Here's a good practice problem for y'all:

[Patboot]

Date: Aug, 1943
Status: Weather 0 wind, light fog.
Crew: Morale good, Boot at 65% HI
Weapons: Torps- 5; 2 Zaun II, 1 T-III, 2 T-I. Full load deck gun ammo.

I count 6 escorts, plus that C class to the NE that wandered in from nowhere, 4 T3's, 2 T2's, a bunch of C3/2's and Libs. No light merchants.

I've tried:
1. Actively attacking the escorts,
2. Drawing escorts out for a 1 v 1
3. Sneaking up astern and sniping with deck gun.
4. Standard attack submerged with torps.


My next try will be again into the middle, target the heavies, shoot to cripple, then pick 'em off when it cools down.

Or, should I just bail out and seek easier game? I've never seen a Con this heavily escorted.

Opinions, suggestions welcome.

[Ula Jolly]

My suggestion would be to find the spot on your flank that is the least defended, once there shoot a bunch of torps against a juicy target and disappear. No need to be greedy when there are escorts that strong/many!

[Patboot]

Bugger it;

I've found no good solution for this- every time winds up in a gun duel with a DD at some point.

Off to find a nice quiet corner of the map.

[Type941]

at least sink an escort ship closest you. don't leave empty handed - ever!

You don't score points for bringing all torpedoes home safe!

[the_rydster]

Position yourself in the path of the convoys. 20 m depth and stay silent whilst the leading escorts go over the top of you.

Go to PD choose two good targets based on tonnage and your tactical position. Give these target a double whammy each and then go deep and silent and just wait for a couple of hours and let the fuss die down. Now go back to PD and see if anything needs finishing off.

[Iceberg]

From the U-boat Commander's Handbook:

The most important task within which the submarine is faced on sighting enemy convoys is to attack them, and to endeavor to repeat the attack again and again. The submarine must not allow itself to be shaken off.[...]

So if you still have torps and you see a convoy, you have to attack.

BdU's orders!!! Good hunting

Iceberg

[Patboot]

Originally Posted by Iceberg

From the U-boat Commander's Handbook:

So if you still have torps and you see a convoy, you have to attack.

BdU's orders!!! Good hunting

Iceberg

All solutions end in death.

Ever get stomped on by 7 DD's tag-teaming?

[Iceberg]

Originally Posted by Patboot

All solutions end in death.

Well that's what WWII submarine warfare was for the majority of Germans in the u-boat service.

Lucky for us, we have savegames!


Iceberg

[Sawdust]

Originally Posted by Patboot

Opinions, suggestions welcome.

You could try option 4. again (normal attack with torpedoes), but shoot a series of well-aimed shots or a single spread salvo from a very large distance (~5000+ m). That should make escape easier. Don't wait to see what happens to the torpedoes; run away as soon as the last one is launched.

In a couple of hours, come back to the scene of the attack (make sure you previously made a mark on the map to find it) and see if any ships are dead in the water.

I've never attacked from so far away, but since this convoy is so heavily guarded, it might be worth a try.

[Twelvefield]

I think you need to gather more information on what the escorts are doing. Since they are more or less keeping with the convoy, you can plot out their courses by doing periodic checks on their bearings, and plotting their position on the map. Maybe there's a weak side you can exploit.

In any case, in your position, I would do an end-around manuever to get in front of the convoy's path and dive deep in silent running, to wait for the convoy to come to me. Once the hydrophones indicate that I am in the middle of the pack, I would go to periscope depth, fire as many torpedos as I can, and then immediately dive deep and travel diagonally away from and behind the merchants.

With 60% hull, I would not count on coming back for another run at the convoy, I would take what I get and strategically retreat. Make sure that in your retreat, you have your damage control team ready to ago, and don't hit silent running if you need repairs.

[Kalach]

I would fire all torps from about 4km (or whatever the max distance will allow), turn around to head back east at periscope depth and silent running. I believe that their sonar works in a cone shape - the deeper you are the larger the area they can ping, so at periscope depth they would have to almost hit you to find you if you're quiet. It works for me anyway :P

[FAdmiral]

Thats why back in the real WW2, Germany had Wolfpacks !!!
Any single sub trying to attack by itself was pertty much toast.
It would trail the convoy and send reports till a wolfpack could
be formed to attack the convoy....THATS THE WAY IS WAS DONE
Unfortunatly, this game just forgot to model that method ???


JIM