hmmmm,
well, using a type II your attack choices are limited, but you do have some.
First, when you spot a ship, track which way it is heading and try to intercept it, that way when the ship crosses your bow, you will be right there, within range, ready to fire.
Second, you should try GWX, it gives you a more realistic bang for your buck (found in the SH3 mods workshop, it stickied) that is, if you haven't.
but I forgot to add, when you spot that ship and laid out an intercept course, go to ahead flank, nothing wrong with getting there early

I would make 2-3 marks of the ship's location, to get an idea of which way it is headed, then, I would use the compass tool to draw a line through them to get an idea of where I am supposed to be when the ship reaches my location. of course, I go the extra distance and lay out the ruler to figure out the range to the target from my position.
it's worked very well for me, but I use a type VII, and have a lot more hitting power (I.E. a deck gun, a stern tube, and an extra bow tube)