Convoy Help.

[Tessa]

Originally Posted by 4saken

How are you able to get inside a convoy when the columns are 0.5-1 km away?Even if you are around 800m from the 2nd column that means the first column is just 200 m behind you and they can easily see your telescope...
I always come as close to the 1st column,let the escort pass and then move a little bit closer as close as 800-1000 m so i can target both first and second column (the second one has usually better targets than the first).I never bother attack 3rd column. Its too far and there are quite a few obstacles in front (1st and 2nd column ships that is).

A convoy I ran into this past night:



As the convoy got close enough to start selecting targets my course led me to the left of the middle column, perfect for the targets that I picked out (sorry only took the 1 screen shot, was hectic when it came time to actually do the firing).

Though doesn't show on the map, it's late November near Iceland - almost the whole day is darkness, since radar hasn't been installed on ships yet they'll never spot my scope until I hit someone or my CE screws up and revs the engines to alert the escorts. This was an inbound convoy pretty close to the destination, if I didn't sink them with the first shots there's no way I was going to get another; and in this situation if I disabled a ship it wouldn't have done me any good. The convoy would reach its destination and the ship would disapear before I could surface to finish it off.

In the middle of the convoy was an ammunition ship, to its left and right large merchants. Waiting until they were ~ 1000 m away then hit hard to starboard so that at 400m I'd be at a 45 degree shot into the ammo ship as it was closest. Fired two shots into both, and once it came into range fired the last one that ended up behind me. ALL the settings are magnetic, gambling on one shot kills if possible. Both hit the ammo ship and it goes up in fireworks; one misses the large merchant but the other hits (as well as the aft one) right under the main forward hold. Both explode with 1 shot kills.

As you can see there was another convoy that passed by south which showed up about a hour after I had submerged. Fortunately it was heading west and didn't have to potentially deal with a dozen escorts. I took a pounding from the escorts but managed to slip out with 69% hull damage. There was only 1 DD in the back (and a few stupid trawlers that were easy to ditch), the ones in the front and sides (luckily) didn't come back to hunt me, with 3 trawlers and 2 DD's I guess they figured the guys didn't need the help.

Ships will only spot scopes up once they have radar, you make too much noise, or hit something to alert them. In total darkness you can keep it up for much longer periods than normal and no one is the wiser.

[Falkirion]

My usual interception and attacks come in two stages.

Stage 1) Preperation: Get the base course and speed of the convoy, once I have those I'll mark off the distances on the course line as to where they'll be in an hour, two hours, etc. Once I have that information the engagement takes place on my terms.

Stage 2) Engagement: Head to the intercept point, 90 degree to the course and wait, and wait and wait. I usually submerge about an hour ahead of when I expect the convoy to arrive. I'll sit at periscope depth waiting. As soon as I see the first escort go by (remember you're at 0 knots, odds on making no noise) I'll start in at 1-2 knots, manually set. Doing my target selection with the external cam/periscope. Once I have my targets I'll set the torpedos and wait until I have firing solutions. Fire off my ordinance, dive deep, go silent and reverse course away from where my torps were. With a bit of luck you'll be past 100m by the time the impacts start and the convoy lights up trying to find you.

Watch out hitting the throttle too soon, I've had convoys start to zig zag when an escorts picked me up on hydrophones before the torpedos make the targets. Usually doesnt save em, but the more oblivious you can keep them to your presence the better.

Then just standard evasion tactics and I usually get away scot free, no damage. I'll come up to periscope depth about an hour after the DD's break off. Check for stragglers that were wounded, finish them off with the Deck gun or another torp, then motor ahead becuase the convoy wont have changed course and I can pick another engagement point further along my plot. I once tracked a convoy for 3 days, attacking at night until all my forward torps were expended. They entered port with all the low tonnage ships floating, down all their heavies because my boat had sunk em.

[desirableroasted]

You've been getting some (more or less) good advice here. Rather than repeat most of it and argue against some of it, I would just throw out these five things to think about.

Consider magnetics. If you are in fairly calm weather, this is an excellent place to use magnetic pistols. You don't have to fiddle around worrying about 90 AOB, and successful magnetic hits have more stopping power.

Zigzagging. the convoy will begin to zigzag when one of these events happens: 1) a merchant ship or escort sees/hears you, 2) an escort spots a steam-driven torpedo, 3) a torpedo explodes. You can safely use steam-driven torpedoes against AI merchant ships; they calmly watch the thing and do nothing.

Greed will kill you. Convoys are like restaurants... do you want the steak? Or do you want lobster? Or do you want roast chicken? Pick one and forget the rest. Concentrating on one target greatly increases your chances and, remember, the restaurant will be open tomorrow night. And if the escorts kill you, you wouldn't have gotten extra credit, anyway.

Salvos are for chumps. Salvos are for chumps! If you can't manage two good firing solutions against your target & squeeze them off 3-4 seconds apart, then make do with one torpedo or go back to the academy. Spraying off a salvo into a convoy and hoping is just a good way to waste four torpedoes.

Don't take out an escort first. There is a reason they call us the "silent service." Why on earth announce your presence and location to everybody before you even get a decent firing solution lined up?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by desirableroasted

Salvos are for chumps. Salvos are for chumps! If you can't manage two good firing solutions against your target & squeeze them off 3-4 seconds apart, then make do with one torpedo or go back to the academy. Spraying off a salvo into a convoy and hoping is just a good way to waste four torpedoes.

Salvoes in the game are unrealistic anyway. Because of possible interference between torpedoes, even salvoes were fired a minimum of eight seconds apart.