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Originally Posted by Orion2012
One question RR, when you said they "crank the bearing input backwards" do you literally mean they, physically jammed it up, or did I misunderstand?
Nice explanation though, very well said Professor Robbins.
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The input crank is one of the eight at the bottom of the TDC. The crank can be used to set the bearing in the same way that a winder on a clock can set the time forward or backwards. When the TDC is running and the bearing of the target is being advanced by the computer, the operator will manually crank the bearing crank in the opposite direction, keeping the bearing on the TDC contant.
An analogy would be trying to keep a clock at a fixed time, whilst it is running, by winding the spindle that allows you to set the time backwards. This is one of the 'skilled' parts of being a TDC operator. Anyone who has ever used a lathe or milling machine will know the skill and dexterity you need to feed in at a contant rate so as to give a uniform finish.
The difference between using the crank to keep the bearing matching the aim point and turining the PK off, is that everything is updated. As your ship and the target ship are still closing each other down, or possibly moving apart, if you are in a bad position, the problem is changing. With the TDC running and the bearing being held everything, e.g. the range, AoB, torpedo run length, gyro angle order etcetera are updated with the new problem.