SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

benitorios · 11-13-12, 12:19 AM

I've been using a slight variation of the fast-90 approach, in cases where I wasn't entirely sure of the target course and wanted to allow myself a +/-5 degree error margin in my assessment of its course.

My approach is to position my U-boat in a roughly perpendicular position vs. the target's guestimated course. When in doubt about its course (and it's the whole point here!), I position myself pointing a bit more away from it.

Example: if the target is coming from your port to starboard, point the U-boat slightly more towards starboard.

I then set up the AOB on the TDC to 90 degrees (would be stb in the above example), set up speed and distance, but leave the TDC on manual.

As the target starts to pass in front of me, I lock the scope onto it (L). Still leave TDC on manual. When I visually see that it's at a 90-degree AOB angle from me, I immediately switch off the manual TDC then fire. The moment you switch off the TDC manual mode, the TDC finds the right gyro; in the example above, this should be a few degrees more to starboard vs. the target's bearing.

If you pointed your U-boat a bit more "forward-looking" as recommended above, the target should show its 90 AOB to you when it's around 350 bearing (or 010 if coming from starboard), meaning that the gyro will be close to zero, which reduces the influence of distance on the firing solution.

The torpedo is going to hit the target at a slight angle; if you positioned yourself right, and depending on target speed, this angle shouldn't be more than 10 degrees from 90 AOB, which is good enough to trigger an impact pistol.

My tip on visually determining when the target is at 90 AOB: if the target has pairs of masts (like the medium cargo in GWX), wait for the moment the left and right mast are perfectly aligned. For targets without those double masts, pick an element of the superstructure that has a flat surface perpendicular to the ship's length (can be forward bulkhead of the superstructure). When it disappears from view, that means you're looking at it exactly from the side = that's a 90 AOB.

I've been having 80-90% hit rate using this technique.

11-13-12, 12:19 AM	#10
benitorios Sailor man Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: On the shores of the East China Sea Posts: 44 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 0	I've been using a slight variation of the fast-90 approach, in cases where I wasn't entirely sure of the target course and wanted to allow myself a +/-5 degree error margin in my assessment of its course. My approach is to position my U-boat in a roughly perpendicular position vs. the target's guestimated course. When in doubt about its course (and it's the whole point here!), I position myself pointing a bit more away from it. Example: if the target is coming from your port to starboard, point the U-boat slightly more towards starboard. I then set up the AOB on the TDC to 90 degrees (would be stb in the above example), set up speed and distance, but leave the TDC on manual. As the target starts to pass in front of me, I lock the scope onto it (L). Still leave TDC on manual. When I visually see that it's at a 90-degree AOB angle from me, I immediately switch off the manual TDC then fire. The moment you switch off the TDC manual mode, the TDC finds the right gyro; in the example above, this should be a few degrees more to starboard vs. the target's bearing. If you pointed your U-boat a bit more "forward-looking" as recommended above, the target should show its 90 AOB to you when it's around 350 bearing (or 010 if coming from starboard), meaning that the gyro will be close to zero, which reduces the influence of distance on the firing solution. The torpedo is going to hit the target at a slight angle; if you positioned yourself right, and depending on target speed, this angle shouldn't be more than 10 degrees from 90 AOB, which is good enough to trigger an impact pistol. My tip on visually determining when the target is at 90 AOB: if the target has pairs of masts (like the medium cargo in GWX), wait for the moment the left and right mast are perfectly aligned. For targets without those double masts, pick an element of the superstructure that has a flat surface perpendicular to the ship's length (can be forward bulkhead of the superstructure). When it disappears from view, that means you're looking at it exactly from the side = that's a 90 AOB. I've been having 80-90% hit rate using this technique.