Tips for hunting in bad weather, pre-radar?

MKalafatas · 06-23-17, 04:59 PM

I'm in the old S-boat north of Luzon, 1st patrol out of Manila. Clouds, precipitation, heavy fog, high winds for days.

Got incredibly lucky to find an unescorted merchant traveling alone --- and when I say "find" I do not mean visually. Fired blind from astern after tracking four hours on sonar, and incredibly got a hit. Finished with deck gun, sighting by the flames.

Two days later, same storm, I'm tracking a northbound convoy which includes both high-speed and low-speed screws. Can't afford to ping for range due to the escorts. Really not sure how to approach this problem. If I try to pull ahead it will mean trusting my fix on their course, because submerging to get a fix will slow me down too much.

Probably I'll end up firing a blind spread, hoping to hit something --- unless someone has a better idea?

06-23-17, 04:59 PM	#1
MKalafatas Electrician's Mate Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Springboro OH Posts: 135 Downloads: 30 Uploads: 0	Tips for hunting in bad weather, pre-radar? I'm in the old S-boat north of Luzon, 1st patrol out of Manila. Clouds, precipitation, heavy fog, high winds for days. Got incredibly lucky to find an unescorted merchant traveling alone --- and when I say "find" I do not mean visually. Fired blind from astern after tracking four hours on sonar, and incredibly got a hit. Finished with deck gun, sighting by the flames. Two days later, same storm, I'm tracking a northbound convoy which includes both high-speed and low-speed screws. Can't afford to ping for range due to the escorts. Really not sure how to approach this problem. If I try to pull ahead it will mean trusting my fix on their course, because submerging to get a fix will slow me down too much. Probably I'll end up firing a blind spread, hoping to hit something --- unless someone has a better idea? __________________ "Not all those who wander are lost." - JRR Tolkien