Theory, Strategy, and Hints will take up the space on this page.
Most of the tips here will have been sent to WolfPack or
discovered through the NewsGroups ( a wealth of information for
tactics). Enjoy...and I hope this improves some scores!
From BdU:To all Boats:Some tried and proven tactics for use
against convoys.
Listen to the pattern of the Asdic as you are being tracked by the
escorts. The Ping is Asdic signals going out and the Pong is the
return from your boat. If the Pong is missing, the escorts do not
yet have your position pinpointed.
Keep the Gyro angle low. The greater the distance to your target,
the greater the angle that the torpedo will have to travel to
intercept.
When the escort makes a run at you, at the moment that the ASDIC
pings stop, make a hard course change to shear off. The change
will put you at right angles to his attack and may get you out
from under the depth charges.
If you are detected, dive under the convoy. All of their noise may
help mask your boat from the ASDIC search. Then cut your engines
to 1/3 until the Pings quiet. Remember that Otto Kretschmer's
favourite tactic was attacking from within the convoy. The escorts
had a very difficult time determining your position and in the
confusion, you may score some very big hits. Surprise is your best
chance and the convoy never expects you to be in the middle of the
columns.
Try attacking from the front of the convoy, where you can lie in
wait. It is tougher doing an end around and you may be detected.
At night, surface attacks are a must and give you the best chance
of working in close to the
convoy...approach slowly!
During day attacks, get in front to intercept then drop to
periscope depth and wait. I rarely am detected when I have been
waiting for some time and come to periscope depth and fire
quickly. Do not give the escorts time to trace the origin of the
attack. If they detect you, go deep and run dead slow. In shallow
water near coasts there may be cold thermal layers that can help
mask your presence.
Thanks to Ken Fishkin and his trigonometry for the following
tables....
They may help with some of the angles!
TABLE 1: DESIRED ANGLE TO TARGET:
Suppose the target is D meters away. You wish to shoot ahead of
the
target and be positioned such that when the target is K meters
directly ahead
of you it'll be a close, straight-on shot. This requires that when
you're
perpendicular to the target, your bearing to it be arccos(WD).
Here's
sample values of this, with D going from 1 to 20K, and K at 400
and 500:
If your actual current bearing is LESS than this, then you'll be
too far away
If your actual current bearing: is GREATER than this, you'll be
too close.
TABLE 2: WHEN TO SHOOT
Suppose that the target is presently D meters away, and you are
lined
up perpendicular to it. Suppose that the target is at speed S. If
you
fire when the target is directly in front of you, your torpedo
will
actually have to veer off at an angle, since the ship is steaming
away.
At higher speeds, this can be significant. Instead, you want to
fire
before that, when the torpedo should hit if fired directly
straight - lead
the target.
Assuming the target is moving right to left,you should fire when
the
target is at (theta) degrees, where theta = arctan(S/s), where 's'
is
the speed of the torpedo. Setting's' to 30 (the onIy speed I've
seen
so far), you get the following table:
