Question about the deck Gun

[Schütze]

Thanks Jimbuna! I guess i am to lazy to find this out myself

[Laufen zum Ziel]

Good question.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Schütze

Thanks Jimbuna! I guess i am to lazy to find this out myself

If you look around the forum you'll come across many excellent links to naval warfare topics, not just U-boats.

[Sailor Steve]

The 8.8cm gun could indeed be loaded in 4-5 seconds. The problem is that any small vessel is subject to variations in the waves, and a submarine more than some others. The guns are hand-cranked, and once the proper elevation is set for the range required, the gun captain has to wait until the boat is perfectly flat, what they called "firing on the roll". This can be several more seconds even in a supposedly 'calm' sea, and as the wind picks up the problem only worsens.

I keep my 8.8cm set to 10 seconds and the 10.5cm set for 12. This has always felt about right to me for a calm sea. As the weather worsens I order 'Hold Fire' until I feel the proper time has passed, then I let them shoot one.

But that's just me.

[UnderseaLcpl]

As usual, Steve has the best answer.

I prefer to fire the deck gun myself in GWX 3.0. The crew gets too proficient at it, especially if the watch officer has a gunnery qualification.
I figure the gun crew would only be as good as I could train them to be, so with the increased reload times and compensating for rough seas, using myself as the yardstick for deck gun performance is the most realistic. Plus I like shooting it.

The stock 4-second reload time is a bit short, imo, but don't underestimate how quickly a well-trained gun crew can work. I've seen 155mm M198 howitzers reload and adjust fire in about ten seconds, and they have to swab the breech first and use bigger shells, and put powder bags in the breech, and place the primer. Admittedly, though, that is on land.
20 seconds seems too long to me, because there was a relay system for passing shells up, and even 120mm shells can be manhandled more quickly than that using a human chain.

[evan82]

Little info about "Deck Guns":
http://www.uboat.net/technical/index.html

[Schütze]

Thanks guys!

20 seconds is a bit long i agree but then i hadn´t not a clue about how the deck gun was used (except for now). Given that i read that the ammunition was stored under deck i counted with the time taken from removing the shells to the crew plus that extra four seconds of reloading. Plus that even the shortest waves could delay the moment given that a submarine of type VIIB was very vurnerable to every wind or weather condition.

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[McHibbins]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

As usual, Steve has the best answer.

I prefer to fire the deck gun myself in GWX 3.0. The crew gets too proficient at it, especially if the watch officer has a gunnery qualification.
I figure the gun crew would only be as good as I could train them to be, so with the increased reload times and compensating for rough seas, using myself as the yardstick for deck gun performance is the most realistic. Plus I like shooting it.

The stock 4-second reload time is a bit short, imo, but don't underestimate how quickly a well-trained gun crew can work. I've seen 155mm M198 howitzers reload and adjust fire in about ten seconds, and they have to swab the breech first and use bigger shells, and put powder bags in the breech, and place the primer. Admittedly, though, that is on land.
20 seconds seems too long to me, because there was a relay system for passing shells up, and even 120mm shells can be manhandled more quickly than that using a human chain.

But keep in mind : M198 crews have a stable platform.....

[Schütze]

My personal preferences is that the crew should do the shooting with my second officer leading the way, you wouldn´t imagine a Kaleun man the deck gun by himself? But i am just obsessed with the realism so this is strictly subjective.

I motivate it with follow:

1) It is damn cool standing on the turm and seeing it flashing up with the 8.8 cm plus the extra noise i imagine it to be. When firing during nights and pitch black, this is an extra dimension. Very realistic indeed.

2) Handing the shooting over to my team i could navigate the submarine easier and watching the horison after potential destroyers. I have the feeling that my watch officer discover and inform about the hunting destroyer very, very later than he SHOULD thus making us loosing important time for escape.

Just my two cent.

[sunvalleyslim]

Originally Posted by Schütze

My personal preferences is that the crew should do the shooting with my second officer leading the way, you wouldn´t imagine a Kaleun man the deck gun by himself? But i am just obsessed with the realism so this is strictly subjective.

I motivate it with follow:

1) It is damn cool standing on the turm and seeing it flashing up with the 8.8 cm plus the extra noise i imagine it to be. When firing during nights and pitch black, this is an extra dimension. Very realistic indeed.

2) Handing the shooting over to my team i could navigate the submarine easier and watching the horison after potential destroyers. I have the feeling that my watch officer discover and inform about the hunting destroyer very, very later than he SHOULD thus making us loosing important time for escape.

Just my two cent.

And a good two cents too...... It's just you can't trust the team to get the job done as well as yourself. Have hoped they could get the job done, only to find my career ended way too short.....

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by McHibbins

But keep in mind : M198 crews have a stable platform.....

I said that

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Admittedly, though, that is on land.

[kaptkirkU4467]

Back in my younger days I could load a 105mm tank cannon in under 4 seconds,...but if the monster was going down the tank trail it becomes a game of hit the jumping hole.

10 seconds sounds right for a boat on water.