even more newbie questions! :P

[andylegate]

One thing that you could try, and I've found that it works generally well (note I said generally well, not all the time). Since you're at 8000 meters (8 km) these will be long shots.

You can go to persiscope depth and go to All Stop. Either use your hydrophones or allow your sonar operator to do this. note the sonar contact bearing of the stationary ships. You can then compare them to what you see in your scope and they should pretty much match up.

Now, hit F6 and go to your TDC. Click on the little switch that says I/O so that the Bearing, AOB, Distance dials light up. Set the depth of your torpedos for about 3 meters. Set the speed to slow (this will increase the range of your torpeados), if you are using historical torpeados (meaning you get duds) set your pistol for impact. If you're not using historical torpeados, leave them on Magnetic.

Since it appears the ships you want to sink are anchored, you won't have to worry about setting up a "Real" fire control solution (IE sending the torp where the target should be later in time, as your target is stationary, you can send it right to the target).
Set the Distance dial to maximum (no sense in setting it to 8000 meters, only to find out that the target is really at 8060!).
Then use the Bearing and AOB dials to move the fire bearing indicator to lay right on top of the sonar bearing line (or as close as possible to it!). Be aware that if the sonar lines are still moving slightly, it is because your u-boat is still drifting from your last speed. Just wait a little bit.

Once you have the solution set up like that, open your torpedo doors and fire. Go through the other sonar bearing lines and do the same thing. Hopefully, by the time you're done shooting your last torp, you're crew as realoaded your other torps. Go through and do the same thing (as in GWX one shot kills can be rare).

This worked for me at Scapaflow when the fog was so thick, I could not use my periscope. Of course my distance was a LOT shorter than yours. So it's IMPORTANT that you get the fire control solution as close to the sonar bearing line as possible. A single degree off can make the torp miss by hundreds of meters if it has to go nearly 4 miles!!!!

Remember: Always save your sim just before you do this, in case you're not happy with the results, or something goes terribly wrong. That's a nice luxury that we have that the real commanders didn't have.

[astat333]

hmm thanks for the lenghty reply, andy. it's a good read, but doesn't really answer my problem.

i don't need hydrophone bearings as i have visual with the targets. it's just that they're so far away, i cannot aim at the right spot. imagine this:


__A__/TTT\__/FA___
\TxTTTTTTTTTTTTT/


...359....................................000..... ...............................001................ ....


i suppose my best chance would be to just maneuver the whole boat until the target appears to be quite in the middle of a degree mark. no idea if the torpedos are that exact on such distances anyway. it would probably be wiser to take 2 fish per target to guarantee at least one hit.


oh and i play with 100% realism and impact, magnetic historically sucked.

[Canovaro]

I understand your question about the degrees. That's why 8000 meters is too far
And don't even think about using magnetics at this distance. They will blow up somewhere in their way.

Just get closer or forget about it altogether.

[astat333]

i loaded the mission once again, this time with silent running only.

i went for 2 stationary targets, distance roughly 5000 meters - 2 torpedos each. but even though i aimed carefully right under their bridges, all torpedos somehow missed.

purely in the interest of science, i'd now like to watch the scene once again with torpedo cams; is there a way to change realism during patrols?

i only found this old thread:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...realism+patrol

[TarJak]

5000m is still too far away. You need to get closer than 2000m to be a good chance of making a hit and closer still to be sure. 800m is optimal and unless you get the AOB badly wrong or there are other factors at play you will rarely miss from that distance.

[andylegate]

If you don't have your External Cam (F12) enabled, the short answer is "No." I think you'll have to wait until your next patrol to change your realism, (but I could be wrong on that).

8000 or 5000 meters with 100% realism is too far away. You have no way to set up your fire control solution properly. Except in you can try the long shot how I described above. But to get the sonar contact, you'll need to lower your periscope.

The only other advice I can offer is this:

Try it the way I described above.

Try getting closer using stealth.

If the DD's keep noticing you, take 'em out. You CAN do this, if you're willing to be a bit insane (like me). Attract their attention, one at a time, get them to come to you, set your torps for 3 meters or less, fast speed, bearing and AOB in the same direction you're looking. At less than 500 meters, cut a torp loose. It'll normally hit just fine, and will normally take them out okay.
BUT! Since you're using 100% realism, this more than likely WILL be suicide in your case, as you're using historic torps, etc, etc.

Last thing: forget about and move on. U-boats were not made for commando raids, they were used to sink as much merchant shipping as possible. Sneaking into a port to take out ships (especially warships) was something only the extremely brave and foolhardy did or do! (like me. Since I know it's a sim, I'm not brave, just confident that I can reload if things go wrong. In RL I would NEVER put my command and crew at risk like that unless directly ordered to do so by BdU!)

[astat333]

well i know, u-boat captains liked attacking from distances as close as 600m.. but they were stationary targets, kinda like hitting a barn.