Zig zags every 5 minutes?

[pythos]

Thank you TDW. I changed the course change interval from 45 to 1800. I hope that results in a much more realistic 30 minutes.

That Japanese convoy zig zag is crazy. Or was it for a single or one or two merchants? Thing is this would have resulted in the US getting zero hits on Japanese merchants There is just no way a sub could overhaul the target, while staying out of visual range, submerge, get the solution and fire, AND have the torpedoes reach their target in the time between course changes.

Oh yea it is my understanding as well that British convoys DID not zig zag in the early part of the war. Is there a parameter to adjust for when the tactic starts getting used in the sim?

[Vanilla]

Originally Posted by pythos

That Japanese convoy zig zag is crazy. Or was it for a single or one or two merchants? Thing is this would have resulted in the US getting zero hits on Japanese merchants There is just no way a sub could overhaul the target, while staying out of visual range, submerge, get the solution and fire, AND have the torpedoes reach their target in the time between course changes.

About 10 minutes is a good figure:

[Vanilla]

Originally Posted by pythos

That Japanese convoy zig zag is crazy. Or was it for a single or one or two merchants? Thing is this would have resulted in the US getting zero hits on Japanese merchants There is just no way a sub could overhaul the target, while staying out of visual range, submerge, get the solution and fire, AND have the torpedoes reach their target in the time between course changes.

The thing is the real U-boots did not shot their torpedos as we often try to do: they did not get an exact math solution but rather a rough estimation, then they shot everything they had in the forward tubes in a fan shot hoping that at least some torpedoes will hit. They could not do an exact solution even with a non zigging target - torpedoes are not perfect and cannot maintain exactly 40 knots, more to that - consider waves, changes in temperature, currents and what not. Exact math where not possible. That is why they get as close as possible, ideally inside the convoy and did what british submarines called browning shot, even with a zigging target there is hope that zag will not come before torps get to the target.

[ETsd4]

All the documentation shows a minimal zigzagging-interval of 5 minutes.



The slowest torpedo can run in 5 minutes 4.63 km.
And there is a reason why
- u-boats have spreadangle-dials with the ability of a spread-coverage


- u-boats have FAT-torpedos with the ability to scan wide areas

[pythos]

I have encountered another peculiar behavior I am sure was not a tactic. The convoys enter a spiral pattern and just go round and round my boat, and for all intents and purposes form a shooting gallery. I have lined out all of the lines in the scripts mentioned to negate this but no luck.

Is this just something messed up in my install or something cause this is looney, and VERY immersion killing.

[Hartmann]

Originally Posted by pythos

Thank you TDW. I changed the course change interval from 45 to 1800. I hope that results in a much more realistic 30 minutes.

That Japanese convoy zig zag is crazy. Or was it for a single or one or two merchants? Thing is this would have resulted in the US getting zero hits on Japanese merchants There is just no way a sub could overhaul the target, while staying out of visual range, submerge, get the solution and fire, AND have the torpedoes reach their target in the time between course changes.

Oh yea it is my understanding as well that British convoys DID not zig zag in the early part of the war. Is there a parameter to adjust for when the tactic starts getting used in the sim?

30 minutes is a good interval, and make easy get a correct fire solution, but sometimes it not is very useful against a skilled commander.

"November 24, 1999
Attn: The Honorable John W. Warner
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

"I hear that your legislature is considering resolutions which would clear the name of the late Charles Butler McVay III, captain of the USS Indianapolis which was sunk on July 30, 1945, by torpedoes fired from the submarine which was under my command.

"I do not understand why Captain McVay was court-martialed. I do not understand why he was convicted on the charge of hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag because I would have been able to launch a successful torpedo attack against his ship whether it had been zigzagging or not.

"I have met may of your brave men who survived the sinking of the Indianapolis. I would like to join them in urging that your national legislature clear their captain's name.

"Our peoples have forgiven each other for that terrible war and its consequences. Perhaps it is time your peoples forgave Captain McVay for the humiliation of his unjust conviction.

Mochitsura Hashimoto
former captain of I-58
Japanese Navy at WWII
Umenomiya Taisha
30 Fukeno Kawa Machi, Umezu
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto 615-0921, Japan"