Foggy fun with the deck gun (radar targeting)

[jhelix70]

It sucks trying to attack in heavy fog. By the time you get visual contact, you are often too close for a torpedo attack.

The fun comes in when you have SJ radar installed. Use it to close within about 500-1000 yards of a target (no need to establish visual contact or identify it), manually control the gun yourself, and open fire in its general direction. If you miss, try a different bearing. Eventually you will see a flash indicating a hit, then just go to town.

Neither the target or its escorts will be able to find you easily. Just keep an eye on the radar or map to make sure they dont get too close. When you destroyed the target, check the captain's log to see what it was

[Crow]

Originally Posted by jhelix70

It sucks trying to attack in heavy fog. By the time you get visual contact, you are often too close for a torpedo attack.

The fun comes in when you have SJ radar installed. Use it to close within about 500-1000 yards of a target (no need to establish visual contact or identify it), manually control the gun yourself, and open fire in its general direction. If you miss, try a different bearing. Eventually you will see a flash indicating a hit, then just go to town.

Neither the target or its escorts will be able to find you easily. Just keep an eye on the radar or map to make sure they dont get too close. When you destroyed the target, check the captain's log to see what it was

the watchman with the infra red goggles was able to id it

[Sailor Steve]

That's cheating! No, not the shooting blind part - that sounds like fun - but the checking to see what it was part. How can you write in the log what it was when you don't know what it was, but then you can look and see what you wrote to find out what it was you couldn't see to write what it was...I'm getting dizzy... :rotfl:

[tater]

Your radar should actually be able to pick up splashes from deck gun misses according to all the accounts I have read.

[Sailor Steve]

Two problems with radar and missing splashes:

1) Radar can pick up short splashes, and tell pretty well how far short they are, but 'overs' are likely to be shielded by the target itself. Also, in surface ships the radar operator is in direct communication with fire control. On a sub I don't think they're using sound-powered phones to talk to each other.

2) At the kind of ranges a sub is shooting at (500 yards?) it's all too close together for the radar to work. Also, adjusting for misses takes time - the fire-control officer has to see (or be told about) the miss and adjust accordingly. At close range there's no time to do all that; it's point and shoot - direct fire.

[perisher]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Two problems with radar and missing splashes:

1) Radar can pick up short splashes, and tell pretty well how far short they are, but 'overs' are likely to be shielded by the target itself. Also, in surface ships the radar operator is in direct communication with fire control. On a sub I don't think they're using sound-powered phones to talk to each other.

2) At the kind of ranges a sub is shooting at (500 yards?) it's all too close together for the radar to work. Also, adjusting for misses takes time - the fire-control officer has to see (or be told about) the miss and adjust accordingly. At close range there's no time to do all that; it's point and shoot - direct fire.

In James Calvert's book Silent Running he was serving in a Gato in 1944. In order to reduce the number of personnel on deck in a gun action they combined the roles of fire-control officer, spotter and gun-layer. The guy in charge took the gun-layer's seat and a headset was rigged for him to talk direct to the radar operator who gave him his fall of shot.