Newb needing some advice

Sea Wraith · 10-04-11, 10:05 AM

Trying to post a screenshot hope this works at the end of the plot is where I last saw the merchant.

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washishu · 10-13-11, 05:47 AM

Hello Sea Wraith; nice to hear from someone else in the UK.

I'm not sure if this is what happened in your case, but, a ship hit with a non-fatal shot will immediately begin to zig-zag. If the ruler you drew was along the first leg of the zig-zag, then you would be in completely the wrong position.

The zig-zag will be such that the ship's mean course is the same as it's original course and it will continue zig-zagging for about an hour or so or for as long as you are in visual range. If this is what happened then your solution is to do an "end around".

What I do is draw a ruler to the target's original course then scoot off out of visual range and parallel the original course at a speed which will put me ahead of the target (remembering that as it is zig-zagging, it will take him longer to get from A to B). Then I move back towards the target course (sometimes, as you did, actually backtracking up the ruler) and submerge to listen for him.

Usually, after about an hour or two the target will have returned to his original course and you can mount a new attack.

The only times this has gone wrong is when the target changes course to follow the shipping lanes - eg WSW out of the Channel then turning SW to head down to the south Atlantic. With time you get to know when/where this is likely to happen.

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10-04-11, 10:05 AM	#1
Sea Wraith Watch Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 17 Downloads: 34 Uploads: 0	Trying to post a screenshot hope this works at the end of the plot is where I last saw the merchant. Uploaded with ImageShack.us

10-13-11, 05:47 AM	#2
washishu Mate Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: England Posts: 54 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Hello Sea Wraith; nice to hear from someone else in the UK. I'm not sure if this is what happened in your case, but, a ship hit with a non-fatal shot will immediately begin to zig-zag. If the ruler you drew was along the first leg of the zig-zag, then you would be in completely the wrong position. The zig-zag will be such that the ship's mean course is the same as it's original course and it will continue zig-zagging for about an hour or so or for as long as you are in visual range. If this is what happened then your solution is to do an "end around". What I do is draw a ruler to the target's original course then scoot off out of visual range and parallel the original course at a speed which will put me ahead of the target (remembering that as it is zig-zagging, it will take him longer to get from A to B). Then I move back towards the target course (sometimes, as you did, actually backtracking up the ruler) and submerge to listen for him. Usually, after about an hour or two the target will have returned to his original course and you can mount a new attack. The only times this has gone wrong is when the target changes course to follow the shipping lanes - eg WSW out of the Channel then turning SW to head down to the south Atlantic. With time you get to know when/where this is likely to happen.