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Originally Posted by LukeFF
1. Is it right to have such a specially qualified officer as part of the crew? Would it be more appropriate to have this as a skill assigned to the weapons officer?
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The IWO is technically the torpedo qualified officer on board. In RUb he doesn't come to the boat pre-qualified for the torpedoes. Basically that's a play balance issue. Players who value realism should probably add the following qualifications when they get the chance:
The IWO should have a torpedo qualification as well as his standard issue watch qualification.
The IIWO (the guy who starts the game on the bridge) should add two gunnery qualifications to his pre-existing watch qualification.
The LI comes with a repair qualification, but since he's very knowledgeable about all aspects of engineering it wouldn't be unusual to see him qualified on guns or torpedoes.
The extra officer starts out the game completely unqualified, but he could perhaps be given a navigation qualification or a medical qualification.
If players purchase another officer, they should try to buy a completely unqualified guy, just for the sake of realism. Avoiding the best-qualified personnel goes against the grain somewhat, but if realism is your thing, this is the way to do it.
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2. With a full complement of officers, this makes for 5 officers on board the boat! (I don't count the Navigator, since his positon was an NCO one). So, shouldn't the maximum number of officers for the Type VII and IX be 4, not 5?
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As the war developed, it was usual to find one or even two midshipmen on board who would help the navigator or assist the other officers. Plus, commanders-in-training would often go on a final war patrol before taking over command of their own boat. Also, propaganda officers, photographers and other PR guys would often be assigned to a boat, and sometimes meteorologists. So a standard officer complement would be 4 (including the commander!), but often in practice it was 5 or 6.
You can find this info in the book "Neither Sharks Nor Wolves" by Timothy Mulligan.