I hate rangefinding. [Rant] UZO/Visual/WO.

Ashikaga · 08-01-21, 04:19 PM

So here I am sailing and see a dream of a convoy. I lock my UZO on. Ship, nice and big. Ask the WO for a range, then then ask my Gunny for a speed range aob and bearing.

All nice and well. I line up the scope, torp set at correct speed according to their measurements, lock, have Gunny give me a solution and unlock.

FIRE! TORP away!

I take my eyes from the UZO and stare into the night...

Hang on, that Convoy all of a sudden looks a lot further away! Hell I will never even hit it! I ask WO for nearest contact and he says, 6500m! I then lock the UZO on my target again and ask Gunny for a new speed-range check.
His numbers do not match mine, stadimeter, or the WO's.

The WO is talking about a destroyer, Gunny talks about the target, when looking in UZO and visually and with binos there is a massive difference in range and by the time I realize that my WO was talking about a destroyer the bastard is already on me!

Crash dive and evade it is...

After a few minutes: "Torpedo hat das ziel verfählt"

Grrrrrrrmbl expletives and so on!

I am either too close or too far and as soon as I dive i lose ground, even at full speed!!!!

End of rant

How can I learn to range correctly?
Does anyone have any tips for me?

Best, Ashi.

08-01-21, 04:19 PM	#1
Ashikaga Commodore Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Netherlands Posts: 620 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	I hate rangefinding. [Rant plus question] So here I am sailing and see a dream of a convoy. I lock my UZO on. Ship, nice and big. Ask the WO for a range, then then ask my Gunny for a speed range aob and bearing. All nice and well. I line up the scope, torp set at correct speed according to their measurements, lock, have Gunny give me a solution and unlock. FIRE! TORP away! I take my eyes from the UZO and stare into the night... Hang on, that Convoy all of a sudden looks a lot further away! Hell I will never even hit it! I ask WO for nearest contact and he says, 6500m! I then lock the UZO on my target again and ask Gunny for a new speed-range check. His numbers do not match mine, stadimeter, or the WO's. The WO is talking about a destroyer, Gunny talks about the target, when looking in UZO and visually and with binos there is a massive difference in range and by the time I realize that my WO was talking about a destroyer the bastard is already on me! Crash dive and evade it is... After a few minutes: "Torpedo hat das ziel verfählt" Grrrrrrrmbl expletives and so on! I am either too close or too far and as soon as I dive i lose ground, even at full speed!!!! End of rant How can I learn to range correctly? Does anyone have any tips for me? Best, Ashi. __________________ Last edited by Ashikaga; 08-01-21 at 05:09 PM.