WELCOME ABOARD!
Don't let fireftr18 get away with anything. He's just glad to have somebody lower on the totem pole than he is.
The latest patch is actually 1.5, which updates several things and adds u-boats to the game. Unfortunately the Steam versions don't always play well with patches or mods. Other than that I can't say much because I live by the disc.
I'm sorry to not be more help, but I too use Auto Targeting, mainly because my math is pretty much non-existant. There will be others along who are experienced with Manual Targeting and will be able to help.