Cuties... What am I doing wrong?

Vaux · 01-14-14, 09:01 AM

I just recently started playing around with Mk 27 Cuties. On my last patrol, I loaded out with a couple just to give them a try, and I sank a lone Fubuki destroyer with them. It was dusk, the seas were heavy, and the DD was only making 7 knots. I took the shot from periscope depth with engines stopped and the crew at Silent Running while in visual contact with the DD at about 1,800 yards. He started going for the bottom after the first hit, so the second one was an unnecessary hit. So, I'm thinking, these things are pretty cool!

I've read a couple of posts here on the Cuties and also did some Wiki research on them. I've seen several mentions on here of other skippers firing them at depths well in excess of PD.

Well, next patrol, and I'm assigned to do a photo recon of a harbor on the Southern tip of Japan (whose name escapes me right now). I arrive near the mouth of the inlet just as the sun is coming up. The weather is "perfect", meaning it's the worst possible conditions to try to shoot up the inlet during the day... Wind, overcast, and precipitation all zero. So I decide to dive deep, go to All Stop, and wait for sundown.

Fast forward to about 1400 and my sonar man reports a contact, moving slow, closing, at long range.... and then another contact.... and another... then a fast-mover closing... and another fast mover... then a couple more slows.... Well, my curiosity was officially piqued, so I decide to go to Silent Running with screws rotating at below 25 RPM, and go to periscope depth.

I'm looking at a large convoy of 7 merchants in 3 columns - a mix of Akita, Buzyun, and Zinbo Marus - and 5 assorted DDs, moving starboard to port from my perspective. I couldn't be in a more perfect position if I'd planned it. I was planning on staying down for at least another 10 hours anyway, so I decide to go for it.

Dipping my scope, plotting courses, and noting speeds, I predict that the lead ship in the center column, a Zinbu, will pass my bow at about 1,800 yards, the lead ship in the closest column, an Akita, will pass my bow at about 1, 400 yards and slightly behind the Zinbu, and the Mitzuki DD on the convoy's left flank will pass my stern at about 1,000 yards about the same time the Akita passes my bow.

My plan is to shoot 3 mark 14s at the Zinbu then, about 5 seconds later, shoot 3 at the Akita, then down scope and head for 400 feet still at Silent Running and low RPMs. As I approach 150 feet, I'll fire the 2 Cuties I have in the stern tubes at the DD. Well, when I get to the last part of my plan and try to fire the Cuties, I get a message stating "Unable to compute firing solution" and the Cutie wouldn't fire.

What gives? Is it because I'm using Auto Targeting? If so, is there a way to over ride that on the fly?

01-14-14, 09:01 AM	#1
Vaux Torpedoman Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Posts: 116 Downloads: 26 Uploads: 0	Cuties... What am I doing wrong? I just recently started playing around with Mk 27 Cuties. On my last patrol, I loaded out with a couple just to give them a try, and I sank a lone Fubuki destroyer with them. It was dusk, the seas were heavy, and the DD was only making 7 knots. I took the shot from periscope depth with engines stopped and the crew at Silent Running while in visual contact with the DD at about 1,800 yards. He started going for the bottom after the first hit, so the second one was an unnecessary hit. So, I'm thinking, these things are pretty cool! I've read a couple of posts here on the Cuties and also did some Wiki research on them. I've seen several mentions on here of other skippers firing them at depths well in excess of PD. Well, next patrol, and I'm assigned to do a photo recon of a harbor on the Southern tip of Japan (whose name escapes me right now). I arrive near the mouth of the inlet just as the sun is coming up. The weather is "perfect", meaning it's the worst possible conditions to try to shoot up the inlet during the day... Wind, overcast, and precipitation all zero. So I decide to dive deep, go to All Stop, and wait for sundown. Fast forward to about 1400 and my sonar man reports a contact, moving slow, closing, at long range.... and then another contact.... and another... then a fast-mover closing... and another fast mover... then a couple more slows.... Well, my curiosity was officially piqued, so I decide to go to Silent Running with screws rotating at below 25 RPM, and go to periscope depth. I'm looking at a large convoy of 7 merchants in 3 columns - a mix of Akita, Buzyun, and Zinbo Marus - and 5 assorted DDs, moving starboard to port from my perspective. I couldn't be in a more perfect position if I'd planned it. I was planning on staying down for at least another 10 hours anyway, so I decide to go for it. Dipping my scope, plotting courses, and noting speeds, I predict that the lead ship in the center column, a Zinbu, will pass my bow at about 1,800 yards, the lead ship in the closest column, an Akita, will pass my bow at about 1, 400 yards and slightly behind the Zinbu, and the Mitzuki DD on the convoy's left flank will pass my stern at about 1,000 yards about the same time the Akita passes my bow. My plan is to shoot 3 mark 14s at the Zinbu then, about 5 seconds later, shoot 3 at the Akita, then down scope and head for 400 feet still at Silent Running and low RPMs. As I approach 150 feet, I'll fire the 2 Cuties I have in the stern tubes at the DD. Well, when I get to the last part of my plan and try to fire the Cuties, I get a message stating "Unable to compute firing solution" and the Cutie wouldn't fire. What gives? Is it because I'm using Auto Targeting? If so, is there a way to over ride that on the fly?