When do you give up when you miss?

Drakken · 12-06-19, 12:36 PM

Might be a stupid question, but I am curious to know... When do you give up on a target after your torpedo miss? When did historical Kaleuns gave up on a target?

Let's consider my current patrol as an example : Type VIIC, May 1942, around grid CC11 right by the Canadian Atlantic provinces. 9 days without a contact, and I finally spot a small coastal freighter (under 2,000 tons) and make my usual manual targeting routine. Got her speed and range on lock, fairly sure of my AOB, so my confidence in my firing solution is above 95%.

I fire Tube 2. It explodes prematurely.

Ok. Now that my cover is blown I slightly dial down the target's speed on the TDC. I fire Tube 3, but she didn't in fact slow down. So it misses right by passing right by her bow.

I recompute and fire Tubes 1 and 4. The former bounces off the middle of her keel, and the other passes right under without exploding.

I turn around and fire Tube 5... but by now the freighter did catch on, slowed down, and veered away, so that one misses too.

For such a small target, when would you have given up and said "well, too bad. Next target"? Would have real Kaleuns given up as well, or pressed on like I did? Deck gun isn't a solution because, by 1942, all Allied enemy merchants are armed anyway.

Thanks!

12-06-19, 12:36 PM	#1
Drakken Planesman Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 194 Downloads: 65 Uploads: 0	When do you give up when you miss? Might be a stupid question, but I am curious to know... When do you give up on a target after your torpedo miss? When did historical Kaleuns gave up on a target? Let's consider my current patrol as an example : Type VIIC, May 1942, around grid CC11 right by the Canadian Atlantic provinces. 9 days without a contact, and I finally spot a small coastal freighter (under 2,000 tons) and make my usual manual targeting routine. Got her speed and range on lock, fairly sure of my AOB, so my confidence in my firing solution is above 95%. I fire Tube 2. It explodes prematurely. Ok. Now that my cover is blown I slightly dial down the target's speed on the TDC. I fire Tube 3, but she didn't in fact slow down. So it misses right by passing right by her bow. I recompute and fire Tubes 1 and 4. The former bounces off the middle of her keel, and the other passes right under without exploding. I turn around and fire Tube 5... but by now the freighter did catch on, slowed down, and veered away, so that one misses too. For such a small target, when would you have given up and said "well, too bad. Next target"? Would have real Kaleuns given up as well, or pressed on like I did? Deck gun isn't a solution because, by 1942, all Allied enemy merchants are armed anyway. Thanks!