Sinking Sampans/Fishing Boats

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by Thrair

If I take a route to an area that takes me near a coast, I will inevitably find small fishing type vessels. I have given up trying to get a torpedo to explode on these (what? I get bored, sometimes) and just place a few deck gun shots into them to sink the sobs before I continue on my merry way.

My question is this: Is it unrealistic to be sinking so many of these? I realize it was unrestricted submarine warfare, but would not many of the small fishing boats be civilians from islands the japanese had conquered? From what I understand, sub captains would sometimes sink Sampans and the like after verifying the crew were japanese (and usually giving them a chance to abandon ship). However, it seems to me that most of the japanese fishermen would actually be near Japan proper, and not on the conquered islands in the middle of the pacific.

I don't think it's entirely impossible but, for the most part, fleetboats had a 3 or 4 inch DG (the 5" coming much later). I think in reality, sinking any major warship with the DG would be highly unlikely. The sampans and fishing boats you're encountering near the outer islands would be historically accurate, if you consider the civilian support crews and laborers (sometimes with their families) that were brought along or encouraged to migrate. Commercial (civilian) fishermen could make quite a business selling fish to the troops. That's not to mention that some of the vessels of their conquered subordinates were commandeered for intelligence or logistical purposes. They were already short a great amount of support vessels when the war began so, it became a "beggars can't be choosers" scenario for them.
As far as sinking DDs, the base of each gun turret should harbor a powder magazine for the shells. I've had some luck (I don't make it a habit to engage on the surface) hitting the DC racks with ordinance.