I did not know you could get crew help in Identifying the target but its not entirely unrealistic. In real life, you had a fire control team to help you out. The person at the scope would describe the target and someone in the fire control team would look through the recognition manual to narrow down the possibilities. Merchant targets were organized in the book by various features such as the type of superstructure, location of the funnel , number and location of masts and kingposts , deck structure and shape of bow and stern. By reporting these featurs the fire control team could assist in the ID. This was often done over a period of time as the sub closed the distance. IN SHIV, due to the short range visibility, you dont have as much time to do the ID. Even so, the only purpose for the ID is to get the mast height which you can estimate or use an average based on the type or class of ship. Joe S
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