Sinking ships in port

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by MarkCt

If you were given a photo ops mission in a well protected harbor, and you did your very best to get in there without being detected, after taking the pictures, would you torpedo any of the ships or just try to slip back out?

In real life you won't find any recon missions involving protected harbors. The events depicted in movies like Destination Tokyo just didn't happen. Given the locations involved it looks like recon missions were dedicated to checking the enemy's land forces, not his shipping.
http://www.valoratsea.com/recon.htm

For argument's sake, though, lets pretend they did. Why would you be sent into a heavily protected harbor to take pictures in the first place? Because the higher-ups wanted to know what was there. Why would they want to know what was there? Because with that information they could plan surface and air attacks that could devastate enemy forces, not just sinke a couple of ships. If, once you took your pictures, you proceded to sink ships you would alert the enemy to the fact that American forces had plans involving that harbor, thereby defeating the very purpose you were sent there for.

Most of the harbors I did photo ops in just had a few patrol boats and freighters but one had a couple carriers, BB's and a sub. All the other times I would just take the photos and leave but that time the temptation was just too great.

Missions assigned by the game are total fiction. I used to do the same in SH1 until I figured that out. After that I refused to go on missions involving major naval bases, not because they were dangerous but because they never happened in real life.