Question about Subs and "patrols" for them
Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2025 12:18 am
I know that as someone who worked on a an aircraft carrier, I am mildly more familiar with ASW and it's general tactics but that leaves me severely lacking in ASUW thoughts and how the more specific types of tactics and strategies may go from a submariner perspective.
If anyone has any ideas please feel free to chip in a reply.
Thanks to the Kreigsmarine and using grid squares for patrol basis, I assume that sort of premise still holds true for ASW and to a lesser degree ASUW for submarines, in the modern era? IE boomers have a "box" they patrol in but I have no idea what the size might be of that area.
Do attack subs also patrol in some sort of "box". ASW tactics are somewhat similar to plowing a field, as in you more or less make long rows of sonar buoys once a sub contact has been detected and a patrol aircraft is used to localize the threat. But when an attack sub is patrolling and has a contact what does that sub tracking pattern look like? Same as aircraft? I doubt it.
Obviously the subs have the sonar array "tail" that trails behind and so the sub will more or less have to be going perpendicular or away from the contact to best identify, as opposed to making contact head on. Then make a turn to engage once identified as a "hostile" target or peel off and sprint ahead based on gathered course information to intercept.
What kind of "legs" would a submarine make, to transit a patrol area...sprint and drift is a tactic, but I always assumed it would be a time based concept, but when you check the "sprint and drift" box, it seems to be set in terms of distance and not time. So in a scenario I was working on a sub would "drift" for 6 nm, at 5 knots, which would be approximately 1 hour and 12 minutes. But my previous thinking was a Sprint would be for like 30 to 45 minutes at 20 to 25 knots and then drift for 15 to 20 minutes at a "creep" speed. but that would make the distance covered not effective?
Given some of these thoughts, has my thinking been incredibly naïve? or is there some merit but lots of tweaking for designing a sub patrol scenario.
Thank you in advance for your help and thoughts all.
If anyone has any ideas please feel free to chip in a reply.
Thanks to the Kreigsmarine and using grid squares for patrol basis, I assume that sort of premise still holds true for ASW and to a lesser degree ASUW for submarines, in the modern era? IE boomers have a "box" they patrol in but I have no idea what the size might be of that area.
Do attack subs also patrol in some sort of "box". ASW tactics are somewhat similar to plowing a field, as in you more or less make long rows of sonar buoys once a sub contact has been detected and a patrol aircraft is used to localize the threat. But when an attack sub is patrolling and has a contact what does that sub tracking pattern look like? Same as aircraft? I doubt it.
Obviously the subs have the sonar array "tail" that trails behind and so the sub will more or less have to be going perpendicular or away from the contact to best identify, as opposed to making contact head on. Then make a turn to engage once identified as a "hostile" target or peel off and sprint ahead based on gathered course information to intercept.
What kind of "legs" would a submarine make, to transit a patrol area...sprint and drift is a tactic, but I always assumed it would be a time based concept, but when you check the "sprint and drift" box, it seems to be set in terms of distance and not time. So in a scenario I was working on a sub would "drift" for 6 nm, at 5 knots, which would be approximately 1 hour and 12 minutes. But my previous thinking was a Sprint would be for like 30 to 45 minutes at 20 to 25 knots and then drift for 15 to 20 minutes at a "creep" speed. but that would make the distance covered not effective?
Given some of these thoughts, has my thinking been incredibly naïve? or is there some merit but lots of tweaking for designing a sub patrol scenario.
Thank you in advance for your help and thoughts all.