Am I Manually Targeting or am I kidding myself??

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

OK I just answered that I used manual targeting in another thread, and the more I'm reading now, the more I'm wondering if I actually am (obviously I'm a n00b). I'm still in the naval academy mind you.

1) The target is spotted
2) I open the book, find the ship listed, check the lil box that says what type of ship it is.
3) Go to notepad, click range, click at the waterline in the scope, click the target in the bottom left hand corner, click the top of the mast, click the check in the box.
4) Click AOB, click where I am in relation to the ship in the overhead diagram, click the check in the box.
5) Click "speed", lock the scope on the target, click the stopwatch, wait 10-15 seconds, the little stopwatch in the lower left corner, click the check in the box, unlock the scope.
6) Go back to the notepad, click the check in the box on the pad.
7) Click the tube I intend to fire, click fire.
8) Miss target 90% of the time and say damn damn damn and chalk it up to being new and needing practice.

So the 2 questions are - is that manual targeting and....am I doing it correctly and just need practice?

I'm sure I'm missing something but any help would be appreciated.
thx all!

:arrgh!:

[Dowly]

You remembered to open the tube before firing? In my "n00b" days most of the misses were because I didnt open the tube. It takes 2-3 seconds to open the tube, when you hit the fire button.

If you didnt know 'Q' opens the selected tube. (It will close automatically when you select another tube)

And yes you are manually targeting! :up:

[coronas]

"L" to track the ship,"Q" to open selected tube,don´t forget select pistol for the fish (1 meter under the keel for magnetic) :know:

[Spin Doctor]

You'll probably get a better speed calc if you wait until the target is getting close to a 90 degree AoB. If you try to get the speed at a shallow angle and you are not pretty much dead nuts on, your speed will be off. The closer to 90 you get, the more accurate. Try it at about 75 degrees, take a quick range check, open the tubes and fire. Target speed is critical for getting a clean hit.

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

A HA!
I haven't been opening the tube ahead of time. I've been letting it open for me. I guess it would make sense that it will mess with the shot. Thanks!
I have been locking the scope while doing the speed test, but taking it off after I check the box. I thought I only needed it to be locked while timing the ship. I should leave it on even after the speed test is over? I always leave it off so I can move the scope around - I suppose it's good that I was never a real captain lol

Thx again for the info people!

:arrgh!:

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

Ok so it does look like the fact that I wasn't opening the tube ahead of time was an issue. I've gotten more hits, but I'm still missing more than I would like. I seem to be clipping the stern a lot when I *do* hit. It would seem that the speed factor might be coming into play here.
Just some obeservations. Loving this game though!

[wetwarev7]

Be aware that the tube will close itself after a while sometimes. I allways open it just before I take my final reading.

[Bill Nichols]

Ok so it does look like the fact that I wasn't opening the tube ahead of time was an issue. I've gotten more hits, but I'm still missing more than I would like. I seem to be clipping the stern a lot when I *do* hit. It would seem that the speed factor might be coming into play here.
Just some obeservations. Loving this game though!

I've come to the same conclusion -- my misses are behind the target -- I think the speed estimate is often slightly low, by about 1 knot. Try manually adjusting the input speed by adding another knot. I expect that should help.

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

Ok so it does look like the fact that I wasn't opening the tube ahead of time was an issue. I've gotten more hits, but I'm still missing more than I would like. I seem to be clipping the stern a lot when I *do* hit. It would seem that the speed factor might be coming into play here.
Just some obeservations. Loving this game though!

I've come to the same conclusion -- my misses are behind the target -- I think the speed estimate is often slightly low, by about 1 knot. Try manually adjusting the input speed by adding another knot. I expect that should help.

Wasn't even aware you could do that. I think tha last time I tried clicking on the lil spinner, it didn't let me change it.

I wonder if compensating on the AOB might help too. Maybe a steeper angle (towards the stern) entered would tweak it enough.

