pinging a merchant

[Edoll]

Does actively pinging a merchant result in the merchant hearing the ping and changing its course? - i was tracking a merchant with passive sonar but i can't see any other way of getting even a "probable course" without active pinging it at least twice for a heading...

So.. should is the merchant changing course due to my pinging? And if so what is the correct way of figuring out its course with only a hydrophone aob?

thanks in advance :)

[Egan]

Active? What boat, the XXI? Best way to work out course it to have a look through yr peri.

[Edoll]

VIIB :)

Well true, but that doesnt always work.. say i get a hydrophone reading somewhere at 320 degrees long range moving away.. how the heck am i going to spot that sucker? - its crappy weather (most of the times when i get those kinds of contacts anyway) so theres not much to see above water..

[Egan]

Surface, chase the contact on the last bearing you heard him on. Dive occasionally to make sure he is still out there. Listen to him on the Hydrophones and see which way he is pulling. You can get a good idea of which way he is heading from that. But if you rely soley on Hydrophones for finding, tracking and making kills you aren't really going to get very far. U-boats aren't like modern attack subs. Visual is the key. get your visual skills down and everyting else falls into place.

How did you get an active on the 7?

[Eichenlaub]

You can purchase active sonar for the VII from somewhere in 1942 or 1943. I think it was the Nibelung. Anyway, I've never used active sonar. I usually combat convoys and active sonar would only give my position away. Against single targets, visual skills do the trick.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[Egan]

Ah, I see. Never had any use for it. I have two scopes and a set of eyes. does the job for me. :up: