Quote:
Originally Posted by DelphiUniverse
If surprise attacked, you have to shoot so the question still stands. 
The same holds true if you have a flooding, you can't dive. If I can't dive and I follow the advice "not to carry an anti aircraft gun" would mean I am dead right now, which I hardly need to tell is a bad idea, so I will continue to carry my anti aircraft gun.  |
The type of gun really doesn't matter much. None were really effective to the degree of reliance. If we
must entertain the situations where surprise occurs, one of two things will happen; your boat will eat whatever payload he dropped or your firing of the flack gun will annoy him enough to hopefully buy the time needed to crash dive. I have never found any flak gun effective at all. I found it better to maneuver to throw off his attack run as best as I could while preparing to dive. If the surprise attack misses, diving is still required because your position is marked and reported. More trouble
will follow. The few times I have been legitimately jumped by the mosquitoes, I have turned towards them and ordered Ahead Flank. The payload almost always falls behind me. I usually dive while he is trying to turn for another run. I do not bother with the flak gun at all because if he hits me while I am flatfooted, it doesn't matter. If I kill him
after he drops his ordinance, it is a waste of ammo because he is empty.
Regarding your scenario involving a damaged and flooded boat, Getting caught by a plane is potentially fatal. Eventually, you must dive to avoid current or future harassment. Duking it out with one plane simply draws your attention away from the other planes incoming with more bombs. Historically, this tag-team action occurred because the Tommies learned that there was only the one flak gun on the whole boat.
My first, second and last line of defense against air attacks is to
dive. Manning that flak gun invites trouble.