Has anyone done this?

[dashyr]

Originally Posted by De Ruyter

So do most people use the manual targeting or automatic? I am trying the manual, and it is hard, and this is just the training mission. I send the bearing, range, ship type, estimated AOB, speed, then an updated bearing and range, and can't seem to get any hits, even on a broadside target inside 1000 yards with a spread of torpedos. Should I not update the bearing and range? Or is that what the Position Keeper is for, and should I turn that on before anything else?

If your using the ingame speed estimate it might be your problem. They tend to screw up the speed a lot. The speed of the destroyer in the training range is 10 knots if i remember well. You can also put a mark on the map where the target is then wait 1:37m and make another mark on him. If the distance between marks is 250y . multiply it by 2 and it becomes 500. well its 5 knots baby! also the aob is as the TARGET sees you and not as YOU see the target. That could be your problem too.

[woodenboat]

Originally Posted by dashyr

You can also put a mark on the map where the target is then wait 1:37m and make another mark on him. If the distance between marks is 250y . multiply it by 2 and it becomes 500. well its 5 knots baby! also the aob is as the TARGET sees you and not as YOU see the target. That could be your problem too.

THANK YOU! This is excellent information! Since I'm brand new, I still have not mastered manual aiming. So, I've been playing with automatic aiming just to get familiar with the other aspects of the game. But I have badly needed to have some sort of reasonable estimate of my opponent's speed. I mean... how else do you know where to position yourself for a clean shot? Up until now, I've been taking a SWAG at it and often i find myself spending way too much time chasing a target that turns out to be outrunning me. Very frustrating. (BTW, SWAG means "super wild ass guess.")

THEREFORE, looking at your 1:37m formula, let me ask if this would also work? Watching the target for 3:14m would tell us the speed without having to multiply by two - right? Or should I STILL multiply by two? So, if a target travels 1200 yards in 3 minutes and 14 seconds, he's going 12 knots. Am I correct on this? If I am correct, this means that, if I am underwater and my target is crossing my bow at 12 knots, I might just as well let him go and wait for a juicier target because I likely cannot put on enough speed to get ahead for a clean shot. In one game, I was chasing down a couple of potential targets without this knowledge. I found myself in an absolutely perfect targeting position .... FOR THEM TO SHOOT ME! It turned out to be a pair of destroyers and I did not survive. This was also before I learned to recognize between black sonar echos and blue sonar echos. You learn real fast when you're constantly getting killed. I think I should still multiply by two. 250 yards in 1:37 is the same is 500 yards in 3:14. Jeeze I really am NOT good with math.

[De Ruyter]

Originally Posted by dashyr

If your using the ingame speed estimate it might be your problem. They tend to screw up the speed a lot. The speed of the destroyer in the training range is 10 knots if i remember well. You can also put a mark on the map where the target is then wait 1:37m and make another mark on him. If the distance between marks is 250y . multiply it by 2 and it becomes 500. well its 5 knots baby! also the aob is as the TARGET sees you and not as YOU see the target. That could be your problem too.

Could be the speed issue, I think I understand the AOB part of it. Of course, my estimate may be way off. I take their angle to me and subtract that from 360 to get my angle to them. If I see them at my 330, I put the AOB at 30, and I think I factored in the Starboard vs Port side of it. But I did not know about the tubes opening, I am probably getting a number of mistakes on the attack. I don't get much time to work on it with college and work and everything, so it may take me a while to figure this out.
I guess I am also hurrying things because I am trying to sink him in the first pass. I could stand to work on my stalking techniques, if I remember right it is a Mogami-class cruiser, so it is not like he is listening for me. That will have to be when I get some time, I will try to become comfortable in torpedo attacks before I actually try to take out the convoy.

[Majestik 909]

Originally Posted by woodenboat

I have been killed by destroyers enough now that I've gotten really frustrated at times. Frustration leads to desperation and desperation can lead to some really rash actions on my part. But I figure, what the heck? I'm about to die anyway.

So, just a little while ago, I had a fast destroyer closing rapidly from behind. Since he had already pinged me and knew exactly where I was, I didn't try to go deep and silent. I turned as quickly as I could directly away from him and went all ahead flank! I opened my stern tubes and waited until he was dead astern at about 600 yards. I fired one fish right on his nose and down he went! By this time, his partner in crime was closing in from almost dead astern too. So I did exactly the same thing and YUP, he got one right on the nose, too.

OMG! I couldn't believe that that actually worked! - TWICE EVEN! Of course, it cost me two torpedoes that i would have loved to use on ships that weighed a lot more but, on the other hand, it was better than dying. I think that one of the keys to success was that, both times, I waited until the bad guy was right around 600 yards out. Both times, I had a vivid green triangle.
Within just a few seconds of firing my fish, both ships tried to turn away in a panic. Wow, those destroyers can turn really fast. ....but not fast enough at that range. I know that if I had fired sooner, they would have dodged and if I fired later, my fish would not have had time to arm. And now I know that it only takes one torpedo to kill a destroyer.

It's a really dicey strategy but it gave me one of the most fun games I've played yet.

Yeah, this sim is getting better and better.

Nice work...