Torpedo dilemma

[Sea Hawk]

I've been ordered to patrole CF32 which is about 1000km W of northern Spain. Im sailing from Wilhelmshaven in Dec 1939. I'm making my way arround Britain to avoid the Channel.
So far I've had 7 kills:-

Medium cargo 5081 tons
Coastal tanker 1240 tons
Small freighter 2228 tons
Small merchant 2396 tones
Small Freighter 2229 tones
Ore carrier 8084 tones
Small coal tender 314 tones (sunk by deck gun, no torpedoes used)

I'm down to 6 torpedoes (used up 8) and I'm only as far as the Western Isles. Ive still got 2000km to sail. If I carry on like this I will have no torpedoes by the time I reach CF32.

Do I carry on as I am doing sinking every ship I find, or should save my torpedoes for when I reach my patrole square?

Should I only go for bigger tonnage and leave the smaller ships?

Do I radio for advice risking an air attack so close to Scotland?

What do you think?

[Shadowblade]

Originally Posted by Sea Hawk

Do I carry on as I am doing sinking every ship I find, or should save my torpedoes for when I reach my patrole square?

Be aggressive and sink'em all - attack when you can, dont wait for reaching assigned patrol grid.

Originally Posted by Sea Hawk

Should I only go for bigger tonnage and leave the smaller ships?

I use deckgun and flak against smaller ships or I let them alone (bad weather, ASW ships around etc.).

Originally Posted by Sea Hawk

Do I radio for advice risking an air attack so close to Scotland?

iirc radio can bring unwanted enemy attention

[meduza]

Sink everything on your way. In '39, use your deck gun on anything smaller than 3000t.

[Sea Hawk]

Originally Posted by meduza

Sink everything on your way. In '39, use your deck gun on anything smaller than 3000t.

I will remember this, although I am down to 96 HE shells this patrole, used up a few finishing off the above ships.

[Sockeye]

Sinking that sea truck with your deck gun might mean the expenditure of much needed rounds later

I always save my war-fighting capability until I've reached my patrol area, unless I run into an unmistakeably high-value target. I consider aircraft carriers, battleships, oil tankers, troop carriers and enemy submarines to be up for grabs; convoys bound for England, too. This assumes that I actually run into anything other than patrols, of course

Even though the game doesn't really take strategic tracking of your Boat into account, I always prefer to avoid detection and slink stealthily into my area before I kick up a hornet's nest. I might even give the area a couple days to cool off after a particularly hard-hitting go of it.

[razark]

I'd say it's better to use your torpedoes on the targets you have, not hoard them for the target that might be there tomorrow.

Razark

[Bent Periscope]

I'd shot at opportunities over 2,500 tonnes using only 1 torpedo and trying to finish them off with the deck gun. After using half my torpedoes, I start being more selective and look for larger ships. As you can guess, I rarely make it to my assigned area at the beginning of the war.

BP

[Platapus]

Kaluen, Remember your training!

U-Boat Commander's Handbook

Section II Paragraph 105c

Never delude yourself by assuming that it is not the right time to attack on the instant, or to hold on the enemy with the utmost determination, because there may be reason to hope and believe that abetter target will subsequently be found elsewhere. What you have got, you have got.

[Jaman]

Sink´em where you find´em, nothing else matter.

[BasilY]

Sink as much as ammo's allow, go back to base for more torp.

You only have 2 years, at most three, to rack in the tonnage, before entering survival mode.

[Sea Hawk]

Originally Posted by BasilY

Sink as much as ammo's allow, go back to base for more torp.

You only have 2 years, at most three, to rack in the tonnage, before entering survival mode.

This is a sobering thought. Of coarse I would not have known this in real life.

I've just finished reading Iron Coffins. I dont know how any of them survived. I particularly noted the time when the only way he could get out of port was to rest on the sea bed untill the tide was travelling in the right direction to let his U-boat drift under the allied blockading ships!

I've not yet advanced beyond Dec 1939 in a career. If SH3/GWX is anything like reality then I am not surprized that no one ever survives the war in this game!

[mookiemookie]

I let anything less than 3000 tons pass, unless I can use the deck gun.

[sharkbit]

Do I carry on as I am doing sinking every ship I find, or should save my torpedoes for when I reach my patrole square?

What do they say about a bird in the hand?

Sink 'em where you find them. Run out of eels and head home for more. I don't think Bdu will mind that you didn't make your patrol area.

Tonnage, tonnage, tonnage!

[Ford Prefect]

If you're using GWX you can effectively ignore the patrol grid given as you gain nothing by going there.

Myself I usually sink what is put infront of me so long as it's worth while. Some stuff I consider too small to bother with so I just sneak by, anything else is in the danger zone.

[Sailor Steve]

Why do they want you to go to your patrol grid in the first place? So you can show what a good sailor you are and how well you follow orders? No, they want you to go there and sink ships! If you manage to sink all the ships possible before you get there, so much the better!

Even in the stock game a heavy haul is better than the little renown you get for showing up where you're told. That was removed in GWX because you shouldn't recieve special notice just for doing what you're told.

Sink 'em all, as the Yankees say!