Hunting Destroyers - and a question

[Gustav Schiebert]

I've been playing some of the Single Missions in GWX, doing convoy attacks and trying to sink destroyers as a challenge.

What are your tactics for sinking destroyers?

I realise that many will (quite rightly) avoid destroyers, and when I'm playing a DiD campaign of course I give them a wide berth. But they make an interesting challenge, especially for those doing manual targeting.

I usually lie abeam of a destroyer to give it a nice clear ASDIC contact. When it approaches, I put on a burst of speed so that it passes behind me, then as the destroyer goes hard over to try and turn around, I go full astern. By the time the destroyer has completed half of its 360 turn (ie is facing back in the direction it came), it is usually lies betwen 340 and 350, almost exactly abeam.

I use manual targeting, which at this range is very forgiving of rough calculations. The range (which doesn't affect the shot calculations) is about 450, depending on the turning circle of the destroyer. AOB can be pretty much anything, you're so close that it barely matters - although if you've done the manoeuvre right it should be 90.

So here's my question - what's the speed of a destroyer in an attack run? By defenition, when they're in a run it's impossible to measure it accurately so I have to guess. It of course varies, but I've had hits with as little as 10kts and as much as 25.