Quote:
Originally Posted by razark
The terminology is so much fun to learn!
Firing Point- the point at which you fire. By doing all sorts of hocus-pocus with angles and speeds and target courses, you determine what point on the map you want to fire your torpedoes from. You then get the fun task of making sure your boat arrives at this point when the target is where it is supposed to be.
The wire- the vertical line running through the periscope view. If you set up the Dick O'Kane Attack (A method developed for manual targeting that lets you ignore range), you wait until the part of the ship you want to hit is crossing the central wire in the periscope. If you have it set up, the torpedo will hit that part, allowing you to aim for engines, fuel, magazines, etc.
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Razark is correct. If you plan on firing when the target passes a periscope reading of 350 degrees (this is the same as saying the target is at a bearing of 350 degrees when you fire), that is the firing point. Razark enlightens us by noting that if you run a length of wire from your boat until it intersects the target's course at a 350 degree bearing (i.e. the firing point) someone coined the terminology that you are firing when the target has "crossed the wire." (Can we blame Rockin Robbins for first using that term?) If you fire before the target crosses the wire you will probably miss, as the torpedo will likely cross the target's course before the target reaches the projected impact point. If you fire after the target has crosses the wire, you will probably miss, as the torpedoes will likely cross the target's course aft of its stern. if you fire when the ship crosses the wire, under the O'Kane method, you will probably hit the target at or near the projected impact point as calculated by the TDC (torpedo data computer) even though it has not been activated.
Here is a post that I authored. It is in the Skipper's Bag of Tricks thread. It gives you an idea of how the TDC computes the lead angle even though it is not activated. Note, Rockin Robbins uses a 10 degree lead angle for target's moving at speeds of 15 kts. or slower. He uses a lead angle of 20 degree for target's traveling at speeds of greater than 15 kts. If you follow his rules, you are attacking with the Dick O'Kane attack technique. He has posted a link to a video tutorial on the subject. You will understand this a lot better if you read the Dick O'Kane thread in the sticky. Dick O'Kane, by the way, was a famous WW2 Navy Sub Captain, possibly the most famous.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=167
Oh yea. There is a lot to learn here--an unbelievable amount. I knew nothing (i.e. "zero") when I started, and Robbins presented me with an award when I finally sunk a ship with auto targeting. After a few weeks of thinking I was the best shot on the forum, I read, studied and practiced Hitman's tutorial on Manual Targeting at 100 Percent Realism, and discovered I new "NOTHING." Wait until you wander into the MoBo forum and tackle aaronblood's MoBo program. The man is a genius. Or, Nisgeis's 3D TDC radar mod. And then there is the Easy Aob mod perfected by nicolas and ddrgn, a simple manual targeting fix that revolutionized the game a few years ago, followed shortly after by gutted's Solution Solver program. And finally, if you have the bent, you can navigate using the stars if you can master Celestial Navigation--something I have not been able to do despite trying. These are just a few of the many, many mods that provide "fixes" to the game. There are many skipper's who have been around quite awhile, and will answer your questions. Don't forget to use key words to search the forums, as many questions you have, such as the ones posted here, have been addressed in other posts or threads. You might want to go to the Mod forum and download period music and radio station programs from the War, so you have something to listen to as you meander around the Pacific. For kicks, I follow the SH5 realistic photo thread, as Gunfighter (see my signature below) and Otto post some incredible screen shots, some of which are photo quality, and one new skipper has recently made a short movie for You Tube where he interjected his 10 year old son as the captain of a sub on an attack run.