So the hit zones are just a simple vector box overlay on the recognition manual?
As showing the hit zones made 1-shot kills way too easy, I guess all the major mods either removed the hit zones from the manual or at least didn't include any hit zone overlays for all the new ships they added.
I remember in the early days (stock game) players were frequently getting over
100K, then over
200K (even
300K?!) of tonnage in one patrol, using the hit boxes in the recognition manual and also information that was circulated amongst players about the exact aiming point and torpedo settings to use on specific ships to get an instant "Enemy Unit destroyed!" result from one torpedo hit (for example, the link in my previous post the mentions the aiming points, torpedo pistol settings and running depth settings needed to instantly destroy C2 and C3 merchants with one torpedo). The general tactic for getting extremely high tonnage in one patrol was to cherry-pick big targets for sinking with 1 torpedo, and sink smaller ships with the deck gun.