88 vs. 105 deckgun

[danoh]

Howdy folks, I've had the game about 2 months and gotten a lot of good tips off of this forum for about a month. Time to start asking my own questions.

Which deck gun do you think is better, the 88 or the 105? I ask because I've just switched from a VIIB to a IXC, and thus have a 105 now instead of an 88. Since the 105 carries a lot less ammo, I was hoping it would sink ships quickly, but my first effort against a C3 cargo took 26 rounds. My gun crew orders are to fire at the waterline at short range.

Does anyone have any further deckgun tips? I have a watch officer with gunnery specialty and two unteroffizer with the deckgun specialty who man the gun with a third sailor, plus I try to promote and give medals to this crew as often as possible. Since early 1941 the merchants have usually carried one gun so I manually destroy it first, then let the crew fire at the waterline at short range. Can you sink ships faster with another method, like blowing up the deck cargo first or targeting the bridge?

Thanks for your help.