I survived two collisions with the enemy

[K-61]

Prior to the invention of radar, it was the U-boats which had the advantage of being stealthy and hard to see. They sat much lower in the water, did not have a large structure above the waves, except for the conning tower, but even that was lower than an escort deck. Even harder to see if they ran decks awash. In most very close encounters before radar, it was usually the U-boat which spotted the escort first, not the other way round. I've read accounts by U-boat captains who mentioned coming within 200 yards of a surface vessel and passing unseen. In fact, some U-boats were bagged because nervous watch crew called an alarm upon seeing a surface vessel, where a cooler head would have held off. Otto Kretschmer, for example, was captured in this manner. His boat's watch crew saw a destroyer, called for a crash dive and then got caught in the Asdic beam. Otto K. was most upset about this. It is a pity that the game does not more accurately model this. As well, the convoy columns in the game are too close together, so it is nearly impossible to sail up and down within a convoy as more intrepid Kaleuns did.