John P. Cromwell attack technique on order

[Rockin Robbins]

I was having an extended PM conversation with Nisgeis about targeting methods. He had a great idea about shooting from 45º ahead of the target to increase the speed of the torpedo relative to the target compared to the right angle approach of the Dick O'Kane method. His spider senses told him that the 45º attack might be as easy to deliver as a Dick O'Kane attack and come with a bunch of advantages. He could just about see how the thing would work, but couldn't quite put it all together. Does he ever have great instinct. His attack method is a gem!

In addition to the torpedo's speed, 70% of the target's velocity is helping bring them together more quickly!

Therefore for a shot taken at the same range the target gets much less time to react!

If for some unknown reason you blow the attack and the target is still 45º in front of you, you have time to set up another Dick O'Kane attack before he gets to you!

In a convoy situation an angled shot through the columns might miss your target, but has maximal chance of picking up another victim!

All that made me really curious. So I broke out MoBo--electronic maneuvering board and salad slicer. Shazzam! There appeared to be a way to make this work as easily as Dick O'Kane, with no outside tools or calculator necessary. Nisgeis wanted to call it Fast-45, but I hit him with aaronblood's true (damn! his arguments are ALWAYS true) contention that Fast-90 was a technique that required the U-Boat's periscope/TDC direct connection and calling this Fast-45 would just muddy the water.

The Dick O'Kane technique is named after a great submarine ace, who used similar but not exact TDC wizardry to bring down his targets. Why not continue to name these after great American sub commanders? Our list came down to two commanders, but one, John P. Cromwell, merited the name for several reasons. First, he never had the chance to use this technique. He died without notable success in destroying the enemy. But he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for a very special reason.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

While attacking a Japanese convoy on 19 November 1943, Sculpin was forced to the surface, fatally damaged in a gun battle and abandoned by her surviving crew members. Captain Cromwell, who knew secret details of the impending operation to capture the Gilbert Islands, deliberately remained on board as she sank.

And quoting his subsequent Congressional Medal of Honor citation:

Determined to sacrifice himself rather than risk capture and subsequent danger of revealing plans under Japanese torture or use of drugs, he stoically remained aboard the mortally wounded vessel as she plunged to her death. Preserving the security of his mission at the cost of his own life, he had served his country as he had served the Navy, with deep integrity and an uncompromising devotion to duty.

So this attack technique will be a tribute to a true hero, who never got his chance to show his skill in a way that would make his name memorable today. But perhaps by naming an attack technique designed for a game, which itself memorializes the men who served, after this man, we might pause, while setting up this attack, to remember John P Cromwell, whose deed was every bit as heroic as those we celebrate: Mush Morton, Dick O'Kane, Sam Dealey or Eugene Fluckey. Let's remember Captain Cromwell as we set up this attack, named for him.

With the help of MoBo I've worked out the math and reduced its complexity so you can figure it out in your head in real time during the game. I've executed one practice attack, hitting four of four from 3300 yards. So it works.

Now the hard part: writing a set of instructions that YOU can use even better than I can, and making a tutorial movie for those who don't learn from written instructions. I can't make any promises on time. It's more important to do this right than do it on a schedule. I can tease you with my attack setup from the nav map on the prototype attack:


I could show you the picture of the tanker exploding, but that would just be bragging. I try not to do that, but to teach others to jockey their subs, hopefully better than I can. You can post your own explosions when this thing gets off the ground.