The PK makes data collection a really leisurely deal in a fleet boat. you can collect it in the wrong order or too slowly, doesn't matter as long as the PK is on because it continues to follow the target. In the U-Boat, if you're entering the four parameters for a shot you have to be right snappy about it or you'll miss. I have attempted the German stadimeter, and I hate it as much as the American one.
In the German boat I've shot one torpedo that way. Then to convince myself that maybe I could aim a torpedo I fell back to doing Dick O'Kanes, then remembered an old conversation with aaronblood where he explained the Fast-90, a creation of Wazoo a couple of years back in SH3. I've been doing Fast-90s every since with great success. Why great success? Because I can set up the attack slowly and carefully fifteen or twenty minutes before I shoot. Then all I have to do is drive the boat to the right position (not always easy with these slow U-Boats) and push the buttons. The only thing you can screw up is forgetting to open the torpedo tube door.
OH! The other advantage: you can forget you brought the stadimeter. Use it to amuse any kids you brought along. Am I ready to explain this thing? No. I don't have any screenshots, but I'll do it anyway and fix it later.
Fast-90 U-Boat Targeting
1. Your goal is to shoot from a course 90º from the target track, from a range of 1000 yards or meters or less. For a medium (9 knot) target, we'll be shooting 10º before they reach the zero bearing with steam torpedoes on fast. For electrics we'll shoot 20º before they reach the zero bearing straight in front of us. This will allow the torpedoes to hit pretty squarely and close to a 90º angle. Also, the closer to a 90º strike angle you get, the more error forgiving the process is. I need to insert cool illustration right here.
Oh well.
2. The reason we're doing this is that when you are approaching the target at 90º from his course, the range doesn't even need to be considered. Even the distance from the track is only important to make the shot more accurate. If you're shooting at a nice juicy BB or T3 Tanker, 2000 yards off the track is a very easily hittable shot. Shoot two, hit two and watch 'em sink.
3. Targets can be coming from the left or right. Let's use one coming from the left, because that is slightly more difficult because you have to subtract.
(Higher math! Run!!!!!!!!!) OK our target is coming left to right. We're shooting a high speed steam torpedo so we're going to shoot 10º before he gets to zero bearing straight in front of us. So go to the attack screen (F6 for those of us with the Trigger Maru superior keyboard layout
, fish it out of the menu bars otherwise) This is where the German TDC is kept. You'll see 4 dials along the bottom of the screen and a button to the right of them. This button does two things: it turns manual TDC input on and off. When manual input is on the lights for the dials turn on. Let's set up the TDC for an attack we'll be doing in about a half hour. (You like this already!)
Turn manual input on. Hit F3 and point your scope at the zero bearing, then return to the attack screen. That first dial on the left side is your shoot bearing, also the periscope bearing when the TDC and periscope are linked later. Unlike the American TDC where bearings are 0 to 359, the German system uses bearing right and bearing left (Bug Links und Bug Rechts). Set that puppy for zero, straight ahead.
Second dial from the left is range in hundreds of meters (or yards). 10 means 1000 meters or 1 km. Set this one to an estimate of the range you'll be shooting from the track. You can double it if you're not sure. This range has nothing to do with the accuracy of your shot. It just puts a torpedo track on the attack map so you can see if your shot makes sense. Don't fret over getting anything perfect here! I told you this was cool!
Third dial from the left is angle on the bow. This guy is always going to be set at 90º. All we have to do is figure out whether it should be right or left. Think of this as "what side of the target am I looking at." Our guy is coming left to right, so we're looking at his starboard (right or recht side). Now if you're a boater, you know green is starboard and red is port (port wine is red), but if you're not, just look over at the bearing dial which says "bug recht" on the green side. This is just like the old multiple guess test in school. Half the answers are in the other questions. Set this needle to 90º right. (If he were coming from the right, we'd set it to 90º left. But he's not so we're not.) Done! This is too easy. Are you sure we can DO THIS????
Fourth dial is speed. Do Quillian's three minute distance thing for imperial. Use three minutes, 15 seconds for metric because a meter is 3.37 inches longer than a yard. Now measure the distance between the points in the unit of your choice. The speed is the number of hundreds of units you find. 700 meters/yards equals seven knots. Point the needle at the speed.
On the right side of your attack screen in a vertical configuration are the torpedo parameters. They're all labeled. If you're using steam torpedoes, make sure you use the fast setting. Set pistol to magnetic. This will detonate on contact also. Depth should be just about the draft of the target.
If you identify the target with the target manual you can find the draft. If not, a depth of 7 meters will blow up just about anything. I like to get under the keel of large targets because the German torpedoes are no more powerful than American ones and don't exactly impress me. I want all the destructive power I can bring to bear. That means an explosion as far below the water as I can arrange.
Ignore spread angle, we don't waste torpedoes!
Press that red button and the lights to the TDC input dials go off. Your periscope is still pointed at zero and the bearing dial is at zero. We're synchronized. Lets kill something!!!!!
Plot the course of the targets. Then figure a course 90º from that where you will be pointed right at the track at a right angle. We want to get to 1000 yards/meters from the track, slow down to 1 knot and wait for our targets to get to that 10º (or so) before the zero bearing. We'll never lock the target at all. In the U-Boat, the torpedoes will go exactly where we point the scope! (As long as we have linked the scope to the TDC by turning manual input off. The test is "are the dial lights off?" Yes means we're ready) Our scope is continuously updating our TDC with new bearing and AoB, so we can shoot any time we want! I'd shoot sometime between 20º before zero and zero, but it's pretty accurate outside of that too!
Lets do it the way we DIDN'T plan. We're too impatient. The target is only at 345º, 15º left bearing and we have to go to the bathroom. I gotta shoot now!
Piece of cake. Open two doors. Point the scope at that front crane, about 1/4 of the way back from the bow. Shoot. Point about 1/4 of the way forward of the stern. Select the second tube and shoot. Go to the bathroom, you've got two hits on order!
So no spreads, no misses, no hurry, no panic, no fuss, no muss. Fast-90. Coolers!!!!!!!
