Approaches

[SeaQueen]

Originally Posted by Dr.Sid

Well .. most of the time you don't shoot subs under ship. Autocrew will do the job in 80%, even more in singleplayer.

True, but shooting subs underneath ships isn't the only thing one can do with it. Henson pointed out how you can use them for safety. My big cheeseball trick is shooting them so that at least one torpedo homes on anything out to the first convergence zone. What to do with presets is a good little thing to think about while using public transportation.

[Dr.Sid]

Yes .. now that you mention it, it could save some fishermen I killed :rotfl:
Well, I usually use scope to rule surfaces out, but sometimes you can't. And to wait for 4 NB lines, if there is a chance that target is sub, is not good idea. So sometimes I shoot on what I think is sub, even if I know it could be fishing boat. On the other hand, it can also be surfaced sub, and then safety would mean lost shot.

Wire controls again helps a lot here. Submarine will evade. Even the dumbest oldest AI submarine will detect TIW and will drop some CM (very audible) and flank away (very audible too). Fishing boat will just sit there, so you can get a hunch a disarm the torpedo. Human opponent can play dumb here, but that could really show dumb.

On the other hand .. fishing boats are there to catch fish, right ?

[SeaQueen]

Originally Posted by Dr.Sid

On the other hand .. fishing boats are there to catch fish, right ?

Not necessarily. Sometimes I like to scatter a few around to act as spotters for shore based ASCM. The range of the missiles is longer than their radar's range, so to make full use of their range, you need to have some sort of reconnaissance platform. Fishing boats, trawlers and freighters are good platforms for this.

The Soviets had their spy trawlers.
Middle eastern countries use dhows for gathering intelligence.

Using "civilian" vessles to scout out the enemy is a common tactic globally.

[Dr.Sid]

I actually ment 'catch fish' as 'being torpedoed' .. and you gave me one more reason to that

[LoBlo]

For me the approach is the easy part. I usually do a good sensor sweep and then set a moderate SOA (8-12 knots in the LA/SW, 7knots in the Ak) to a preferred attack location, faster if the target is farther off. Keep a tube flooded and on snapshot for that pesky SSK that may be sitting in your path (you will probably detect each other at the same time).

The hard decisions are *after* the first attack salvo... do you run and not look back, or sprint quickly and then slow to linger and mop up any missed shots and damaged vessels? I usually opt for the latter, unless I detect a ASW helo bearing on my datum, then I head for the hills because once those guys are on your tail its slim chance to shake them.