speed
 

In manual targeting should speed be entered befored the target is locked. Also is there a thread which gives the step by step procedure
for setting up a firing solution.











a

Speed can be entered anytime, if you dont know target speed, estimate and enter into TDC so TDC can have a solution, then refine it.Remember to activate the position keeper(PK) so the data is updated automatically(based on what you entered).

Easy way to obtain speed...start the stop watch, mark x on location of the target on map(relatively easy if using map contacts, if not, takes a bit more guess work but is possible) then time it for 3 minutes, mark position after 3 minutes.Then using the ruler draw a line from the first x to the second x, measure the distance and can obtain speed.Say a target moved 900 yards, his speed is 9 knots.Pretty simply.For quicker solutions that requires on the fly shooting, measure targets travel distance for one minute, say he moved 300 yards, you got it, his speed is 9 knots, unless he changes etc but its not the usual unless hes been alerted or has a pre planned course change.

Rule of thumb to remember is that 1-7 knots is "slow" 8-12 is"medium" and 13-20 is "fast" , anything over 20 is "Very fast" so this can help estimate if you sonar operator says this or you see a contact report, map contact etc that says this.

There are various "fancy" shooting solutions you can learn but I prefer the historically accurate methods.One is the old way, get a final periscope bearing, fire 10 seconds apart, use the spread knob to send fish to different points along target.I prefer the other that many of the top skippers used such as O Kane, which was to aim each torpedo as an individual shot.Example, you have a large freighter ahead, typically worth 3 torpedoes, maybe 4 but 3 for this purpose.Ill aim one at middle of target, just in front of the stack if its admidships, then move scope crosshairs over forward mast, send new bearing to TDC, fire two, then move cross hairs just in front of rear mast, send to TDC, fire three.This is simple and accurate, just make sure you have speed and AOB.

I typically enter range, bearing estimate, then AOB and speed estimate, then enter into TDC, then after measuring speed, I enter it, if AOB wasnt too far off and PK is on, itll updated it accurately based off of the original AOB.

Hope this helped.

Thats what i thought but how can the periscope maintain "lock" without speed entered into position keeper.

you don't need the speed enter for the scope to lock on the target

when the target is locked the periscope tracks the target i.e. you can see the bearing change at the top of the scope. how can the periscope
track (follow the rate of change of the target) if there is nospeed entered into the pk.

Magic.

It's a game. The periscope locks to whatever target you have the sight on, and follows it automatically. (If you want to, you can pretend your XO is tracking the target, keeping the scope on it. But it's just the way the game works.)

I use manual targeting and use the angle knob to shoot a spread but have tried the above method by unlocking the scope (after sending first shot to MOT) and moving crosshairs and shooting at different sections ship with scope still unlocked - unfortunatley those fish all head for MOT anyway. I've even gone to trouble of setting up a single game with a stationary ship in mission editor and practicing this technique on it, but all went to MOT - so must not be sending separate bearing for each shot. When using this method, how does one "send new bearing to TDC"? If I lock the scope, it jumps back to MOT. Thanks!

so in the real world the scope didnt track the target automatically

no not in the real world

Again, this is just a feature so as to allow you to do more than one thing at the same time. Tracking the scope with the mouse AND entering the firing solution would be impossible to do at once. It isn't really a cheat either because the scope will lose lock often in bad weather, low visibility, and when diving, etc.

I mean, you don't need to turn silent hunter into QWOP to feel realism.