Strange Escort Behavior (Possible bug?)

WFGood · 04-02-07, 12:48 PM

I came across something last night and did a little experimenting. I observed some strange behavior by the escorts, and I am wondering if it is a bug or just a programming error. I was stalking a large convoy which had some aggressive escorts around the periphery. They were racing about at 14 - 19 knots and charged at me several times forcing me to dive. I actually had to work to get into firing position. I fired all torpedoes, sank 3 and damaged 3, but then I surfaced in the middle of the convoy to try the deck gun while reloading.
As I began firing at the damaged merchantmen of which a couple fired back, the escorts which were outside the convoy, began to charge me. A funny thing happened though. As they entered the convoy, all three slowed to convoy speed, four knots and did not open fire. One came directly up my stern. I switched fire and managed to put 8-10 AP rounds on her without her returning fire. She never even sped up, just kept plugging along at four knots. My last shell obviously hit her magazine because there was a terrific explosion, and she sank. Even more striking was the second escort, which due to tunnel vision, I had not kept track of. Just as the first exploded, the second cruised by my stern at four knots. She could easily have rammed or blown me out of the water, but instead kept steaming on. I switched fire to her and poured in the rounds. The guns never even turned in my direction, and I eventually switched back to the merchies to finish them off. The last I saw the DD was a burning wreck dropping behind a merchant which I was pounding with deck rounds. I have screen shots, but this is my work computer, and they are at home.
My question is, since the escorts were so aggressive outside the convoy and then became docile as they entered, could their be a parameter set inside the convoy box which forces all ships to conform to the convoy's speed? It would seem to make sense, but my knowledge of programming ended with Fortran when I graduated the Naval Academy quite a few years ago. Could it be set that way? If so, is it something that could be easily fixed? It would seem to explain the aggressiveness of some escorts and the lack of interest by others? Just a thought. (It's that engineering mindset trying to do some problem solving.)

04-02-07, 12:48 PM	#1
WFGood Electrician's Mate Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: high above the big blue Posts: 137 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Strange Escort Behavior (Possible bug?) I came across something last night and did a little experimenting. I observed some strange behavior by the escorts, and I am wondering if it is a bug or just a programming error. I was stalking a large convoy which had some aggressive escorts around the periphery. They were racing about at 14 - 19 knots and charged at me several times forcing me to dive. I actually had to work to get into firing position. I fired all torpedoes, sank 3 and damaged 3, but then I surfaced in the middle of the convoy to try the deck gun while reloading. As I began firing at the damaged merchantmen of which a couple fired back, the escorts which were outside the convoy, began to charge me. A funny thing happened though. As they entered the convoy, all three slowed to convoy speed, four knots and did not open fire. One came directly up my stern. I switched fire and managed to put 8-10 AP rounds on her without her returning fire. She never even sped up, just kept plugging along at four knots. My last shell obviously hit her magazine because there was a terrific explosion, and she sank. Even more striking was the second escort, which due to tunnel vision, I had not kept track of. Just as the first exploded, the second cruised by my stern at four knots. She could easily have rammed or blown me out of the water, but instead kept steaming on. I switched fire to her and poured in the rounds. The guns never even turned in my direction, and I eventually switched back to the merchies to finish them off. The last I saw the DD was a burning wreck dropping behind a merchant which I was pounding with deck rounds. I have screen shots, but this is my work computer, and they are at home. My question is, since the escorts were so aggressive outside the convoy and then became docile as they entered, could their be a parameter set inside the convoy box which forces all ships to conform to the convoy's speed? It would seem to make sense, but my knowledge of programming ended with Fortran when I graduated the Naval Academy quite a few years ago. Could it be set that way? If so, is it something that could be easily fixed? It would seem to explain the aggressiveness of some escorts and the lack of interest by others? Just a thought. (It's that engineering mindset trying to do some problem solving.) __________________