How long to chase?

[Chris1999]

Its Jan 1940. I'm north of Scapa Flow. with a full compliment of steam/gas torpedoes.

I've been tailing a T2 tanker and C3 cargo ship for two days. heavy fog, heavy precipitation, 15m/s swells. so, theres no way I can successfully fire upon them. I was closer to running into them the first time I intercepted.

how long is too long? 2 more days and they'll be in their port (if they're going where I think theyre going)

[VONHARRIS]

What sub do you command?
You have been tracking them too long. I would have fired as described below and break contact.
If it is a VIIB try to outrun them even by guessing their position. If you can not see them very well so can not they. Run at a parallel course and keep just out of visual range , that is 400 - 500m according to the weather you describe. When you have them at your side (bearing 90 or 270) turn and fire. It is a one shot situation. Torpedo settings : fast and impact. Don't forget to flood the torpedo tubes first otherwise the 2 sec needed for that operation will cause the toroedoes to miss astern. (auto firing)
If they reach port you lost them.
Use of the deck gun is out of the question.
Good luck

[Gerald]

Its Jan 1940. I'm north of Scapa Flow. with a full compliment of steam/gas torpedoes.

I've been tailing a T2 tanker and C3 cargo ship for two days. heavy fog, heavy precipitation, 15m/s swells. so, theres no way I can successfully fire upon them. I was closer to running into them the first time I intercepted.

how long is too long? 2 more days and they'll be in their port (if they're going where I think theyre going) I think they're doing about 5 knots in this weather, you might want to intercept them to save time,like this can take time depending on your realistic settings, in reality, it could hold on much longer

[Chris1999]

VIIB

I've considered the blind fire based solely on the hydrophones, but, I'm still a little new. I've done it before but it's not the easiest thing to do.

I can outrun them no problem. And I've set up for attacks like you describe twice at 400m (i cant see them at 500m) and just didnt do it thinking I would get better weather.

thanks for your thoughts though!

What sub do you command?

You have been tracking them too long. I would have fired as described below and break contact.
If it is a VIIB try to outrun them even by guessing their position. If you can not see them very well so can not they. Run at a parallel course and keep just out of visual range , that is 400 - 500m according to the weather you describe. When you have them at your side (bearing 90 or 270) turn and fire. It is a one shot situation. Torpedo settings : fast and impact. Don't forget to flood the torpedo tubes first otherwise the 2 sec needed for that operation will cause the toroedoes to miss astern. (auto firing)
If they reach port you lost them.
Use of the deck gun is out of the question.
Good luck

[Snestorm]

Heavy fog? Let 'em go. It's a torpedo eater.

[kvbrock82]

Geta visual and make a mark, time 3m15 seconds and make another mark... The distance between the marks is the speed they are going.

Draw a line through the marks and you now have their bearing too.

Get ahead of them and turn in at a 90 degree angle so you are set up for a 90 degree shot at them, positioned 600m from the point of impact.

Set the periscope to 0 degrees in order to calibrate it. Hit F6 and input the speed, angle on bow at 90 degrees, bearing at 0, and distance at 600m.

Move the periscope to 15 degrees(if the target is approching form the right).

Drop to periscope depth and follow the target.

Open the torpedo tubes.

The second the hydophones read that the target is at 15 degrees fire 2 torpedoes and hope for the best..

Remember to make sure your torps are set to impact and fast. At such a short range you should be able to hit a target of this size if you get all the above relatively correct.

hope this helps,
brock

[Gerald]

Now that it is reasonably heavy fog, when conditions are a bit different then a visual contact is virtually non-existent in this scenario,so if you do not have a hydrophone contact, let them go there are plenty of other changes,good luck, whatever you choose :up:

[desirableroasted]

And if you do manage to hit one, you'll lose it again in the fog. If it drops to low engine speed or stops, you will lose it on hydrophone, too.

Save the torpedos for another day.

[Gerald]

In an early mode of war, and that it 'only' was fog and not strong winds like these situations,they could be handled by DG, which of course had its risks, you need to hear and be extremely vigilant when trading ship can get up in front of your nose.

[desirableroasted]

In an early mode of war, and that it 'only' was fog and not strong winds like these situations,they could be handled by DG, which of course had its risks, you need to hear and be extremely vigilant when trading ship can get up in front of your nose.

