target recognition at night
 

Hello wise ones. I am snooping around Guam, it is midnight and there is an auxiliary sub-chaser tootling around (I am in TMO ). She is a long way away, and it is dark, but if I put maxoptics to maximum zoom I can make out the outlines and identify the craft from the recognition manual, which I duly enter into TDC - but nothing gets written into the ID panel on the Position Keeper pull-out, so I cannot set it up for an attack. Is it because the distance is too great or because it is night?

I ask because I had previously successfully entered the ID of a destroyer around Wake Island, also some distance away at the time of recognition, and subsequently sunk her, but that was in good light.:hmmm:

Can you lock onto the target, or does it lose lock very quickly?

it locks with the caption 'poor lock', and it does tend to lose it after a bit, but not instantly

you are either too far, too submerged, or it is too dark. change one of those things, and you will get a full lock. If the target is stationary, you don't need to bother with range if you point directly at your target for a zero degree gyro angle shot.

I guess too far and too dark must be it. I tried just sitting at 120 meters depth with engine off to wait for dawn - but she found me, so have to get close enough in the dark to launch a suprise attack...thank you

It should work as long as you check to confirm the target in the recognition manual whilst the target is still locked. If it isn't locked, I don't think it saves it. After you've set it I think it remembers it even if you lose lock (been quite a while since I played and even longer using the recognition manual).

thank you Nisgeis - I am thinking of backing off to wait for dawn as there are two destroyers and the subchaser out there now, perhaps it will be quieter on the other side of the island..