Sweet satisfaction....

[Piggy]

Long post but I needed to tell somebody this...

I came across the video of the Dick O'Kane method of manual targetting yesterday (with the cheat cards as well) and suddenly it all made sense! Ive been having a hard time with the "full realism manual targetting" in the help sticky. For whatever reason I just couldnt grasp it, that and my recognition manual does not provide me with ship lengths to get the aspect ratio for the AOB calculation... anyway.

Well, after seeing that video it seemed so easy, so I fired up my fresh install of SH4 with TMO + RSRD and headed for the japanese shipping lanes.

When I got my first contact I was excited, more excited then Ive ever been in SH...

I got out the plotting tools, figured out its speed and course and plotted an intercept course... all went well, I made one small mistake in leading my target by an extra 10 degrees but I still managed to hit it with two out of three torps, down she goes and a big smile on my face! That was fun...

I down another 5 ships with this method, without mistakes, I feel like a pro now. Then I get a warship contact from my sonor man, I figured it was another DD group headed my way due to reports of subs in the area, I was already heading in their general direction on a rough intercept course so I went to PD depth. Rasied scope and had a look. Out of the pacific mist/haze I can just barely make out 3 ships, two of which are certianly not destroyers! "Have a look #1, those are flat tops and we're on a good intercept course." Some frantic plotting gives me their speed (14knots) and their course. I only need to adjust mine by a few degree's and ahead 2/3 to be in a perfect firing position. Some tense minutes go by (this is my first manual targetting of a warship, let alone a carrier!). As they get closer I see they appear to be Hiryu class ships, two of them with 2 escorts (that I can see), one in the lead and the other on the far side... doesnt appear to be any on our side, what luck!

Set torps for 20' depth, open all 6 forward tubes.. (im not going to miss this chance), re-check my TDC settings, all is good. She crosses my periscope (leading it by 15 degrees) at a range of about 1800 yards, I fire off all six tubes and wait....

5 out of 6 hit her and she goes down fast, really fast! Lets get out of here... A few tense moments dogding DC's (the missing escort who must have been making a sweep out to the side was now closing on me fast) and we get away, stay down for 4 hours as we sneak away. I surface and decide that its time to head home, we've been out here for over a month with 6 merchants and a carrier to our credit, low on torps and fuel.

Wow... that was sweet!

So sweet I had to come on here and post it... :arrgh!:

A few questions, is this a method used by real submariners? Who is Dick O'kane? I imagine this is a good method for convoys as well, let them fly as the ships cross your scope?

[AVGWarhawk]

I use the same method. No need to lock the scope anymore unless really necessary. I have not locked the scope in ages. I just identify the vessel so I can see the draft to set my torpedoes up correctly. After a while you begin to recognize ships and get the feeling of the speed. Learn to shoot from the hip!:D

[SteamWake]

Almost 90% of my torps are set to ... well as shallow as they will go. No need to use the 'lock' to get that depth.

Anyhow congrats and welcome !

[Soundman]

Glad to hear you have become a manual targeting man! It is much more rewarding to put'm under using "real" tecniques. To answer your question, yes this was really used during the war by Dick O'Kane who became infamous along with a few others. You should google the name and you will find some good reading on about him and "Mush" Morton.

[Rockin Robbins]

My head esplode! (meaningless reference to Homestarrunner.com) The Dick O'Kane method was a cooperative project between aaronblood, gutted and myself, seeking to adapt the U-Boat Fast-90 technique to fleet boats. When we got done, it wasn't Fast-90 any more (that one depends on direct connection between periscope and TDC), so we had to come up with a name.

Aaronblood mentioned in Clear the Bridge, Dick O'Kane had mentioned targeting a spot and firing as the target "crossed the wire," exactly what we were doing. I have a tendency to simplify techniqes to the point that aaronblood rebels (egghead!:rotfl:), so I limited the technique to a 90º approach to the track and using no outside calculators or tools not in the game itself. I also tossed a perfect zero gyro angle out the window in favor of my customary "close enough" rules of thumb, earning further well-earned abuse from my partner in crime.:salute: I'm off-track here.... ahem.

So we searched for evidence that Dick O'Kane approached from 90º to the track, set an arbitrary lead angle, input the speed to the TDC and fired as the target crossed the wire and...came......up...........empty. At that point we made the decision to name the technique after him anyway in honor of his "cross the wire" method of shooting longitudinal spreads.

I continued the tradition when Nisgeis and I originated the John P Cromwell method, also never executed by the captain who bears its name. Any subsequent methods developed will also be named in honor of submarine captains from the nation of the submarine it applies to. If nothing else then, these techniques will be memory crutches to engender curiosity about the men for whom they are named.

So that's it! Yes similar techniques were used by US submarine captains. Dick O'Kane's actual technique is really too complicated for us to use because we don't have the direct connection of periscope to TDC that he depended on. In other words, our simulator isn't detailed enough for one person to execute the scheme.

Check out the John P Cromwell (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=971303&postcount=32) method. I think you'll like it!

[Piggy]

Thanks RR, thats quite a story but great to know the background of it. Perhaps it was just me finally making a decent effort to get into manual targetting or that your video made it seem so easy, most likely the latter but either way I salute you, thanks! :salute:

It does bring a whole new level into the game, much more rewarding, I couldnt believe my luck when that carrier group came across my bow. :woot:

Im checking out the other methods as well.

Cheers and thanks again.

[Soundman]

I also tossed a perfect zero gyro angle out the window in favor of my customary "close enough" rules of thumb, earning further well-earned abuse from my partner in crime.


I suppose I stand somewhat corrected, thanks for setting me straight. :salute: BTW, I just can't settle for close enough, I always make sure I have set up a zero degree gyro angle and can't go for anything other than perfection. Suppose I'll side with your criminal partner on that one. :DL