Time for a Silent Hunter 3 mission report. November 1942 - about 200 kms south-east of Newfoundland. I ran into a convoy heading east-north-east with 4-5 escorts doing about 5 knots. Up until this point I've not had much trouble evading destroyers. That changed on the morning of the 22nd - it took me 7 hours to slip away, and not without a seriously bashed up boat.
At 21:14 on the 21st I engaged the convoy, slipping along side the central row and fired a torpedo into two T2 tankers, blowing each one sky high, while firing another two into a T3, which went down within minutes.
My tubes would take another 30 or so minutes to reload - there was no way I could keep up with the convoy without having some serious problems with the escorts, so I slip out to the south-west to about 20 kilometres distant, surface and run a parallel course for a 2 hours at flank speed and move back in ahead of the convoy, after 20 minutes the escort goes within 200 metres of me. I'm sat perfectly silent - he detects me (it was the damn new radioman sneezing I'm sure of it). I shove the engines to one-third and move into engage the southern row, led by two victory cargos - very nice targets. I put two torpedoes into each, the first sinks after about 20 minutes, the second one requires my last torpedo to sink her. All this time the escort is giving me hell waiting for my torpedo to reload. I manage to get up to periscope depth after he made several passes overhead and fire it off, impacts with the victory cargo, which sinks sometime later.
I dive to 70 metres (the sea floor is only about 80 metres) and proceed at silent speed out the rear of the convoy, I can't shake him, turning back at flank speed into the heart of the convoy I try to lose him in amongst the other ships, it seems to work, so I sit on the bottom and wait for the convoy to pass me by. He picks me up again... This went on for hours. With my boat suffering major damage, luckily no causalities. By sunrise the next morning I made my escape - and head back to Breast.
Things are really heating up in the Atlantic. I just hope I can survive another couple of years and get the Type XXI.