take, the convoy reforms and resumes original course and speed. I never timed it. In my experience, not being detected by the escorts after torpedo impacts helps speed up the process of convoy reassembly and course resumption. Just turn away and get to your next firing position with no pressure on you or the convoy.
I stay outside the convoy for my torpedo shots. I realize the puritans (pbut) maneuver inside the convoy while submerged. I like the advantage of staying surfaced as much as possible for all of my attacks.

When I have attacked from close in while submerged I have set up and scored hits with Zero Angle bow or stern shots after the convoy starts maneuvering to escape. One or more ships will present an AOB around 90
and when I am close to them this shot is as easy as a bullseye on a womp rat back home.

[VonHoffman]

I shadow them until they re-group, or take a shot of opportunity.

That assumes I'm not being depth-charged.

[gurudennis]

I tend to attack in one of two ways, and the choice determines the manner of follow-up:

1. Long range (4-6 km), AOB 45-90, outside the escort screen. Assuming good accuracy, this is preferable due to relative safety and flexibility of the approach. After scoring hits, observe if the convoy shifts towards or away.

a) Towards: stay submerged on the original convoy course while the merchants close the distance. Let them reform (up to 15 minutes after the alert status is over), confirm that the speed is consistent and repeat the attack, transitioning into option (2) as described below. For obvious reasons, this typically doesn't work with fast convoys (7+ kts).

b) Away: turn around and get away at periscope depth, heading perpendicular to the convoy's original course. Surface, recharge, rinse and repeat.

2. Medium range (2-4 km), AOB 30-100, inside the escort ring. After firing on the valuable targets in the middle of the convoy, close the distance. When the hits finally register, the nearest convoy vessels should be already in very close proximity. Attack using manual lead (zero speed, bogus 5+ km range on TDC) from 300-800 m. You normally have to maneuver to achieve the right position for each shot, but with some practice this method can yield assured follow-up hits even on wildly maneuvering targets and from awkward angles.