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Originally Posted by E.B. Fluckey
Great report! A few n00b questions - When you say you 'manually fired' and 'aimed for the fuel bunkers' how did you achieve this? Are you using manual TDC?
- Where are the bunkers located on the ship?
Thanks!! |
When I say 'manually fired' what I actually mean is I have the 'scope unlocked and select my own point of impact. I suppose I should say 'manually aim' instead.
I use auto TDC mostly; when I use manual TDC I'll refer to that with 'manually target and compute'. Just my own personal quirk when writing after-action reports.
As to aiming for the fuel bunkers and knowing where they are located, for the older vessels (original/stock) I've pretty much memorized the locations of their engine rooms, propulsion and steering, fuel bunkers, etc. As to the newer ones, at the moment that's a hit-or-miss (yes, pun intended :p ) learning curve.
It seems to me (correct me if I'm in error, oh-more-knowledgeable Kaleuns) that a good rule of thumb for the bunker locations for merchants is to first locate the funnel/stack. The engine room should be just under and slightly forward of there. Immediately forward of the engine room is the fuel bunker.
Some of the bunkers are above waterline as well as below, and some are below and deep under the waterline. Which ones are which is part of a Kaleun's experience. :p
Thanks everyone for your kind words and congratulations. So far this approach technique still works, but then again I'm only in August '41. But the six approaches I've done this with has worked like a charm each time, enabling me to actually
penetrate the convoy, running parallel to the convoy 180 degrees to their path, right down the middle (where all the fat juicy targets are!
). One convoy I attacked over two days this way, three successive attacks each time, and going deep whilst still in the middle of the convoy, and the escorts never even came close to finding me, let alone dc-ing me. They dropped a lot of ashcans, yes, but none closer than 500 meters. (I think they were really ticked off and had to drop some just to feel like they were doing something
)
@Abd_von_Mumit: Nah, tis isn't stealing. Just consider it swapping war-stories together at our local watering hole between patrols.
(p.s. You owe me a couple of shots of schnapps)