Heavy fog woes

blackdog_kt · 12-21-05, 01:10 PM

Reminds me of a time i was tracking a C2 in heavy fog. I was making frequent dives for manual hydrophone checks,and i managed to catch up with him some time later. Problem was that visibility was about 300m,which is also about the minimum firing distance for a torpedo to arm.

Needless to say,i was spotted and he started zig-zagging. However, i stayed directly on his original heading,which he was crossing as he was zig-zagging. Low AOB shots are bad with impact fuses,so i took the risk of firing a magnetic shot in heavy seas.

Through a bit of observing his course changes,guesswork and a bit of luck i managed to get a magnetic shot approximately midship,as he was crossing the line of his original heading and expossing his flank. The ship stopped dead in the water and sunk shortly after.

The trickiest part was the arming distance for the torpedo being about the same as the visibility range. I had to lay down the solution,open the tube and order some reverse before firing to help stob the u-boat,so by the time the torpedo got to him it would have travelled the minimum arming distance.

Of course,slowing down means manually "leading" the target a bit through the scope after the solution is set,but some years of WWII flight simming makes you comfortable with that

12-21-05, 01:10 PM	#13
blackdog_kt Sailor man Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 46 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Reminds me of a time i was tracking a C2 in heavy fog. I was making frequent dives for manual hydrophone checks,and i managed to catch up with him some time later. Problem was that visibility was about 300m,which is also about the minimum firing distance for a torpedo to arm. Needless to say,i was spotted and he started zig-zagging. However, i stayed directly on his original heading,which he was crossing as he was zig-zagging. Low AOB shots are bad with impact fuses,so i took the risk of firing a magnetic shot in heavy seas. Through a bit of observing his course changes,guesswork and a bit of luck i managed to get a magnetic shot approximately midship,as he was crossing the line of his original heading and expossing his flank. The ship stopped dead in the water and sunk shortly after. The trickiest part was the arming distance for the torpedo being about the same as the visibility range. I had to lay down the solution,open the tube and order some reverse before firing to help stob the u-boat,so by the time the torpedo got to him it would have travelled the minimum arming distance. Of course,slowing down means manually "leading" the target a bit through the scope after the solution is set,but some years of WWII flight simming makes you comfortable with that