Gunner and Flak qualifications

[jwolf4]

Is it worth giving an officer the gunner or flak qualification or should I give it to a Petty Officer? I would like to shoot down enemy planes better and use the deck gun better. Since an Officer can't man those stations, does it help to give them those qualifications?

[Fish In The Water]

Is it worth giving an officer the gunner or flak qualification or should I give it to a Petty Officer? I would like to shoot down enemy planes better and use the deck gun better. Since an Officer can't man those stations, does it help to give them those qualifications?

I tend to do both...

While it's true an officer can't 'man' the station, having a qualified one on deck still improves the overall compartment efficiency. Combine him with a qualified PO, (on actual station), and you've basically got the best of both worlds.

[Gargamel]

Yup.

If you have JUST an officer on deck, you will notice that the deck and flak gun stations have a proficiency rating, whereas they are blank with just enlisted/PO.

So yes, give your 1WO a Watchman, Deck gunnery, And Flak gunnery ratings, and let him run everything above deck.

[frau kaleun]

So yes, give your 1WO a Watchman, Deck gunnery, And Flak gunnery ratings, and let him run everything above deck.

:yep:

I usually have a PO qualified for Flak, just so I know who to put there if and when we man that station.

But other than that, having the officer on deck qualified as a deck gunner seems to do the trick regardless of which crewmen are manning the gun station.

[King_Zog]

In situations where I can use the deck gun I tend to close to point blank range, so my crew don't have any problems hitting whether a deck gun qualification is present or not. I wouldn't shell anything that could shoot back.

I do give my WO a flak qualification though, but my crew still can't hit anything with it, but perhaps they are more effective once you have the meaner flak guns on your boat. I'm still using the single 2cm gun with the 20 round magazine, which seems pretty useless for AA defence.

Although it is good for shooting up small boats.

[Raptor]

Like most here, I qualify my WO for watch, gun, and flak. I also have at least 1 PO gunner and 2 flak gunners. Among my other officers, one is gun qualified and another flak qualified, just in case the WO gets killed, which happens occasionally.

That said, I rarely use the flak gun other than to protect my gun crew as they finish off a cripple, or if the water is too shallow to tolerate a crash dive (so why was in such shallow water in the first place?).

U-boats are poor gun platforms, especially against aircraft. I lose too many crewmen that way, even if they do ultimately manage to shoot down the aircraft.

[Weiss Pinguin]

That said, I rarely use the flak gun other than to protect my gun crew as they finish off a cripple, or if the water is too shallow to tolerate a crash dive (so why was in such shallow water in the first place?).
Same here, I usually use it to rake targets in between deck gun volleys. (the bigger guns are really nice :D) If only the effects of suppressing fire were modeled...

[Sailor Steve]

If they shoot at you is your fire suppressed?

Fair is fair. :sunny:

[Jimbuna]

Both gun and flak qualifications tend to compliment each other but I have one of each to a) be sure and b) have an alternative should one become injured or killed.

[Sailor Steve]

b) have an alternative should one become injured or killed.
Or transferred out from under me just before the patrol starts. :damn:

[Jimbuna]

Or transferred out from under me just before the patrol starts. :damn:

Nope...don't have that option enabled Steve.

I train em, I keep em.

[Snestorm]

My WO and WE are both Line Officers. They wear a star on their sleeves, (just like their C.O.), and nothing more.

The CE is an Engineering Officer. He gets the engine or repair qual, and nothing more.

The NAV is a Chief Quartermaster. He gets the helm, and nothing more.

My gunner and flak gunner both get promoted to second class, and the green bar is full.