The targeting computer is a very complex mistress. One thing that you must overcome conceptually is that the computer doesn't really target the merchant. What it does is take into account the information as to the ship's speed and course and such which you input. It then calculates how much a torpedo which you fire would have to lead the target in order to score a hit. So wherever you point the crosshair the computer is always assuming that is where the target is. This means that if your numbers are accurate pointing at specific parts of the ship will score a hit there. The locking feature is merely something of convenience.
It also occurs to me that this target lock button we all use seems to be impossible to have been created back then. These days computers use radar or heat detection or something of the like to track targets. Back then there was no such potential for automated tracking. So am I right in assuming that this "Lock" feature is a gameplay conceit from the developers created to ease the overload of players set with doing all the work of a submarine?
Lastly I like the very tough damage model of GW. Unlike before now you actually have to make decisions as to who to engage. Small merchants are no longer simply 1 hit kills. Every attack is now a considered investment of your U-boat's offensive potential which is limited. GW is succeeding in not only making a U-boat or a merchant behave as it should but is actually making us ourselves THINK more like a real captain.
