Shooting down aircraft with the deck gun - possible IRL?

Admiral Halsey · 11-03-14, 09:55 PM

I actually did it by accident once. Was shooting a tramp steamer when I get the warning a plane had been spotted. I forgot I was in the deck gun for a second and ended up nailing it on the first shot. Gave one one helluva fireworks show as well.

WilhelmSchulz. · 11-03-14, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

I actually did it by accident once. Was shooting a tramp steamer when I get the warning a plane had been spotted. I forgot I was in the deck gun for a second and ended up nailing it on the first shot. Gave one one helluva fireworks show as well.

God Dangit Jim!

Zosimus · 11-04-14, 08:49 AM

I assume that if you encounter aircraft that you're going to dive, unless something prevents you from doing so. That something could be moving torpedoes from external storage to internal area.

If I were the captain, I would man every gun I had–deck gun included. As I play the game, however, I will tell you that I normally head full speed away from the planes. This seems to give my anti-aircraft guys more time to line up a reasonable shot on them as well as putting the crew in a good firing position against the plane. As such, the deck gun wouldn't work for me at all.

Kielhauler1961 · 11-04-14, 10:19 AM

The OP asked if anyone had evidence of such an event in 'real life'. As we all know anything is possible in this sim with or without the various uber-mods, no matter how improbable in the real world. We can always reload a saved game, they couldn't...

My answer to the question as posted is 'No, there is no evidence'. In 40+ years of reading about U-Boats I've never heard of such a thing. Given the limitations of the deck gun itself and the lack of time-fused ammunition it would be unlikely any RL U-Boat even tried it.

If any boat had succeeded in using it's DG to down an aircraft and made it back to port, the Nazi propaganda machine would have had a field day. The fact that that never happened is one clue there was no such recorded event.

Reservation: The only possibility that remains are the few remaining U-Boats 'lost to unknown causes' that may also involve missing aircraft at about the same time and place. So we'll never know for sure.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to reload my save where I'm out of torpedoes and trying to sink HMS Nelson by ramming...

11-03-14, 09:55 PM	#1
Admiral Halsey Best Admiral in the USN Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: USS Enterprise (CV-6) Posts: 1,740 Downloads: 317 Uploads: 0	I actually did it by accident once. Was shooting a tramp steamer when I get the warning a plane had been spotted. I forgot I was in the deck gun for a second and ended up nailing it on the first shot. Gave one one helluva fireworks show as well.

11-04-14, 08:49 AM	#3
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	I assume that if you encounter aircraft that you're going to dive, unless something prevents you from doing so. That something could be moving torpedoes from external storage to internal area. If I were the captain, I would man every gun I had–deck gun included. As I play the game, however, I will tell you that I normally head full speed away from the planes. This seems to give my anti-aircraft guys more time to line up a reasonable shot on them as well as putting the crew in a good firing position against the plane. As such, the deck gun wouldn't work for me at all.

11-04-14, 10:19 AM	#4
Kielhauler1961 中国水兵 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East of the Firth of Forth Posts: 273 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	The OP asked if anyone had evidence of such an event in 'real life'. As we all know anything is possible in this sim with or without the various uber-mods, no matter how improbable in the real world. We can always reload a saved game, they couldn't... My answer to the question as posted is 'No, there is no evidence'. In 40+ years of reading about U-Boats I've never heard of such a thing. Given the limitations of the deck gun itself and the lack of time-fused ammunition it would be unlikely any RL U-Boat even tried it. If any boat had succeeded in using it's DG to down an aircraft and made it back to port, the Nazi propaganda machine would have had a field day. The fact that that never happened is one clue there was no such recorded event. Reservation: The only possibility that remains are the few remaining U-Boats 'lost to unknown causes' that may also involve missing aircraft at about the same time and place. So we'll never know for sure. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to reload my save where I'm out of torpedoes and trying to sink HMS Nelson by ramming...