Approach Problems

Ensign Dunsel · 11-11-11, 12:37 AM

Hello Fellow Kaleuns,
I have read a few about setting up to attack convoys and numerous posts about getting away from counter attacks from convoy escorts. But I have yet to read any posts about the approach and I am having problems with it and it is driving me crazy.

Here is what happened.
I received a radio report of a convoy. It was going northwest at a slow speed. After computing whether or not I can overtake it at a reasonable speed, I decided to intercept. The weather was rain with zero visibility, remember this, it is important. I got ahead of the convoy so I went to periscope depth to pick up the convoy sounds. Sure enough, they was where I suspected them to be. The time of day was around 1300 hours so I decided to stay ahead of them until dark. For this I needed to get their true course and especially their speed. So I surfaced to try to get a visual. No luck, they are at long range. No problem, just get closer. So I crank on a few more knots. Now my sonar man lost the contacts. Back down to periscope depth and sonar picks them up, but they are closer. (Did the prior contacts freeze because the contacts was going away while I was on the surface?) So now I am stuck. To hold the contacts, I must be submerged, to catch up I must be on the surface. And because the visibility was zero, I will run up on them before I am ready. But wait this gets better.

All of a sudden, the lead warship turns and approaches me. How did he find me? He could not see me and I was silent running.
So there is my gripe. I want to approach the convoy and develop a tactical plan without those over sensitive warships knowing I am there. The submarine is low in the water. It stands to reason that I will see them before they see me. My sound signature should not be picked up as soon as it is. The surface warship passage through the water make their hydrophone iffy at best, especially at speed. What is going on here or what am I missing? I can not approach on the surface or they will see me. I can not approach submerged because they will hear me, much less try to catch up with submerged speed. Again, what am I missing?

11-11-11, 12:37 AM	#1
Ensign Dunsel Swabbie Join Date: May 2010 Location: Dallas/Fort Worth Posts: 9 Downloads: 696 Uploads: 0	Approach Problems Hello Fellow Kaleuns, I have read a few about setting up to attack convoys and numerous posts about getting away from counter attacks from convoy escorts. But I have yet to read any posts about the approach and I am having problems with it and it is driving me crazy. Here is what happened. I received a radio report of a convoy. It was going northwest at a slow speed. After computing whether or not I can overtake it at a reasonable speed, I decided to intercept. The weather was rain with zero visibility, remember this, it is important. I got ahead of the convoy so I went to periscope depth to pick up the convoy sounds. Sure enough, they was where I suspected them to be. The time of day was around 1300 hours so I decided to stay ahead of them until dark. For this I needed to get their true course and especially their speed. So I surfaced to try to get a visual. No luck, they are at long range. No problem, just get closer. So I crank on a few more knots. Now my sonar man lost the contacts. Back down to periscope depth and sonar picks them up, but they are closer. (Did the prior contacts freeze because the contacts was going away while I was on the surface?) So now I am stuck. To hold the contacts, I must be submerged, to catch up I must be on the surface. And because the visibility was zero, I will run up on them before I am ready. But wait this gets better. All of a sudden, the lead warship turns and approaches me. How did he find me? He could not see me and I was silent running. So there is my gripe. I want to approach the convoy and develop a tactical plan without those over sensitive warships knowing I am there. The submarine is low in the water. It stands to reason that I will see them before they see me. My sound signature should not be picked up as soon as it is. The surface warship passage through the water make their hydrophone iffy at best, especially at speed. What is going on here or what am I missing? I can not approach on the surface or they will see me. I can not approach submerged because they will hear me, much less try to catch up with submerged speed. Again, what am I missing?