Using manual targeting to complement an attack

[I'm goin' down]

I am a fan of manual targeting, and this post is intended to illustrate its flexible uses and advantanges. In RFB it is not difficult to master manual targeting, although I recommend studying and practicing Hitman’s tutorial on manual targeting at 100% realism in
the stock game to understand aspect ratio and related issues if you need practice and confidence building exercises on the technique. It will make you secure in using it to attack. Also, the SCAF mod helps improve manual targeting accuracy in the stock game

Manual targeting can be quite useful when utilized in conjunction with vector analysis in an attack scenario. For example, if you decide to forego manual targeting and attack at a 45 degree angle (+/- the lead angle) using the John Cromwell attack technique, here is how it might unfold.

If do not sink your target with the primary attack, you can implement manual targeting to continue the attack after the target passes the 0 degree bearing regardless if it continues at the same or different speed. Here is how.

Assumption: John Cromwell Attack technique fails.
1. Once the target gets close enough, identify it. (This is also typically done in most attacks to aid in setting the running depth for the torpedoes.)
2. Once bow torpedoes are fired in the primary attack using the John Cromwell attack technique, promptly lock the periscope on the target and bring the aft tubes to bear by bringing the boat about by the most expeditious means. (Example: If the target is approaches from the port side, turn hard to port, and increase to flank speed. This will bring the aft tubes to bear quickly).
3. Hit the button on the TBT to activate the TDC.
4. Since the AOB (45 degrees, +/- firing angle for a classic John Cromwell attack) and target’s speed have already been input into the TDC, the remaining factor required to input to set up a fairly accurate manual targeting solution is the target’s range. Since the target has been previously identified, open the on board ship identification manual to the page showing the target and click on the "check mark" sending and inputing its identity to the TDC.
5. Input the target's range into the TDC in standard fashion (matching the top of the target’s mast to the shadow target’s keel). Setting the range by matching the top of the target’s mast and shadow target’s keel is not difficult because the target is relatively close in terms of distance if you act swiftly, and in RFB matching the target’s mast and shadow target’s keel is simple.
6. You are now prepared and in position to unleash a second attack. Once the TDC has a firing solution for the stern tubes (generally, when the locked periscope passes a bearing of approximately 90 degrees when turning to port, or a bearing of approximately 270 degrees when turning to starboard), fire the aft torpedoes.

Note:

5.A. If the first attack damages the target, slowing it down, before you fire the aft torpedoes, adjust the speed input for the TDC to match the target’s adjusted speed, or you will overshoot the target. I usually set the adjusted speed between 1 and 3 kts., unless the target is dead in the water, in which case I set its speed at 0 kts. (These speed estimations are educated guesses.) Adjusting speed via estimating has to be done in any attack when there is insufficient opportunity for the attacking boat’s crew to calculate target speed accurately.

Post script.

Yesterday, I missed three bow shots at a target running at 7 kts., approaching from port, using the Cromwell attack technique. The firing angle was 354 degrees. The attack failed because my boat was off course due to carelessness. Fortunately, my boat was not off course by much. I immediately set up for manual targeting by locking the periscope on the target, swinging the boat hard to port at flank speed, firing the remaining bow torpedo, followed by firing four aft torpedoes when the TDC gave me an aft firing soloution. The bow torpedo missed but the four aft torpedoes were on the mark. Since the target was moving away at 7 kts., it took a while for the aft torpedoes to reach it, and they approached the target at a steep angle as I was close to the target's course when you fire.

The great characteristic of manual targeting is that the firing solution stays accurate if the target maintains speed, course and the initial solution would likely have resulted in a torpedo contact. The fact that your ship is moving and changing course and alters/ adjusts the angle of the boats in relation to one another (as you can see on the TBT), does not alter the integrity of the manual targeting solution.

I also assume you can fire bow and aft torpedoes accurately using manual targeting when your boat is running parallel to the target and close to 90 starboard or 270 degrees port, depending on the whether the target is to your port or starboard. That is the next task. I am in a mission where I only have my stern tubes loaded, so I will soon find out.

[I'm goin' down]

This is a follow up to my previous post.

Today, I encountered a merchant with only my stern tubes loaded. I ran parallel and slightly ahead of it. The AoB around the time of attack was 67 degrees. I fired two salvos of two torpedoes each. I did not track the first salvo which missed their target. I tracked the second salvo, and both hit the stern of the merchant, disabling its rudder. The torpedoes that hit came in at a steep angle, which was a nice visual. I believe the first salvo missed because the merchant had seen my boat on the surface, fired at it and taken evasive action, including changing its speed. The second salvo was fired after it had returned to course.

I waited for the disabled merchant to sink. It never did, and then my boat moved off, only to return to find it had disappeared. I don't know where it went. Regardless, the theory of manual targeting using stern tubes definitely works. The torpedoes salvo that hit the target ran at a steep angle, which was a nice visual.

But, where the heck did the merchant end up?