[jenrick]

Okay, so here's my general methodology.

In the Skipjack you don't have some of the major advantages the 688 had over a lot of Russian boats. You are a bit quieter then some subs, and your sonar is a bit more sensitive then some of their models. It is no where near the advantage you can have in the '84 campaign in a 688.

When I first get into the mission I immediately get the bow pointed at the bearing of the contact I'm given in the brief, if I don't already have some contacts on the tac map. Remember you have no towed array, so the bow sphere (the Skipjack as modeled should actually not have a spherical array) is your primary sensor. If I don't have a contact already I will wind my way in the general area, over and under the layer at ultra quiet.

One thing to pay attention to here, are you supposed to be hunting them or was it just a random contact that intercepted you while you were headed somewhere else? If it's the later, then a lack of contact isn't actually a big deal. Just leave the mission area, as you have things to do. If you are supposed to be stopping the target though, we've got to find it regardless of what that takes. It is possible that if you try to simply staying passive and wandering hoping, you may in fact fail your objective as they quietly slip by.

Going active isn't as bad as it could be. You probably have a better active sonar then the target does, and hey if a torpedo comes your way you at least know which way to start looking. Kidding aside, going active is certainly giving up some potential tactical advantage. Please note potential though. In this area, particularly with the Skipjack you aren't a hole in the ocean silently gliding along. There's a decent chance for the enemy to find you while you're looking for them. Also as noted in the paragraph above, sometime the mission is going to demand it to locate the enemy.

Regardless of how you got the contact, you'll need to use a slightly modified set of maneuvers to firm up your TMA. Since you don't have a towed array, you may have to get the bow pointed back at the contact to ensure you have a good track. Beyond that, employee the usual concepts to generate a solution. Now for the interesting part. Your primary ASW torpedo (I have in fact killed a surfaced November with the Mk16, so it is possible), is slow enough the most enemy SSNs can outrun or run from it long enough. It's major advantage is that it runs FOREVER (a hair over 20 minutes), which can allow for a lot of tactical maneuvering on your part.

If you can get a firm solution using just passive sonar, groovy. However you may find yourself in the perfect baffle attack setup, but with a 40% solution. In that situation I'd recommend setting up the MK37, and going active just long enough to confirm range ("One ping!"). You will either be at a good attack range and can fire off your torpedo's, or you're out of range. Due to being in that good attack position you can still tactically maneuver as need to take the shot before the enemy can return the favor. If I'm their baffles and too far for a MK37 shot, I'll go all head full or even flank if it's really far, and charge. I have to cut out enough distance to make a torpedo launch a reasonable threat, to where they can't keep turning and fire a counter shot.

The Skipjack is FAST, use that to your advantage. On occasion I've literally charged the enemy sub at flank speed to get behind the counter fire torpedo, slowing only long enough to drop a MK37 almost on his bow (please note this is not a recommended technique).

Once enemy torpedo's are in the water, the question then becomes what do I gain versus what do I loose for going active. The Skipjack doesn't run quietly, the second you kick up to standard or full, the enemy will know where you are. If you can't get out of the area the initial acquisition cone is going to be in prior to the torpedo enabling, running and maneuvering is going to be a noisy affair. Well, if they're going to know where I am already, then I might as well have as much info as I can get about where they are too.

Now as noted active sonar degrades at speed in the same way passive does. The major difference is that so long as active isn't too degraded it gives you the exact location of the enemy at that moment regardless of if their running ultra quiet or flank. Passive not so much. In a knife fight, you'll be close enough (the Skipjack's BQS-4 outputs as much energy as anything else currently in the game), to get decent returns at standard, and if it's a knife fight in a phone booth even at full speed.

In the situation you described once the Novembers split, get on their tail and sprint and drift. Flank for a minute or two, then drop down to 1/3 and go active for a few. Repeat. While running active shut down the active sonar.
You have a massive speed advantage, if you immediately go in hot pursuit, that November wont have gone far and it will be easy to locate with active sonar. While you're doing that, send of a MK37 or 2 down the bearing of the other November set to active, and enabling almost as soon as the clear the tube. The goal is to keep him occupied and far away from your baffles while you handle the other one. Having a pair of slow and LONG running torpedo's works nicely for area denial basically.

An additional tactical note, you have 6 tubes and no MOS to put in one or them. Use them. Don't worry too much about how many torpedo you have to fire off. A missed kill in an "intercept mission" is a mission fail, regardless of how many torpedoes you come home with. A not taken shot that ends up allowing the enemy to kill you, is the biggest waste of a torpedo you can have IMO. If I can get to attack position via passive sonar, I usually can take out an opposing submarine with 1 torpedo. If it's an active sonar knife fight, all bets are off. I think 6 torpedo's is my record for one enemy sub, and that's just for the ones I actually sunk.

-Jenrick