Not Diving Deep To Escape Escorts

[Sailor Steve]

I invariably go to 70 meters and silent running. When I can hear their propellers closing in on an attack run I go to flank, turn hard in the direction of the attacker and drop another 20 meters. They pretty much always miss. Then back to silent. Once I get deep enough I come back up and do it all over again.

[Rambler241]

Simdude wrote:

but 'ahead slow' IS 2 knots, sir?!

Not in any SH3 boat I've commanded. "ahead slow" results in just over 3 knots, loud enough to be heard, though the likelihood of detection depends on depth, whether you're astern (or abeam but just astern) of the hunter above, surface conditions etc. There have been a number of threads here on the subject of speed and detection.

I take your point about the torpedoed merchant, but you still had time to fire "half dozen cannon shots" as you said above. I'm not criticising you at all, just sayin'.

[Plumber1]

I'm with SimDude on that. In my VIIB ahead slow submerged is always 2 kts max.

[Fahnenbohn]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

When I can hear their propellers closing in on an attack run I go to flank, turn hard in the direction of the attacker and drop another 20 meters.

And in the same time, don't forget to drop a sound decoy. Conseil d'ami !

[Kip336]

I have mixed feelings regarding diving deep.
Later in the war, depth will not help much in regards to not being found with the improved ASDIC.

In 1943 (I believe, atleast, 'later' in the war) U-boat commanders where ordered to stay at periscope depth so they would be able to use the periscope to improve their, and keep their situational awareness.
That's very handy (I do that sometimes)

On the flip side, diving deeper gives you a few seconds more to dodge any incomming depth charges as they take longer to fall to the correct depth.

I end up using a mix of both, depending on how close they are, and how many there is

[Rambler241]

Plumber1 said:

I'm with SimDude on that. In my VIIB ahead slow submerged is always 2 kts max.

Nope - SH3 vanilla or v1.4, training mission, type VIIb, submerged, "ahead slow" settles down to 3.5 knots. Type IIa runs at exactly 3 knots, type IId runs at 3.5 knots, as does type IXC.

[Tigershark624]

Is there a minimum depth setting for depth charges in SH3? I believe in RL there was a minimum depth of 50 meters, but I'm not sure that's correct and the information is not readily at hand. If not at periscope depth, would 25 meters be safe from ramming and depth charges?

[Zosimus]

I think this is a bad idea for a few reasons. First of all, depth charges that explode below the ship cause more damage than those that explode above. Second, depth charges below the ship can literally blow the ship up and out of the water.

[UKönig]

That is exactly correct. Add to that that sometimes the allies drop the charges in a pattern that catches the U-boat both above and below, causing a pressure wave that crushes the hull like a beer can. Nasty.