Night, surface, torpedo attack of convoy

[Pythos]

Is this even possible? I am always sighted by the escorts even dead still in the water, and no moon. I am so close to the convoy due to the abysmal night vision even with Red Light.

[Dewgle]

Historically, yes. Kretschmer was even famous for sailing right down the middle of a convoy while surfaced on new moon nights (moonless). Not because he was a showoff but because it was easier for him to survey the convoy and to see what he was doing while surfaced than with the attack periscope.

For those that don't know, the attack periscope was quite dark to look through because of it's narrow aperture, a benefit that made it harder to detect in better lighting conditions.

Not only for those reasons but because he could move around much more quickly while using his diesels and there was no way the escorts could hear him with his engine noise being drowned out by the rest of the convoy.

[Dewgle]

So yeah, I'm hoping the devs allow us to get closer at night. Especially if they add realistic moon phases for close-quarters attacks under a new moon.

But also the ability to mask our visibility by approaching a convoy with the moon at your back, another well known tactic.

[DECAFBAD]

On your next campaign, turn on the detection hint. I know it feels "cheaty", but you can't really get the hang of the limits without it.

Surface attacks aren't possible at the moment, the escorts will spot you before you can get to a reasonable range from the target - unless you want to try sniping from ~5km away.

You can get inside the convoy on the surface if there's a heavy fog, it actually helps you because the game reduces your sound when you're on the surface. Escaping in the fog on full speed with the electric engine is a thrill too, since you have no idea where the escorts are, since they'll ping you immediately if you dive.

[Pythos]

That would be awesome to do a Kretschmer type attack! I am glad to learn though I am not the only one unable to carry out...what was the U-boat's main attack method.

[Dark Sceptor]

I hope night attacks are implemented. I remember as a kid all of the best WWII movies had the captain of the submarine doing a surface run to attack the enemy. Of course, they had to turn tail and run like hell after the explosions began. But it was an iconic move that I really loved as a kid.

[wolf310ii]

Originally posted by McDewgle:

But also the ability to mask our visibility by approaching a convoy with the moon at your back, another well known tactic.

Its the opposite, in the night you want the moon in front, behind the convoy, so its "skyline" the convoy and not you.
On daytime you want the sun in your back, so the periscope lense dont reflects the sunlight and all the reflections on the water makes it harder to spot the periscope

[Pythos]

Dark Sceptor. That sounds like the attack from Das Boot. Not certain of how accurate it was, though Beuchem was doing non fiction...so who really knows. I agree it is an epic attack for sure.

[wolf310ii]

Originally posted by nc5506h:

Not certain of how accurate it was,

At the begin of the war it was pretty common to attack on surface during night.
At the end of the war it was nearly impossible, because of RADAR

[Twelvefield]

There's a book about female operatives participating in simulated wargames who discover that the Germans were using their diesels to advance on convoys from the rear at night.

https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/simon-parkin/a-game-of-birds-and-wolves/9780316492089/

In short, convoy lookouts in the early war didn't look often to the stern as the ships had already been there and it was assumed that part of the ocean was clear. Maybe it was poorly understood how fast a U-Boat could travel on the surface.

The wargames the women of WATU (Western Approaches Tactical Unit) played pointed out the way a submarine could penetrate to the middle of a convoy on diesel engines in darkness. This led to the formidable Raspberry defense, as well as several other tactics to combat U-Boats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Approaches_Tactical_Unit

[Pythos]

Twelvefield....Fascinating info.

[Adam Apples]

Have surfaced night attacks been made any more viable since this post?

[Adam Apples]

Also, can the detection hint thing be turned on via console or anything?

[Team Triss]

Originally posted by Adam Apples:

Also, can the detection hint thing be turned on via console or anything?

Has to be turned on when you start a new game.

[Shabutie]

I still do surface attacks on convoys from inside. Im in mid-1943. At what point will that become impossible?

[Roger Mexico]

For a surface attack you would want to have your IWO on the UZO and the Captain keeping aware of the tactical situation.

It would be nice if the Dev's separated the UZO task from the Watch Officer. Then for Surface Attacks, for crew torpedo calculations, it would be Captain and 1WO's skills much like them using the Attack and Observation Periscopes during a submerged attack.