I've stopped using the deck gun altogether.
The last couple of times I've used the deck gun, a long time ago, I did what Sailor Steve has suggested, and let the gun crew choose their own target, to simulate the inaccuracy of the deck gun. Then RUB changed the firing time, but I had stopped using the deck gun before then.
My "house rule" is to only fire the deck gun to finish off targets that are already wounded (or to fire starshells). However, either the weather has been universally bad when I am tracking lone merchants (not that I see many of those anymore), or else if the weather is good, then the target is guarded by warships.
A long time ago, I routinely fired at the bridge. What happens is that either the target stops zig-zagging, or it starts to steam in a circle for a while. Infrequently, it would stop from a bridge hit, so more or less I believe that a bridge hit jams the rudder. I also liked toppling the smokestacks, as I believe that helps the engine room evolve into flame a little faster.
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