1943 has not been a good year

[nikbear]

I have only ever had 1 career get past '43 and it made going on patrol an utter nightmare planes were everywhere and the only ships to be sunk were the few single merchants that could be found,convoys were a total no go Tonnage dropped off totally and just making it back to base was an acheivment in its self,usually with damage that could not be repaired at sea.The only saving grace out of all of it was that later you can get the TypeVIIC/41 which enabled you to dive deeper should the need arise,but what little comfort that brought was far outweighed by the number of Hunter/killer groups patrolling the sea's around the UK,by '43 they are so numerous and skilled that once they get a sniff of you......you are going to be down for along time,realtime. If you get away all you will think about is getting home back to base,but its a big IF,because more often then not you will not stand a chance,no wonder the moral amongst the U-boat crews simply ebbed away.Its hell Thank you RoaldLarsen for you detailed breakdown and stats,its good to know that what I've always thought is true,as the war draws to a close,get in a TypeVII!

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by nikbear

...the number of Hunter/killer groups patrolling the sea's around the UK,by '43 they are so numerous and skilled that once they get a sniff of you......you are going to be down for along time,realtime. If you get away all you will think about is getting home back to base,but its a big IF,because more often then not you will not stand a chance,

You are right about the increased number of hunter-killer groups. That is one aspect of the changed situation in 1943 which I failed to mention. I think I omitted them because they have had very little effect on me. Perhaps I have been lucky.

I think that the reason why hunter-killer groups haven't been much of a problem for me is because of the airplanes. I am almost always submerged, except in weather so bad that planes cannot fly. Because I am submerged, I can hear the hunter-killer groups on hydrophone And because I am submerged so long, I have to go slow. My usual submerged cruising speed is 1.8 to 1.9 knots. During daylight hours it will sometimes go to 2.9 knots. Since I am going so slow, I will hear the hunter-killers long before they can hear me. This gives me plenty of opportunity to avoid them.

If I am surfaced for a long period, it is because the visiblity is bad. They will have to use radar to detect me, and I wlil usually detect it in time to get away with a crash dive and a Bold. This has happened a couple of times.

If a hunter-killer group ever does catch me on the surface, I expect to be toast.

[mookiemookie]

Thanks for the tips. I'll give it a shot your way!

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by nikbear

I have only ever had 1 career get past '43 and it made going on patrol an utter nightmare planes were everywhere and the only ships to be sunk were the few single merchants that could be found,convoys were a total no go Tonnage dropped off totally and just making it back to base was an acheivment in its self,usually with damage that could not be repaired at sea.

That pretty well describes the 31 nightmares I've had over the past few months (Except for the bit about convoys. See my post #6 ITT.). I know what it did to my morale. 1 in 4 sunk. I can only imagine what it must have been like for the real crews. I think I would need to take a break even if RL wasn't about to enforce one.

Originally Posted by nikbear

its good to know that what I've always thought is true,as the war draws to a close,get in a TypeVII!

Amen to that!

I wonder if I will ever have a type IX skipper who will get enough renown to see if Tarnmatte on a snorkel is an effective counter to the aircraft problem.

Looking forward to 1944 I expect to have fewer patrols, as turnaround time increases, and build/maintenance quality declines. By the end of the year there will be only two flotillas operating instead of the 7 I have currently, so I will be replacing fewer careers. Patrols will become shorter as there will be fewer assignments farther afield. Losses will increase, tonnage will decline. I am hoping to be able to have a patrol survival rate of > 2/3. The rate of suffering will go up, but the overall volume will go down. I guess I'll have about 18-20 patrols, about 400 sea days, about 6 or 7 lost boats and only about 250,000 - 300,000 tons sunk.

[bookworm_020]

If you think 1943 is bad, wait till you get to 1944!

[mookiemookie]

That's it, I'm going to Penang!

[nikbear]

Well you seem to have the number crunching sorted RoaldLarsen,I wish you and your crews every bit of luck with your future patrol's,please keep us informed of your outcomes,I'm intrigued as to how it all pan's out and if the theory of it being safer in a TypeVII later in the war is correct or weather its safer to take a TypeIX Further afield where air cover might be more sparse,hopefully borne out by your stats we might have a better idea.Best of luck

[Oneshot/Onekill]

Would'nt the Type XXI be the safest boat late war?

[nikbear]

It would,but it's kind of cheating really.Only one TypeXXI ever made a successful attack on an enemy,and even then it was a dummy runit was a little to late to change the war,so where its great to run "What if?" Scenario's,its not really accurate.Feel free to have a go and see what might have been,but thankfully for us all it never was

[RoaldLarsen]

Originally Posted by bookworm_020

If you think 1943 is bad, wait till you get to 1944!

That is my plan exactly. I'm going to wait a bit.