Low visibility operations question...

[treblesum81]

I've found a couple of ships in extremely poor weather conditions near Java in early 1942. Conditions are such that if I were to attack them now, it would be a sonar only, sight unseen attack. With this in mind, should I go ahead and attack them, or should I track them until conditions improve so I that I could ID them to make sure they are enemy prior to attacking, keeping in mind that this could mean days of shadowing before conditions clear thanks to the persistent weather conditions in SH4.

Thoughts?
Thanks.

[Crannogman]

Even in the worst weather you can see about 500y. So long as neither is a warship, I say go for it. Best is likely an almost-parallel closing course at decks awash or deeper

[treblesum81]

Seems a little iffy... at that range if they turn out to be warships, even a crash dive won't prevent damage...

EDIT: I'm also pretty sure they are warships as they are cruising at 15kts

[deathwest]

I love hunting in the fog , get a range and bearing and let the hot lead fly.
When you hit the ship, it lights up the fog and I can see like down town NY.

[Armistead]

Much depends on your mods. As stated, most stay on the surface and use the deckgun shooting by bearing, but you aren't gonna sink a warship that way, unless maybe a DD or escort. If stock, fairly easy to sink even DD's with the deckgun, they don't see u, they just act dumb and take a pounding.

Obvious, if you have cams on you can cycle and see what ships, but more realistic to keep them off. Another flaw, as stated, you can often see the outline of the ship you hit in the fog when a shell hits.

Almost always, you get close enough to get a visual, they see you at the same moment and blast away. Be aware, later war some DD's and many capital ships have radar and you'll get chased down in the fog.

[granite00]

Maybe the water is too rough, but sonar may be able to determine if they are war ships or merchants by listening to turn counts.

[Crannogman]

If they're making 15kts in a storm, they're probably warships. Predict their course as best you can go to periscope depth about 500y parallel, go to action stations and silent running. Open all tubes and set all fish to high speed. When you spot the first ship, fire a spread from your front tubes and then turn away when the fish hit, go to flank speed and decks awash (or fully surfaced). If the survivor gives chase, it's a destroyer - fire a spread from your aft tubes. If the survivor does not pursue, it's a heavy; go on ahead and set up another ambush.

You could try to shell the survivor and set him alight - most likely he'll be zig-zagging for a while anyway. If it's an escort, he will most likely run to where your torpedoes emanated and start drifting, pinging and listening. If so, you can either make good your escape on the surface, or else try to give him a spread while he's sitting there (but it may be hard to hear him).

Of course, if you ID the first one as a friendly, most likely he's being chased by a carrier and you should fire a blind spread at the second contact :p

[treblesum81]

Sounds like the general consensus is to shoot first and then ask questions later?

[Crannogman]

Originally Posted by treblesum81

Sounds like the general consensus is to shoot first and then ask questions later?

I think the consensus is that you will have a hard time identifying them without having a hard fight on your hands if they're hostiles

[Armistead]

As someone said, if shooting torps, u can run in the center if group has two lines and run parallel and match speed hold target at a fixed bearing. Get close, you will be shooting at a hard angle, maybe 90% and can even shoot bow and sterns. The torps will waste about 100 yards making a hard turn. Better , if u use a mod like TMO u can set up a shot with radar from the flank. Me, I get the course of the ship, get speed best I can, set solution, shoot from 500 yards and u can hardly miss unless a small ship.

Escorts aren't gonna find you on the surface unless one in the group has radar, then they'll for sure send a escort right up your arse, you u have to pay attention to your map or radar....I run, using other ships to block, but if you know one is coming, simply dive down to about 30 feet and they'll go back to their position....rinse and repeat

[merc4ulfate]

Open your doors, lead your target by ten degrees and fire.

I sank the Yamato using radar only at 1000 yards once.

I have hit plenty using sonar only. You need to lead the target a bit more due to the sonar sweeps. As your man turns the head you get a delay from bearing to bearing over the course of the sweep just like you do with radar.

If you fire at the bearing your fish goes aft most of the time.

Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
1_TriggerMaru_Overhaul_2-5
1_TMO_25_small_patch
RSRDC_TMO_V502
RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1
Improved Ship Physics 2.6_TMO_RSRDC
TMO_Visuals_for_RSRDC
FJB_Navigation_Maps
FJB Color Navigation Map
Gyoraitei
11 New Ships + Yamato AA Fix by Miner1436
Ship pack 1
SMALLER SEA PLANTS SMALL
SMALLER SEABED ROCKS
#5 Depthcharge Sound
#2 Other Clouds
Webster's Eliminate Floating Plankton for v1.4 and v1.5
Aircraft_reflections
Hull_Numbers
TMO Smoke Mod
Classe_Balao_CamoTri

[Crannogman]

Gents, i think the bigger problem here is that he doesn't know if it's friend or foe - in the Java Sea in Feb '42, that's a valid concern. As I mentioned, I'd recommend making ID from periscope depth, and being ready to fire immediately.
It kind of depends where and when you are - I caught a couple of unescorted Takao's North of Bali, which was a delight. But there are also a couple US ships fleeing towards the Sunda Strait in the aftermath of the Java Sea, and it would be poor form to sink them

[james_nix]

Originally Posted by deathwest

I love hunting in the fog , get a range and bearing and let the hot lead fly.
When you hit the ship, it lights up the fog and I can see like down town NY.

That's what I do! Deck guns are for fog.

[merc4ulfate]