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

New update. I've not really made any progress since last post. I can't seem to find the place to adjust speed. It seems to be locked. I've tried clocking the speed for 3:15 as I saw mentioned in another article, but I miss even after clocking the ships for that long. I've tried adjusting the height of the mast, AOB, all to no better result. I know that some people are talking about adjusting the pistol type, speed etc, but the game tutorial for manual torpedo in the Naval Academy don't mention setting those.
Any suggestions? Getting discouraged here and I don't want to use auto targeting.
TIA for any help!

[Detritus]

Give us an example of a shot. What kind of ship, how did you set the torpedo, what range & AOB etc. It seems you're doing all that needs to be done correctly now so there's just some small glitch to work out. Notice, that AOB has to be pretty much dead-on before getting the ships' speed, otherwise the solution is easily off the mark.

[Beery]

You'll probably get a better speed calc if you wait until the target is getting close to a 90 degree AoB...

I always used to miss until I started doing this. If you fire when the target is at 90 degree AoB it tends to negate any errors in speed and range estimation. These days I very rarely miss, and I hardly ever open the tube doors before shooting.

[CaptainEO]

I never seem to get good values from the speed stopwatch method. I do better just guessing the speed myself (if you have a radio report on the convoy, it includes the correct speed!).

You have to enable the Manual button (the little red thing) in order to change the speed setting. Turn it back off to link the bearing and AOB to the scope.

Here's what I do:

1. Get into a 90 degree intercept position (i.e. lie in wait at a position where the target will cross directly in front of you at a 90 degree angle).

2. Swing scope to bearing 000.

3. Turn Manual ON, enter estimated speed, set AOB to 90 degrees port or starboard as appropriate. Turn Manual OFF. (it's very important that the scope be pointing at bearing 000 when you enter the 90 degree AOB. What you are really doing is telling the TDC that the AOB will be 90 degrees when the target crosses directly in front of you. With Manual OFF the TDC will track the correct AOB and bearing automatically based on where the scope is pointing).

I don't think it's a good idea to enter the AOB on the notepad since you don't want to over-write your good AOB value with a possibly bad one when you take a last-minute range reading.

4. Identify target ship and use "notepad method" to get range.

I update the range right before I'm going to shoot. If you click the check-mark on the notepad it will transfer the range estimate into the TDC (regardless of whether Manual is ON or OFF).

5. Wait until gyroange is between 350 and 10, then fire!

I never miss inside of 1km. At longer distances I'm more likely to miss if there is much error in my range or speed estimates. For a hit at 1km I'd guess you need to know the range to within +/- 200m and the speed to within +/- 2 kt.

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

I'm going to try this for sure now.
Thanks lots for the help people. This forum has been great so far and I've only been here a little over a week.
One thing though. Isn't it fairly hard to always get your target at 90 degrees AOB? What about times when it's hard to get to that angle (say a ship is nearby that will spot you, maybe you've been spotted, etc). I would imagine that after you get better at hitting them at optimal conditions, you start to learn where to fire at less than optimal? Just thinking out loud.
I'm guessing that historically sub commanders tried to make sure they got this angle too.
I'll post back after trying these methods.
:up:

[Marhkimov]

Yeah, I agree with all of those tips. I've been playing for 4-5 months now, and this thread has still taught me something. I guess that means that we're always leaning, no matter how experienced we are.

Anyways, beginners to the TDC should use all of these tips, and especially make sure to follow a strict routine when it comes to shooting torpedoes. If you need to be at 90 degrees at 500 meters, then do it all of the time... Then once you feel you have mastered these techniques, you'll probably be able to shoot with minimal help from the TDC... You'll be able to rely more on experience (i.e. educated guessing ;) ).


I remember when I was a beginner, I had trouble with the Naval Academy torpedo mission. I couldn't even hit those cargo ships that were moving at 3kts. Shoot, I couldn't even hit the STATIONARY ship!!! :huh:

But now I have no problems hitting a zig-zagging ship in heavy fog. That is what experience can do for ya... :yep: