Do empty destroyers ever give up?

[jonny_bass26]

To set the scene: it's October 1944. Sank a few ships about 150 miles SW of Land's End, and then a roving destroyer showed up. Despite his best efforts, he didn't get me (although he did cause considerable damage) and now he's out of depth charges. He ran out about 6 in-game hours ago, and now he's just constantly doing "dry runs" over my head, circling around, rinse and repeat.

I've got enough battery left to keep going for ages yet...frankly, my problem right now is that I'm bored! ha. Don't trust my hull integrity to go much deeper than the 100m I'm currently at, and besides, the Channel where I am is pretty shallow anyway. So - will he *ever* get bored? If he was protecting a convoy he'd have f**ked off ages ago, but he isn't. If he called in his mates to finish me off, fair play. As it is, I'm crawling along at 2kts, waiting - hoping? Praying? - that he decides he's missing his wife, or mistress, or whatever. Oh, and I'm out of torpedoes so can't force the issue that way. Will he ever *ever* get bored? Somebody please say yes. Right now it feels like I'll eventually have to surface and "surrender", and historically accurate as that may be, it's something I was hoping to avoid. It had been quite a good patrol till now 🤣

[BUKER]

Originally Posted by jonny_bass26

Somebody please say yes.

Hi,
Once I had a similar situation, about 200 miles remained to Brest, the depth was about 100 meters, and two destroyers did not let me leave, they starved me out.
It was the only time in all my years of playing Hunter. And it was in GWX - 3.0.

[jonny_bass26]

That's what I figured. Anyway, about 5 minutes after I posted this I decided it would be a good idea to try go a few metres deeper...and my hull gave way. Oops :-/

Also, commiserations on your own situation, must've felt like a right kick in the teeth. So near and yet so far...

[Randomizer]

Although in the game, escorts will stick with you even after running out of depth charges, by 1944 this was a legitimate ASW tactic for Allied navies. As long as the attacker can maintain contact, they can hold the U-Boat down until battery exhaustion or CO2 build up force the boat to the surface where it can be destroyed by gunfire. One of these attacks lasted more than 36-hours and boredom was unlikely to have been a problem for the crew of the target boat.

Escaping detection in shallow waters against a single destroyer is difficult but not impossible. Also, the removal of the depth charge threat allows for a counter attack. In October 1944 you have access to acoustic-homing torpedoes, either T-IV Falkes or T-V Zaunkoenigs and if you leave for patrol with less than four, or all that are available, you're doing late-war patrols wrong. Usually I have two acoustic torpedoes aft and one with a reload forward. Don't waste them on merchants as they can save your butt in situations like you found yourself. This leaves you with just eight torpedoes for anti-shipping operations but can save your boat.

In your case you an acoustic shot into the stern of the DD after it passed overhead and from close range might have been effective, even using the inferior Falke. You don't even need to sink the attacker; crippling it allows you to get away successfully.

-C

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

Although in the game, escorts will stick with you even after running out of depth charges, by 1944 this was a legitimate ASW tactic for Allied navies. As long as the attacker can maintain contact, they can hold the U-Boat down until battery exhaustion or CO2 build up force the boat to the surface where it can be destroyed by gunfire. One of these attacks lasted more than 36-hours and boredom was unlikely to have been a problem for the crew of the target boat.

Escaping detection in shallow waters against a single destroyer is difficult but not impossible. Also, the removal of the depth charge threat allows for a counter attack. In October 1944 you have access to acoustic-homing torpedoes, either T-IV Falkes or T-V Zaunkoenigs and if you leave for patrol with less than four, or all that are available, you're doing late-war patrols wrong. Usually I have two acoustic torpedoes aft and one with a reload forward. Don't waste them on merchants as they can save your butt in situations like you found yourself. This leaves you with just eight torpedoes for anti-shipping operations but can save your boat.

In your case you an acoustic shot into the stern of the DD after it passed overhead and from close range might have been effective, even using the inferior Falke. You don't even need to sink the attacker; crippling it allows you to get away successfully.

-C

Lol never did that in a U Boat but in a Gato in 1945 with a "Cutie" homing torpedo pulled that off. I was taking on water and knew once compartment flooded I'd likely get it under further depth charge attack so came to launched depth, fired two "Cuties" on sound bearings. One hit, eventually enabled me to get away as knocked the toughest escort off of me, allowed me to stop flooding etc.

I surfaced 9 hours later under cover of night and 8000 yards astern was the escort, dead in the water. Crept in and finished off on surface with a MK 18 torpedo.


Tried this in a U boat, well turns out he was not out of depth charges after all, he made a fast u turn and dropped a pattern while I was in a dive heading for the depth, pattern cracked me hull, which promptly collapsed as passed 84 meters.

[Randomizer]

Using that acoustic torpedo counter-attack technique I have sank two corvettes and a Hunt Class on three different occasions, and damaged a fleet destroyer of some type, which allowed me to escape. However, I was rammed and sunk once and another time a second escort came up undetected and blasted my boat to pieces.

So the acoustic torpedo is not a panacea nor do they compensate for poor decisions or carelessness.

Type VII patrols in 1944-45 can be pretty brutal.

-C

[SpeedyPC]

Nope, they'll wait for you to come up on surface, they'll try and ram you to death until the'yve runout of fuel

[Gilbou]

They can wait until your surface, and roam you.
Several uboats did met that bitter end.

[Blaz]

May 1942. After few hours of depth charging, the destroyer kept making dry runs around even when he saw my peri.He should have start shooting guns when he saw it but he didn`t.Dunno why.

I was lucky, and he got unguided TII in the face. One torpedo was enough for a small destroyer.

[Aktungbby]

Blaz! after a 4-year 'silent run'!

[junkman]

Oct 1943 Destroyer ran patterns for three hrs. Then two hrs of dry runs, fired homing torp at destroyer but did not sink her. surfaced and I was sunk by deck guns. a good fight had by all.

[Blaz]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Blaz! after a 4-year 'silent run'!

Time flies! But i always come back.

[LCDR Phoebus]

as you can understand

Rest In Peace and thank you for your service in kriegsmarine captain