Why manual targeting???

[Exakt]

Guess i need more practice with that... just went ahead and tried manual targeting, i do get the principle behind it... but I launched 4 torps at a small merchant and all 4 missed. Oh, and yes my swearing got up a notch...

[sharkbit]

Originally Posted by Flopper

Plus it allows you to bring your swearing to a new level when you realize you forgot to set your bearing after that last stern shot.

Or:
Forgot to turn the TDC back on after inputing last second information.

Or:
"Damn...port 90 AOB, not starboard 90 AOB!"

Not that I've ever done any of those. No, not me. Nosiree.

[maillemaker]

Guess i need more practice with that... just went ahead and tried manual targeting, i do get the principle behind it... but I launched 4 torps at a small merchant and all 4 missed. Oh, and yes my swearing got up a notch...

Hi Exakt.

Try again. Not to be harsh here at all, but you're just doing something wrong. The fixed wire method is easy and foolproof.

1) Steer your sub just in front of the enemy ship. You can do this by aiming your periscope about 15 degrees in front of it and pressing "=". This will drive your sub to where you were looking.

2) When your sub stops turning (look at your rudder setting, should be zero), set your periscope to bearing 000. When the nose of the target ship crosses the vertical crosshair, start your stopwatch. When the tail of the target ship, stop the stopwatch.

3) Turn your sub to a 90 degree intercept with the target ship's course.

4) Identify the ship in the recognition manual. This will give you the ship's length in meters.

5) Calculate the speed using this formula:

(1.94 * length in meters) / time in seconds

6) Go to your TDC. Turn on manual data entry. Dial in the speed (as calculated above), and set the Angle on the Bow (AoB) to 90 degrees either starboard or port, depending on whether you are on the starboard or port side of the target ship. Turn off manual data entry.

7) Go to your periscope. Turn the scope until the gyro angle reads 000.

8) Go back to the TDC. Turn on manual data entry. Tweak the AoB back to 90 degrees if necessary. Turn off manual data entry.

9) Go back to the periscope. Turn the scope until the gyro angle reads 000. Open outer tube doors.

10) When the center of the target ship is on the vertical crosshair, fire your torpedo. The torpedo should hit the ship where the crosshair was on the ship when you fired the torpedo.

With this method, so long as you identified the ship properly, and thus got the right ship length, and as long as the target is not zig-zagging, you almost can't miss.

Now I almost always shoot within 1000m, usually less than 500.

Steve

[Flopper]

Originally Posted by sharkbit

Or:
Forgot to turn the TDC back on after inputing last second information.

Or:
"Damn...port 90 AOB, not starboard 90 AOB!"

Not that I've ever done any of those. No, not me. Nosiree.

Well I've never spent an hour, hour and a half setting up a dream shot and fired an eel to see it scurry off in some random direction, realizing I never even LOOKED at the tdc. And I SURELY didn't do it again, after doing it once.

[Vipper]

To me manual targeting means entering data in TDC by hands. That switch is in TDC - manual entering data. I do use so called "gods eye" , map contact updates are on (when all other boxes are checked it is still 100% with gwx) mainly because month long storms (storm glitch) and unstable stadimeter. Still i must get data using map tools and entering it manually. Its fun.

[Kremmen]

Originally Posted by sharkbit

Or:
"Damn...port 90 AOB, not starboard 90 AOB!"

Many many times

[geosub1978]

Manual targeting for me is this with TDC off:

1st. Choose the impact angle that you will shoot (70-110 degrees best).
2nd. Choose the distance that you will shoot.
3rd. Choose the number of hits.
4th. Choose the spread angle
5th. Choose torpedo speed and run depth.
6th. Move the submarine accordingly so that you will achieve number 1 and 2.
7th. If there is a last moment change, adjust it with gyroangle (up to 25degrees or abort) by moving the bearing dial of the TDC.

A less hardcore manual targeting is feeding TDC, while in parallel moving the sub to obtain 000 gyroangle.

For manual targeting, there are sooo many threads for SH3 and SH4, you will find them if you use "search" tab.

[jumpy]

As far as manual targeting simplified goes, I found that the information in the following link to be spot on:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...6&postcount=67
Fast 90 U-boat targeting
Does exactly what it says. Only time I have missed firing across the track of a convoy at a merchant on the far side, was because I failed to open the bow doors before firing, so my torpedo passed astern.

Works like a charm when firing at multiple targets in quick succession.