In front of first convoy, help...

[Agrajag]

Guys, got swamped with work and was away for a while. Got back into the sim and ran into my first convoy. I'm only running at 40% realism to get re-acclimated but it appears as if I've forgotten many basics (I never did get into manual targeting but might this time).

Anyway, I managed to take out the lead destroyer with one torpedo and then hit a T3 with tube 2 and 3, another T3 with tube 4 and a C2 out the rear with tube 5.

NONE of them went down and none were even slowed.

Worse, I've now been running frantically ahead of the convoy for hours and the battery is now down to 50% but the damned torpedos won't reload. Auto-reload is on but they just stay red. Am I just not waiting long enough?

I also assumed I'd need to go back to get one or two of the targets but to not have even slowed any of the 3 is pretty disappointing (in general, not in any way a negative with the game).

[HW3]

Make sure you have silent running turned off and both compartments are full of crew. If you want to be sure that a target will stop, hit it in the engine room.

[Deimos01]

Aye, sounds like you have silent running turned on. In silent run mode your crew will not reload torps, do repairs or any other noisy activity. Simply going to a faster engine speed is not enough to take you out of silent run. You actually have to click the "secure from silent running" icon.

As for ships not showing any signs of damage. Sometimes those big merchies can take a lot of damage before they go down. I once had to put four torps into a troop transport. Where you aim your torps at a ship does play a factor. Sometimes hitting them directly amidships where the scope aims when you auto lock is not the best place. Try aiming right under the smoke stack. That should get em right in the engine room. :up:

[kiwi_2005]

I always have silent running on when entering a convoy. i slip pass the escort screen then position boat inside the convoy. Then silent running is off and im ready to attack. Also inside the convoy its harder for escorts to detect you.

[Agrajag]

Thanks, I forgot silent running was on. Doh!

How should I start to take over doing my own aiming? I'm using auto-aiming so most shots are pretty much centered. If they aren't it's just a fluke.

[PianoMonkey]

One thing that you definately won't be able to do by hand, if you ever even tried it with the TDC to begin with, is to plan simultaneous impacts of several torpedos on multiple targets. I do it all the time against convoys on 30-40% realism (to make sure I get the major targets before they're alerted to my presence), but there's no possible way to do it without the automated tracking. Heck, even with zero realism it's still a serious time crunch. Generally there's a 35-second interval between consecutive ships in a large convoy, during which you have to scan for your second target (having just launched a fish at your first), lock it, check it's draft, switch to the TDC and adjust the depth, make sure the torp won't hit a ship it's not meant to, and then launch *precisely* at the right time. When it works, it's gorgeous. There's nothing like hitting three T2's and a T3 with crippling blows all within a second of each other.

It's hard enough to do it post-1940, what with the destroyer escorts and the weaving targets. Manual targeting? Forget it.

[Trav_R]

It wouldn't be that much harder with manual targetting. The only difference would be you'd have to recalculate the range for each target, and that doesn't take long. The speed and AOB will be the same for all ships. Once you get the TDC set up for one ship, speed and AOB remain the same for the rest. Launch at your first target, get range for next one, launch again.

[Marhkimov]

Maunal targeting is a piece of cake after you use it for a while. You should be able to hit simultaneous targets, no problem. As with everything else, all you need is practice.

[Agrajag]

I read the one wiki listing about how to get into manual targeting but it just didn't sink in. I'm not exactly slow when it comes to this sort of thing but something just didn't click on reading it.

I'll need to go back and re-read it. Seems that it would add quite a nice bit of enjoyment to the whole process. For now, I'm in a similar situation when it comes to convoys. I like to get into the middle of them, at their front and when the roll over me, let loose on at least 3 targets.

As I said at the beginning of this thread, however, in this one case, none of the ships sunk on the first shot which got me thinking about manual targeting.

By the way, in order to get credit for a sinking, do I need to see it? I now hang around until my target goes down under the thinking that, in real life, if I hit a target and left I'd have no effective way to know that I got it. In the convoy attack of this thread the end results were 6 targets sunk. The lead destroyer, 2 T3's, a T2 and 2 C2's. I had also hit another T3 and C2 and both were heavily listing to one side but never appeared to sink.

[Laughing Swordfish]

I'm just thinking if you're running ahead of the convoy at full speed underwater, you're going to be making a lot of noise down there, whether you're reloading or not. And also running down your electric motors, which you'll need every ounce of juice from if they catch on to you.

Far better to break off to port or starboard, and literally give yourself some breathing space on the surface. That way you can not only recharge your batteries, and oxygen, but also reload in relative peace and quiet, but also haul in any torpedoes you might have externally stored.

Then, keeping at least in sonar contact, hook round again at flank speed, and take another dig at them the following night with everything topped up and your crew as rested as possible.

But it sounds from your tally so far, that you're doing just fine!

LS

[frogdog]

I have found that AOB is easier to caculate from NAV map than eyeball thru scope...easier in real life on scope. Course and speed are same for all convoy ships (except escorts) and should have been caculated early in the intercept phases. Range from sonar more accurate than eyeball obs (assuming quick obs like in real life...15 secs at most total). Once convoy starts zig-zag after initial hit(s)...its a whole new ballgame

[Asylum Mind]

I've been using 100% realism for a few weeks now. I was really frustrated with it in the beginning, but now it's a snap. Practice, practice, practice.

As far as dealing with convoys. I set up all my shots in advance. Just a little something to do while I wait out my 3min 15sec to get course and speed. I set up my torps at the various depths, speeds and salvos (if I use it). I make all of my shots off the bow torps and turn back away from the convoy and let loose with the stern torp as my parting shot. (usually reserved for a close merc that the zig-zag doesn't help very much)

I get away from the convoy as quickly as possible, depending on what the DDs are doing. I set a course to both get me away and to set up meeting the convoy again further down its course. If I need to, I'll sit about 6K+ meters off the convoy and ride the surface if possible to get any external stores inside the boat for later use. Nothing worse than finding a ship to sink and have your torps on the outside! :yep: