A review of the Hitman optics for Silent Hunter III

[Leoz]

This is just a short review of my use of the Hitman optics for Silent Hunter III. I tend to like it for the way I do things.

FOR: Those that want to calculate everything for a firing solution as you will be doing it all yourself.
SYSTEM USED: Five year old i5 with 4Gigs of RAM and Windows 10.
--Also: Silent Hunter III via Steam; GWX3; SH3 Front-end RAM patch.
HOW: Hitman Optics installed via JSGME.
WHERE: Subsim Downloads; For GWX3 -- http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=1519 There is also a NYGM package in the downloads section.

1. Gameplay. I don't believe there are any bad ways of playing Silent Hunter III. If you are having fun with the game, you are doing it right. This is one way of doing it. You won't sink everything you encounter. That's the way it goes. Fire a spread of 4 torpedoes at a taskforce; calculate 15 knots and find out they were probably moving 16 knots. I still have fun either way.

2. For me, Hitman optics was one of the ways to make the nightscope look different. I like it. A lot.

3. This also takes the approach that there were several vendors for putting optics on U-Boats during the war.

4. The following are only my concept of operations. Your's may be different.

Target Speed:

I determine target speed by map plotting at a distance. I find this useful for getting target course more than I do target speed. While I consider a target's speed gathered from this method, I don't depend on it. Targets have been known to change their speed by the time I get to the firing decision (Noticed more in NYGM mod). An end-round to get out in front of a target once its course has been determined that takes hours, can end up with a different target speed once you get there.

Pacing the target. If it is a night attack and I get get within 2000 meters or so of the target, I will run parallel to it for awhile to try and match its speed, then break off and start the attack based on this speed.

Timing of a target that is 90 degrees to you (or close to that); the time it takes a known target length to over it's distance. Example. 78 meter log ship: 30 seconds to cover its length. 78 divided by 30 x 1.95 = 5kts. (CORRECTION: x 1.85 via bstanko6)

Course: at a long distance, either on the surface or submerged, I take a guess at the target's angle-on-the-bow (AOB) I know it won't be perfect, but this and rough estimate at the distance are enough to put on the plotting map (F5) and start thinking of how I want to deal with this target. This refines as the target gets closer; more sightings are taken and put on the plotting map.

Target ID: I am usually unable to determine if it is friend, neutral or foe until I get much closer (lighted ships excluded). So, I can process a big part of a firing plot, only to find out I can't shoot it. Good practice.

5. So a look at the Hitman Optics. Starting with the Attack Scope (image via imgur.com)

http://imgur.com/a/OH1Mp

Here the vertical "mils" hashmarks are a bit different than stock. Each vertical hash mark on the Attack Scope is 20mils. The Hitman optics comes with a nice PDF file to help you do range estimations with the scopes as it pertains to target height; be that a mast or known structure on the target ship. Both the Attack Scope and the Night Scope are 1x and 6x magnification.

The fire control computer and torpedo settings can be accessed from the scope or UZU off to the right as an alternative to using the F6 key. CNTRL + T key turns on or off any dynamic fire control engagement you want from the analog computer.


Night Scope:

http://imgur.com/biEXHnH (image via imgur.com)

Vertical mils hashmarks are presented in a different way.

The UZO

http://imgur.com/PK2gmzf (image via imgur.com)

The following images are shown at daytime for the purpose of clarity.

The watch officer can only tell you closest ship distance when you ask him. That might not be the ship you are interested in. Example, a convoy attack. Things happen very fast for night surface attacks and one can get task overloaded. The field of view of the UZO will (roughly----very roughly) help you out with range estimations. Each ship, at 90 degrees AOB to you will tell you its range. When a 140 meter long ship at 90AOB to you, fills the UZO's field of view, it is around 1400 meters away from you.

This 140 meter long, medium cargo ship is somewhere around 1200~1300 meters away. Again...not perfect, but, good enough.

