Questions about how germans used to collect attack data IRL

xXNightEagleXx · 03-02-16, 08:34 AM

I was trying to understand what was those common procedures used by germans to collect data to prepare the attack against enemy vessels but i struggled to retrieve this info.

Reading here and there, i found hints that us submarines relied mostly on the radar to collect vessel bearing, range and thus retrieve the speed. On the other hand, they have not been so effective when it was about visual identification and their it seems that their recognition manual had many flaws, thus struggling to obtain speed and range by just knowing mast height and ship length (at least not always).

Since german could not rely on radar for half war, this lead me to some questions?

1 - was the german recognition manual more accurate?
2 - Did german had more success on ship identification?
3 - In case of unsuccessful identification, what was the alternative? (aob estimation -> set for a 90 degree attack -> speed estimation -by estimating length and measuring time taken to cross- -> salvo -> pray?)
4 - Was TMA (eg. 4 bearing method) a common alternative/method used by german during ww2?
5 - If TMA was used, in case of visible speed variation, would they postpone the attack and collect everything again?

Regards
NE

03-02-16, 08:34 AM	#1
xXNightEagleXx Planesman Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 182 Downloads: 148 Uploads: 0	Questions about how germans used to collect attack data IRL I was trying to understand what was those common procedures used by germans to collect data to prepare the attack against enemy vessels but i struggled to retrieve this info. Reading here and there, i found hints that us submarines relied mostly on the radar to collect vessel bearing, range and thus retrieve the speed. On the other hand, they have not been so effective when it was about visual identification and their it seems that their recognition manual had many flaws, thus struggling to obtain speed and range by just knowing mast height and ship length (at least not always). Since german could not rely on radar for half war, this lead me to some questions? 1 - was the german recognition manual more accurate? 2 - Did german had more success on ship identification? 3 - In case of unsuccessful identification, what was the alternative? (aob estimation -> set for a 90 degree attack -> speed estimation -by estimating length and measuring time taken to cross- -> salvo -> pray?) 4 - Was TMA (eg. 4 bearing method) a common alternative/method used by german during ww2? 5 - If TMA was used, in case of visible speed variation, would they postpone the attack and collect everything again? Regards NE