Basic convoy tactics

Kpt. Weyprecht · 07-14-09, 06:29 PM

I know my questions are far from being original, still that's what costed brave Werner Weyprecht his young life.
I failed twice to do any harm to a convoy, the third time I got killed. All this off Ireland, in 1939.
First thing: when gathering information, my best if not only help is my WO reporting the bearing and range to the "Closest Ship". But when I'm preparing an attack on a convoy, the closest ship (in my case, it was a very bright night, glassy calm, co I wanted to stay as far as possible) would most probably be an escort, circling outside of the convoy. I know the speed from the radio message (Fühlungsmeldung) but I still need to know the heading precisely, and my plot got really erratic because the WO was reporting a Black Swan which was constantly changing it's course.
Ihen I have to take position ahead of the convoy (till I see it in Lage Null), turn towards it and pass through the front screen, placing myself between the columns, right?
That was done in my last and fatal attempt. When I got the radio message I was roughly ahead of the convoy and the weather was bad enough tho limit the visibility. When my lookouts spotted the targets I was already between the columns and an escort was passing aside. Now I should fire torpedoes at maximum of targets and run - but how do you actually perform the attack itself?
If I am to swing the entire boat and fire at gyroangle 0 I'd have to just pick one ship? So, I should turn to a heading perpendiculat to the track of the jucier column and update the range before every shot - then if I m'doing this on surface, I have to deal only with the simplified scale I have in the UZO (OLC GUI)... My God, they are passing fast!!!
Or is the 45° position better? I actually tried, hoping that some targets would overlap. Well, they didn't.
One more thing: Teddy Suhren describes an attack from ahead as somethig new that he chose instead of the "textbook" attack form the position 45° off the convoy. But I don't ralle know how to perform this "classic" approach?

I hope that even younger Franz Ressel succeeding to Weyprecht as early as October 39 will do better... concentrating on lone ships till he earns some experience?

07-14-09, 06:29 PM	#1
Kpt. Weyprecht Gunner Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Paris, France Posts: 97 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 0	Basic convoy tactics I know my questions are far from being original, still that's what costed brave Werner Weyprecht his young life. I failed twice to do any harm to a convoy, the third time I got killed. All this off Ireland, in 1939. First thing: when gathering information, my best if not only help is my WO reporting the bearing and range to the "Closest Ship". But when I'm preparing an attack on a convoy, the closest ship (in my case, it was a very bright night, glassy calm, co I wanted to stay as far as possible) would most probably be an escort, circling outside of the convoy. I know the speed from the radio message (Fühlungsmeldung) but I still need to know the heading precisely, and my plot got really erratic because the WO was reporting a Black Swan which was constantly changing it's course. Ihen I have to take position ahead of the convoy (till I see it in Lage Null), turn towards it and pass through the front screen, placing myself between the columns, right? That was done in my last and fatal attempt. When I got the radio message I was roughly ahead of the convoy and the weather was bad enough tho limit the visibility. When my lookouts spotted the targets I was already between the columns and an escort was passing aside. Now I should fire torpedoes at maximum of targets and run - but how do you actually perform the attack itself? If I am to swing the entire boat and fire at gyroangle 0 I'd have to just pick one ship? So, I should turn to a heading perpendiculat to the track of the jucier column and update the range before every shot - then if I m'doing this on surface, I have to deal only with the simplified scale I have in the UZO (OLC GUI)... My God, they are passing fast!!! Or is the 45° position better? I actually tried, hoping that some targets would overlap. Well, they didn't. One more thing: Teddy Suhren describes an attack from ahead as somethig new that he chose instead of the "textbook" attack form the position 45° off the convoy. But I don't ralle know how to perform this "classic" approach? I hope that even younger Franz Ressel succeeding to Weyprecht as early as October 39 will do better... concentrating on lone ships till he earns some experience?