Noob needs help with Training Mission 4

[magic452]

Welcome to SubSim.

You start that mission in a terrible position. No skipper would put himself in this position.
As soon as the mission loads go to periscope depth ahead 2/3 (3 knots) and silent running. May be you can get down before the escort sees you. Also there are two planes that can see you so get down as fast as you can. If he sees you do as Task Force said. Don't go silent till you pass 40'. Mark on the nav map the position of the convoy and it's approximate course on your way down. Sonar will soon pick them up and you can plan your attack form there.

Attack the freighters and leave the escorts alone if you can.

Magic

[BigBANGtheory]

I completed that mission for the first time yesterday, personally I opted to take out two of the destroyers first but it felt like the wrong thing to do I believe the mission was trying to guide you into sneaking past them.

From my own experience I learnt:

1. Don't keep your scope up for too long.
2. Use the navigation map loads and get familiar with the tools.
3. Radar was useless after you make the initial detection.
4. Those destoyers and I assume the planes also can spot you at around six nautical miles.

Question for the vetts related to this mission...

1) Does using the sonar range/ping give away your position and presence to escorts? I assume merchants are not equiped with hydrophones and therefore oblivious to the ping.

2) When I play the mission the convoy changes course all over the place making it hard to position the sub for a decent firing angle. Is that because the convoy (and convoys in general) zig zag on purpose all the time, or is it because my sub has been detected and they are taking special precautions?

Question for the vetts related to this mission...

1) Does using the sonar range/ping give away your position and presence to escorts? I assume merchants are not equiped with hydrophones and therefore oblivious to the ping.

yes its like sending a flare up telling the escorts where you are. also merchants can sometimes hear the ping on the hull if you are nearby so they dont have to have sonar to hear your pinging.

2) When I play the mission the convoy changes course all over the place making it hard to position the sub for a decent firing angle. Is that because the convoy (and convoys in general) zig zag on purpose all the time, or is it because my sub has been detected and they are taking special precautions?

yes they will alter course at random by design but you can eliminate this being a problem by getting in close so they dont have time to change course, also setting torpedos to high speed could help.

you could have been detected by your engine sound or your periscope was seen, if you are detected the merchants usually scatter and the escorts make a turn heading to your position.

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

2) When I play the mission the convoy changes course all over the place making it hard to position the sub for a decent firing angle. Is that because the convoy (and convoys in general) zig zag on purpose all the time, or is it because my sub has been detected and they are taking special precautions?

yes they will alter course at random by design but you can eliminate this being a problem by getting in close so they dont have time to change course, also setting torpedos to high speed could help.

you could have been detected by your engine sound or your periscope was seen, if you are detected the merchants usually scatter and the escorts make a turn heading to your position.

As far as I know, convoys should be relatively straight going unless you've been detected somehow. It's quite obvious if you've been detected - the merchants do 45* turns left and right constantly. Note that the lead destroyer tends to do a zigzag pattern anyway, hunting for subs like you!

Originally Posted by Danny252

As far as I know, convoys should be relatively straight going unless you've been detected somehow. It's quite obvious if you've been detected - the merchants do 45* turns left and right constantly. Note that the lead destroyer tends to do a zigzag pattern anyway, hunting for subs like you!

they change course regularly just enough so sitting back at a distance and firing your torpedos with auto targetting will miss more often then hit. when manually targetting you wil get an overall average course from your calculations so you can generally get it close enough to get a lucky hit.

they dont zig zag or anything but if you watch closely with the exterior cam they will on occassion weave to port or to starboard a few degrees then divert back to the original course so their path is in a semi-straight line but they dont go straight all the time (sort of like i do after a few drinks lol)

[Turkanator]

Gentlemen,

I'm still a really lost here, this is NOT a Training Lesson because it assumes you know way more than you (at least for me). I'm going need someone spell it out for me, How to go about beating this Lesson...


Here is what I do...

1. I do a single radar sweep to get the range and bearing of the Convoy.


2. I take her down to Periscope depth and ahead 2/3. But as soon as I start to dive to escape from the Recon Zeros and I lost all of contacts before I can plot my course and get the firing position for the Ambush.


3. So I steam down the Default Course are 1/3 or 2/3 ahead but not knowing where the convoy is really headed I end up in the wrong position to attack or right under the Lead Destroyer's nose & I'm dead meat if I let my fishes fly if I have a shoot.


Thanks,

[TomcatMVD]

IIRC, you should be able to go surfaced at ahead flank to the default intercept position without much of a hassle from the DD's. It's quite easy to outsmart them.

[VirtualVikingX]

Originally Posted by magic452

Welcome to SubSim.

You start that mission in a terrible position. No skipper would put himself in this position.

What WOULD a good position be in this case? I am just wondering. Happy to hear yours or anybody elses thoughts on this matter.

[magic452]

You should be about 15 or so miles away, that will give you time to set up a good shoot by tracking the convoy on radar and plot it's course and get speed using the three minute rule.

Mark the position and start the clock, three minutes later mark again and measure the distance between marks. 1 knot for each 100 yards.
500 yards = 5 knots, 10,000 yards = 10 knots etc. I do this three times and that will give you a good course line as well.

Once you have this you can set up an intercept point and be there waiting.

Magic