This 78 meter long ship, filling less that half of the UZOs field of view, is somewhere around 1600 meters away. Again, not perfect.

http://imgur.com/UWC3jCF (image via imgur.com)

During a night surface attack, one can manually preset their range to 1400 meters and when that 140 meter long medium cargo ship is close to filling UZOs field of view, open tubes, CNTL + T , which commits the dynamic settings capability to the computer, (assuming you have all the other settings good), and fire. When merchants have guns, this can be a bit more difficult as you want distance away from the target when your torpedoes hit.

(If you are confident of target course speed and are going to attack from a 90 degree angle off you don't need to involve the dynamic computer input. A topic covered in other how-tos of this forum.)


Anyway, this isn't all inclusive but hopefully it may help you determine if the Hitman Optics are for your sub or not.

[bstanko6]

I think your target speed calc is off.

1 knot = 1.85 meter. You wrote 1.95.

The formula is:
Length of ship / time to cross vertical cross hair x 1.85 = speed.

This might help in future calculations.

[Leoz]

LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All this time, I have been using 1.95....

Pro golfer to pro caddie.

"Why did the ball go so far, did they change the 4th at Indianapolis?"

Pro caddie.

"Indianapolis? That explains it, I have the notepad for Springfield".

[BigWalleye]

Hitman claims to have extensively researched the U-boat optics still in existence. He maintains that U-boats commissioned after the war began did not have an optical stadimeter. His optics mod is based on that research. AFAIK, Werner never mentions using a stadimeter for range determination, although he does refer to the graticle method which Hitman's mod employs. So, if Hitman's claim is to be believed, there is virtually no historical basis for using a stadimeter in a U-boat simulation. The graticle-mast height method appears to be the one actually used. I have never seen any post at SubSim that disputes Hitman's claim. So, if we want to simulate the fire control method used in RL U-boats, only Hitman's optics, without a stadimeter, provides the historically correct tools. Yet it seems that most SH3 players use the stadimeter. Why?

[bstanko6]

They did have stadimeter, but the equipment was so large it took a large quantity of room on the boat, so they got rid of them.

[BigWalleye]

That is definitely not the explanation Hitman gives. He says that the stadimeter, which was integral to each periscope optics and not a separate piece of equipment, was omitted to permit binocular objective lenses on thebperiscopes. This was believed to give the observer natural depth perception and better situational awareness. Again, this is Hitman's statement, which I don't believe anyone else has challenged. Do you have a source for your information?

[bstanko6]

I think it is either in the U-Boat commanders handbook or it was a document that came with GWX. I will take a look.

[bstanko6]

This was an excerpt from a file I had from GWX called 'German Optics' It is too big to upload onto this forum:

"Later types were the C/9, C/12 and C/13, all having minimal differences between
them, and all having an installable binocular eyepiece. The lose of interior space
required to install the aditional prisms forced to drop the split-prism stadimeter,
thus distance was calculated simply with the graticle. It was felt that the better
depth perception, light admission and clearer view for the observer more than
compensated this."

[BigWalleye]

Thank you. That seems basically in agreement with Hitman's explanation.

[Storm501]

Originally Posted by bstanko6

I think your target speed calc is off.

1 knot = 1.85 meter. You wrote 1.95.

The formula is:
Length of ship / time to cross vertical cross hair x 1.85 = speed.

This might help in future calculations.

Wait, I think that 1.95 is correct. Or 1.94 whichever you prefer. You have to factor in converting "per second" to "per hour".

75m beam / 30 sec = 2,5 m/s
2,5m/s / 1852 = 0,0013... nm/s
0,0013... nm/s x 3600 = 4,8596... nm/h
≈ 5 kn

So multiplier to use when converting m/s to kn is: 3600/1852=1.9438...

[derstosstrupp]

Originally Posted by Storm501

Wait, I think that 1.95 is correct. Or 1.94 whichever you prefer. You have to factor in converting "per second" to "per hour".

75m beam / 30 sec = 2,5 m/s
2,5m/s / 1852 = 0,0013... nm/s
0,0013... nm/s x 3600 = 4,8596... nm/h
≈ 5 kn

So multiplier to use when converting m/s to kn is: 3600/1852=1.9438...

1.94 is correct yes. I agree with the above calculations. Since we start with seconds we need to multiply by 60 twice, or 3600.