Fellow Virtual Skippers, I got her:
First confirmed kill in Silent Hunter 4, and this one is dedicated to those who have helped me work out my calculations in this thread. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy at putting this tin can on the bottom through a fully manual firing solution. I'm going to practice this a few more times and then go into the main campaign.
One minor thing I did have an issue with though - I was trying to work out the precise AOB using the details put forward in the guide I originally linked to, and came back with a completely wrong number. My precise figures were:
Sin of Bearing Change = 0.54
0.54 x 804 (Range 2) = 434.16
434.16 divided by 804 = 0.778
0.778 Sin-1 = 51.1 degrees
So the calculations were telling me that my AOB to the Cruiser was 51.1 degrees. However, that was clearly wrong from visual observation, as I was sitting at roughly 90 degrees to her starboard at the time. Using this 90 degree estimate I was successful, and I realise from reading elsewhere that estimating was done quite a bit on the RL boats, but I would be interested if anyone could tell me how I got this particular bit of calculating wrong?
Good hunting!