Let's talk tactics

Schöneboom · 12-09-08, 10:58 PM

Ciao ppk,

Sounds like you're on the right track. When I had to adjust my tactics for radar, it worked out in this manner:

a) Fortunately not every escort whose radar emissions you detect will break formation to hunt you down. You have to be within a certain threshold before they take action.

b) Once you work out their direction & speed, you run so far ahead that you can turn towards the interception point well beyond the critical radar distance above.

c) Then you can submerge and creep towards the interception at silent running (1 kt./50 rpm), guided by hydrophones. This part can take a long time, waiting for them to come to you. The beauty is, when done right, the lead escorts could go right past you, and no one knows until the first eel hits! HA! (Vital: Raise your scope very briefly & lower it often -- some old sub movies do it right. Assume that radar will detect the scope, & you're trying to evade the sweep.)

Some might go deep at full speed before the eels hit, but I'd wait for the explosions to mask my boat's noise (as depth charges do, for sure). If the escorts hear you, they'll alert the merchants, then zig-zags could spoil your shots.

It is also key to know which convoys to let go. I've let a few go by because of extremely poor visibility, or because the convoy was so big, I'd have had a whole fleet of escorts after me. Small convoys, far from land, those are ideal, esp. from '42 on.

Gute Jagd!

12-09-08, 10:58 PM	#10
Schöneboom Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 651 Downloads: 36 Uploads: 0	Ciao ppk, Sounds like you're on the right track. When I had to adjust my tactics for radar, it worked out in this manner: a) Fortunately not every escort whose radar emissions you detect will break formation to hunt you down. You have to be within a certain threshold before they take action. b) Once you work out their direction & speed, you run so far ahead that you can turn towards the interception point well beyond the critical radar distance above. c) Then you can submerge and creep towards the interception at silent running (1 kt./50 rpm), guided by hydrophones. This part can take a long time, waiting for them to come to you. The beauty is, when done right, the lead escorts could go right past you, and no one knows until the first eel hits! HA! (Vital: Raise your scope very briefly & lower it often -- some old sub movies do it right. Assume that radar will detect the scope, & you're trying to evade the sweep.) Some might go deep at full speed before the eels hit, but I'd wait for the explosions to mask my boat's noise (as depth charges do, for sure). If the escorts hear you, they'll alert the merchants, then zig-zags could spoil your shots. It is also key to know which convoys to let go. I've let a few go by because of extremely poor visibility, or because the convoy was so big, I'd have had a whole fleet of escorts after me. Small convoys, far from land, those are ideal, esp. from '42 on. Gute Jagd! __________________ Dietrich Schöneboom, U-431 "Es wird klappen, Herr Kaleun. Ganz sicher." Last edited by Schöneboom; 12-09-08 at 11:13 PM.