What I mean is, they can be impossible to find if they get even 1000 m away in dense fog.... naturally if you know their course exactly, you can find them again, usually, but if you are even a little off, you can slip past them and never know it. And, of course, you don't know how fast they are moving or if they are even moving at all.

I once crippled a BB (I knew, because it vanished from the hydrophones). Since I had to dodge escorts for a while, it was long gone in the fog when I resurfaced. Had to wait 12 or so hours of game time before the fog lifted so that I could see she was 5000m off. If it had been a medium cargo, I am not sure I would have had the patience.

[Gerald]

Patience is a 'must' given what you describe is true, of course, small margins and you are not 100% sure where the ship is becoming difficult to know the distance, so to dive down and then up to the detection of the situation,if I could not hear anything during the hydrophone contact when I leave it all,and as you know there are new opportunities again :yep:

[Jimbuna]

Its Jan 1940. I'm north of Scapa Flow. with a full compliment of steam/gas torpedoes.

I've been tailing a T2 tanker and C3 cargo ship for two days. heavy fog, heavy precipitation, 15m/s swells. so, theres no way I can successfully fire upon them. I was closer to running into them the first time I intercepted.

how long is too long? 2 more days and they'll be in their port (if they're going where I think theyre going)

If your determined to press home an attack (I do understand the temptation) then I'd follow the guidance in #6.

Good Hunting http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[flag4]

Geta visual and make a mark, time 3m15 seconds and make another mark... The distance between the marks is the speed they are going.

Draw a line through the marks and you now have their bearing too.

Get ahead of them and turn in at a 90 degree angle so you are set up for a 90 degree shot at them, positioned 600m from the point of impact.

Set the periscope to 0 degrees in order to calibrate it. Hit F6 and input the speed, angle on bow at 90 degrees, bearing at 0, and distance at 600m.

Move the periscope to 15 degrees(if the target is approching form the right).

Drop to periscope depth and follow the target.

Open the torpedo tubes.

The second the hydophones read that the target is at 15 degrees fire 2 torpedoes and hope for the best..

Remember to make sure your torps are set to impact and fast. At such a short range you should be able to hit a target of this size if you get all the above relatively correct.

hope this helps,
brock


i really love these short concise methods. ive just printed it off for keeps. cheers brock:yeah:
could some one clarify for me the need for the 3 minutes & 15 second timing? does it have to be this or could it just as well be 5 minutes or 4. aslong as the time between counts is the same, what difference does this make - especially the 15 second thing?

...of course you could always barrel a couple of magnetics into the fog bound merchants and chance it that way - it would be just the bad weather against them. they have often missed or exploded before arrival - for me - using this method.

[Puster Bill]

i really love these short concise methods. ive just printed it off for keeps. cheers brock:yeah:
could some one clarify for me the need for the 3 minutes & 15 second timing? does it have to be this or could it just as well be 5 minutes or 4. aslong as the time between counts is the same, what difference does this make - especially the 15 second thing?

The distance in meters that a ship travels in 3:15 is easily converted to knots by dividing by 100: If a ship travels 700 meters in that time, its speed is 7 knots.

It's a handy shortcut to find the speed of a target.

[flag4]

The distance in meters that a ship travels in 3:15 is easily converted to knots by dividing by 100: If a ship travels 700 meters in that time, its speed is 7 knots.

It's a handy shortcut to find the speed of a target.

aaahh, now i understand:yep:.

so, if i go ahead with my 5 minutes method on the speed conversion chart in-game, it may not be a true speed reading?

[LiveGoat]

I always check the speed twice. It's probably the most important step in a solution, especially if you're doing a quick and dirty solution on a fast moving target. If you're at a reasonable range (2000-1500 is my preferred) you can fudge a little on AotB, especially if you make it a habit to always try for 90 degree attacks angles. After awhile your eye gets sharper at guesstimating. Goodhunting. :salute:

[Pisces]

aaahh, now i understand:yep:.

so, if i go ahead with my 5 minutes method on the speed conversion chart in-game, it may not be a true speed reading?You'll have to compare the measured distance (over 5 minutes) to the numbers in the minute-table (5 minute column) to see which speed is closest to it. It's the same way, just takes longer in time. And measurements over longer period is more accurate, so it's better. :up:

[flag4]

You'll have to compare the measured distance (over 5 minutes) to the numbers in the minute-table (5 minute column) to see which speed is closest to it. It's the same way, just takes longer in time. And measurements over longer period is more accurate, so it's better. :up:

many thanks for your help Pisces:up: