Aiming at night

[Valgua]

Hi guys! I have some serious troubles with night hunting. Simply put, the nights is so dark that I can't identify my target. To aim I can rely just to the map and the informations provided by the WO. Can you give me an advice? Thanx

Valgua

[Pkunzipper]

If you have problem spotting your target, then your target has problem spotting you (you're smaller, remember!).

When it's far, try to calculate his course and speed asking informations to watch officer. Draw his course and speed on the map, and then find a route that will bring you at 500- 800 meters @ 90° from his path...
As soon as you understand you have enough time dive and move underwater (keeping periscope down as much as you can, since you have already calculated his path, you don't need to watch your prey anymore!).

When you are in a good firing position stop the engines, raise the scope when he is about at +-50°/60°, in order to make the final check of your firing solution and, if necessary, a small correction on your firing position.
Wait untill you can fire at +-5° and then fire 1 torpedo (2 if it is a big ship, in bad water or if you are not completely sure of your solution)

[GOZO]

Provided it´s not a hospital ship! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Good Hunting. :up:

[Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense]

star shells mein Kaptain... should we load a few star shells...

:yep:

--Mike

[mike_espo]

Had the same problem on my last patrol. Very difficult to see ships due to monitor reflections....had to ask WO for range, and bearings until I could see target myself.

Sometimes, however, watch is blind as a bat!! I played a homemade scenario once on a IXC, had a steamer bearing down on me..could not have been more than 1km away on a clear moonlit night... :huh: :o watch did not see him...only by my lucky coincidence I happened to be on the bridge at the time and out of TC called full left rudder to avoid a collision....finally the watch calls out:" Shift geshikted".... :hmm:

[scandium]

I've noticed the watch is better at "seeing" targets at night when I have it locked up in the UZO. If I lose the lock they lose sight of it... go figure.

[U-Dog]

Had the same problem on my last patrol. Very difficult to see ships due to monitor reflections....had to ask WO for range, and bearings until I could see target myself.

Sometimes, however, watch is blind as a bat!! I played a homemade scenario once on a IXC, had a steamer bearing down on me..could not have been more than 1km away on a clear moonlit night... :huh: :o watch did not see him...only by my lucky coincidence I happened to be on the bridge at the time and out of TC called full left rudder to avoid a collision....finally the watch calls out:" Shift geshikted".... :hmm:

Same thing happend to me, usually the watch spots them before i can so i was counting on them to relocate a ship we'd just hit with a single torpedo, in a storm at night. Was getting really frustrated I just knew it was near, but they couldn't find it. Went out on the bridge myself swung my binoculars around and saw some really funny looking shades of dark gray. i blinked, lowered the binoculars and there she was a T2 , I;d only been able to see aone small portion of her hull with the binoculars because she was so close. i ask my WO again...no visual contact Sir.

so i smacked him upsid3e the head and told him to turn around she's 200 meters off our starboard!

Oh well, the trials of breaking in a new crew i guess.
:yep:

[panthercules]

Went out on the bridge myself swung my binoculars around and saw some really funny looking shades of dark gray. ... i ask my WO again...no visual contact Sir. i blinked, lowered the binoculars and there she was a T2

I can hear him now - "no visual contact Sir - all I see are these funny looking shades of dark gray"

Maybe you should have just ordered him to lower his binoculars :lol:

[Sailor Steve]

Watch the Jurgen Oesten video on "Malaya". At least one hit on a battleship on a dark, murky night, and his reasoning was "that particular shadow looked different from the others".

[Joe S]

How do you ask the WO for range and bearing? Thanks! Joe S

[Sailor Steve]

Once you're locked onto the target, click on the Weapons Officer icon in the lower left corner. Select Torpedo Attack. The left and middle icons of that menu give you the type of ship and targetting data, so you can just fire without doing the calculations yourself.

Of course, you have to have Weapons Officer Assistance enabled.

Also, of course, it doesn't work if it's a dark night and you can't get the UZO to lock onto the target.

[andy_311]

I don't think I fired a star shell yet not in a campaign mission anyway, In the single mission am creating (totally ficticous) with 3 british TF ahead of me 1 to the East 1 to the North and 1 to the NE with a German TF about 150 clicks to south of me,and it's pitch black you can't see sod all just the stars If I hit a cruiser the night sky becomes daylight it's unbeliveable when all the dds fire of them starshells.

[Hartmann]

You can fire a starshell :roll:

But I never fired starshells in a convoy attack, only against lone ships and just for fun .
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/7540/sh3img11122005185228453bmp7qa.th.jpg (http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sh3img11122005185228453bmp7qa.jpg)

One time i was playing with starshells in the british channel until appears a search light in the horizont

[STEED]

Good old Star Shell.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1620/clipimage0028rq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[panthercules]

How do you ask the WO for range and bearing? Thanks! Joe S

If by WO you mean Watch Officer instead of Weapons Officer, then of course you can just click on him and ask him to report the nearest visual contact, and he will respond with range and bearing to the nearest target - works great if there's only one out there or if you only care about the closest one - doesn't help if you're really interested in any ship other than the closest one.

it seems like there should be a way to get your watch officer to tell you the range and bearing to any target you select, but if there is I don't know how to do that

[Tonnage_Ace]

I'm not so sure about the Watch Officers methods though, I'd rather use the Stadimeter or Sonar ping to find range. Maybe I'd use him for finding the final range before firing as this has less impact on the gyro, but deffinately not for plotting a target's course and speed. The difference of 50m to 100m can make a difference for plotting but not so much for a final range estimate. Just my opinion.

[scandium]

I'm not so sure about the Watch Officers methods though, I'd rather use the Stadimeter or Sonar ping to find range. Maybe I'd use him for finding the final range before firing as this has less impact on the gyro, but deffinately not for plotting a target's course and speed. The difference of 50m to 100m can make a difference for plotting but not so much for a final range estimate. Just my opinion.

I go with the exact opposite approach and don't use the stadiometer at all, nor do I use the notepad at all other than to add in ship id (as a reminder to myself when I later do a last minute check on torpedo settings before firing). I compensate for the WO's "accurate to only within 100 meters) by taking several plots over time as I close, parallel & overtake (or outrun/outflank) and finally intercept at 90 degree AoB. All of that takes time and the dozen (minimum) range and bearing plots from the Watch Officer's observations will give what I consider an accurate enough line of best fit for the target's course and speed, which I can then derive range from using the protractor & ruler (to within 100 meters which is accurate enough for range).

[Sailor Steve]

You can fire a starshell :roll:

But I never fired starshells in a convoy attack, only against lone ships and just for fun .
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/7540/sh3img11122005185228453bmp7qa.th.jpg (http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sh3img11122005185228453bmp7qa.jpg)

One time i was playing with starshells in the british channel until appears a search light in the horizont
I edited out my starshells and AP long ago, as U-boats didn't carry either one.

[U-Dog]

How do yu edit out the AP & star shells ?

[STEED]

Most U-Boats had their Deck Guns removed by 1943. Opps another flaw in the game never mind.

[Sailor Steve]

How do yu edit out the AP & star shells ?
Go to the Data/Cfg folder. Click on Basic.cfg. Way down near the bottom of the file, just below 'Coning', which is all the conning tower files, you'll come across the gun files: '10.5cm', '8.8cm' etc. Those two files have the ammo loads for the deck guns. You can change them to anything you want; thousands of shells if you like.

The historical loads should read:
10.5cm: AP=0, SS=0, HE=150
8.8cm: AP=0, SS=0, HE=220

[U-Dog]

Thank You very much, from my deck gun crew, they were getting teased by the other U-boats for loading starshells.. :88)