So, this is what happened:
Captain identifies ship, and checks mast height and ship length from manual, or estimates them. He then turns a couple of dials on the periscope, matching two pictures, and has range and AOB.
All he needs in addition to this is speed. And that could be measured exactly using any of the following (and probably by some other means too):
- Matching course and speed when doing long range approach, even before identifying ship.
- By keeping a constant bearing during perpendicular submerged approach. (Or at any other angle, but this would require a bit more calculation).
- From any two timed spottings with some trigonometry.
- Using the stopwatch to measure speed from stationary sub at any time after ship was identified and length known.
The Submarine Commander's Handbook suggests that measuring range was the only somewhat difficult part (which is quite true at least in the game through the periscope/uzo). An error in the range estimate would also mean an error in AOB. But AOB could be visually checked, to make sure there is no large error. (And if there was, the range could then be rechecked.)
This is very impressive. I'm tempted to turn weapon officer assistance back on. Or perhaps a good (giving realistic effects) solution would be to use the AOB given by the weapon officer together with my own speed and range measurements (both done from the periscope/uzo).
Thank you very much for all the information, Hitman.
