ASN/Coastal patrol details?

[sabratha]

Quote from manual:

The most cost effective ships for coastal/ASW
patrols are destroyers, minesweepers and small
armed merchant cruisers, but cruisers can do in
a pinch. Older destroyers no longer fit for fleet
duty are an ideal candidate.

Is there any specific rule what sort of ships are the best? Or is it just the class (DD etc) that matters and not their specific paramaters (speed, armament etc)?

So far my strategy was to build a number of small, cheap and slow MS class ships to use in this role and I wonder if using fast destroyers would give an increase in efficiency?

[ccip]

I don't believe speed plays into it, but as far as I know, displacement does. Obsolete ships also take a penalty.
But I haven't seen it as a huge difference myself - not for the cost of building bigger ships, anyway. I mostly stick to using 200t MS to fill out the ASW requirement (and I usually don't even build them until a war breaks out), or whatever oldest destroyers I have. I've also experimented with building and maintaining crude 200-300t "destroyers" (more like coastal torpedo boats), but I honestly haven't found them any more effective than same size MSs, yet they're more expensive.

Considering ASW is completely primitive for most of the game, I suspect that it simply doesn't make a whole lot of difference what ship is doing it, as long as it's a DD or MS.

[RNRobert]

I keep my old 400 and 500 ton DDs on hand for ASW patrol in war time, placing them in reserve during peace time.

[thecarthaginian]

Per information pointed out by TMP in another thread, I simply build one class of 200t MS in the first few years of the game.
These get 'no improvement' refits every 8 years or so... this costs almost nothing and keeps 10 ships ready at all times.
I then keep them in reserve unless it is wartime or time for another refit.

[baggers]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but if I have 24 small 200t MS, and only 12 required for Coastal patrols, I can set all 24 in CP, and it seem they perfom better than if I set only the required number.

At least, it give me more spotters in ennemy coastal raids.

[tmp]

Yeah, I think it's in the manual; you can assign more ships than needed to the ASW/patrols, and it will improve their performance against subs and such things.

[gornik]

I usually build 12x200 ton MS to first war (which usually happen near 1905). To the next war I usually have plenty of old short range 500-600 ton DD, so I rebuild them to remove (O) (usually change single mounts to one double) and use them as ASW. They can't be sunk by submarine guns, they don't disappear with time, and in coastal raids their improved torpedoes sometimes find good use.

[ccip]

"can't be sunk by submarine guns" - why didn't I think of that! Actually, you're right - I keep losing MS ships to that. Good thinking! It also makes sense that small auxiliary ships would be vulnerable to it, anyway.

I'm actually starting to lean back towards my original concept of "coastal TB" (i.e. minimal 200-300t destroyer with slow speed) as a main patrol platform. Will have to experiment and see!