Tactical dilemma - attacking a port

[Mount Suribachi]

Aug 1942, my 3rd patrol in S-47 out of Brisbane I was tasked to patrol the Solomons for the 3rd straight patrol And just like the previous 2 I found no trade in my patrol area

The previous 2 times I ended up lurking outside Rabaul to get my 10k Tons, but this time decided to head to Guadalcanal. Arriving at the port there on the North side, my radar picks up 8+ boats docked there, plus a DD patrolling just north of the entrance. The harbour is wide open along a straight east-west coastline.

Its currently 0700 and I'm submerged approx 2 miles north of the harbour. There appears to be another Destroyer moored on the seaward side of the western pier, and a large merchant on the seaward side of the eastern pier. I think there's 1 or 2 subchasers also moored in the harbour, plus another 4-odd merchants. My dilemma is how to best go about this once it gets dark.

1) Sit and wait for the patrolling DD to go by on his patrol pattern and take him out, then head east and take out the merchant. Either slip away if the other DD or SCs coming looking or try and take them out leaving the merchants sitting ducks

2) Head west and take out the stationary DD, wait and ambush the patrolling DD if he comes to check out the commotion, then pick off the merchants

3) Head east, take the easy kill on the stationary merchant and slip away

4) Other

Please remember, I'm in a rickety old S-42 class. Only 4 bow tubes, no stern tubes!

Thx

[Armistead]

Which harbor are you talking about. Are you playing with mods, which ones? I take it you at least have map labels.

Most of the convoy or stationary traffic is temporary at GC as the JPs have no fixed ports there. They do try many invasions and have several convoys that will get near the shoreline and go stationary for a few days then take off. Course I use RSRD that scripts things correctly and adds more labels that I don't recall that are in stock.

So, where do you see them at port. The only fixed port is Tulagi on the island N of GC. They may have ships docked there for a short time. If that's the place, you have a lot of shallow water to deal with. In a S boat....good luck, but you say you're N. of the port, so not sure where you are.


From what I can tell...option two would be your best bet. If you have M14's you can use low speed and shoot from 9000 yards at stationary targets, so you may be able to reach the merchants from that distance and stay away from the dd's.
If they're not docked at a port, those stationary DD's may take off and attack you. If they are docked, they will remain stationary.

[Mount Suribachi]

Sorry, forgot to say, I'm playing vanilla 1.4

The port is called Honiara

[Munchausen]

I'd observe the DD on patrol and figure where it is least likely to change course and speed. Then determine its speed, get in close (800 yards) on a perpendicular attack, and sink it. If you approach at 3 knots or less while at periscope depth and only use the scope for quick peeks, he isn't likely to find you or spot the torpedo in time.

After sinking the DD, pick the biggest ships you can find in the harbor. Don't take all day about it, though ... eventually, at least one aircraft will come to patrol the area and, if it spots your scope, you'll get bombed ('though, in 1.4, the pilots aren't all that accurate).

P.S. If you're using auto-targeting, you still need to get in close to the DD.

[VonHesse]

Ok, I always feel like I'm cheating when I do this, but I do raid harbors in my S-Boat if I can't find targets out on the open ocean. What I (former artilleryman) do is watch the DD and observe his patrol pattern for a while. Normally in Honiara, the DD runs a triangle pattern with the point of the triangle facing the harbor. This means he's doing a long , straight run paralell to the docks, about 2000 to 3000 yards out. Simply put, I creep up to about 6000 yards of his path, wait for him to turn his side to me, and let him have it with long range deck gun fire.

It always works. At the long end of his pattern, he's too far away for the docked escorts for them to see you and assist, and if you can start hitting him at 6000 yards, you'll sink him before he can hit you back. Easy-peasy

Sure it feels like cheating, and I only use it when I need the tons, but once the patrolling DD is sunk, you can sink as many docked ships as you want. Stationary ships will not start moving just because they know you're in the area. They just sit there and wait to die.

P.S. If you really want a "rickety" old S-Boat, try WEBSTER's "S-Class mod for v1.4 & 1.5." 10 knots flank speed, 5000nm range @ 6knots, 200ft crush depth, and only 25% armor and hitpoints.

[Armistead]

If you're not using any supermods or playing stock you can easily take out the DD's on the surface. If they can't see you, they don't even react to being shot and you can easily take them out on the surface with your DG
Even if you're blowing merchants up, the DD's won't react unless they make contact with you, even though they can see the ships sinking.

If you're using a Supermod that makes gameplay more realistic, don't get trapped in shallow water....take long range shots. You can easily set up long range shots with the attack map and not miss stationary targets.

[Mount Suribachi]

Well, I decided to take out the Destroyer moored at the western end, but as I got in close and upped periscope I realised it was actually 2 subchasers moored there. Not worth wasting torps on - especially when I realised that there were 2 merchants and 2 tankers inside the harbour

So doubled back, waited till nightfall, to take out the patrolling DD and unbelievably, both torps missed!! 1 mile, slow speed, perpendicular course, and even with auto-targeting I missed with both So had to wait, fired another 2, and of course the first one hit and caused a giant explosion which sank the destroyer straight away. So I'd wasted 4 torps on 1 DD, which I would soon regret....

Went into the harbour at periscope depth because of the 4 subchasers & gunboats moored there. Used 6 torps taking out 1 tanker and 1 freighter. Back out and looped round to the east, fired my 2 remaining torps at the tanker moored outside the eastern pier, which of course wasn't enough to sink it. So I surfaced to finish it off with my deck gun, but for some infuriating reason my gun crew insisted on firing on a freighter on the other side of the pier, all whilst the armed freighters and gunboats were taking pot shots at me.

**Eventually** my gun crew sank their freighter and turned on the damaged tanker. Once that went down I was able to dive and get away. 2 tankers, 2 med freighters and a destroyer. Not a bad haul, even if I was blundering around in my n00bness.

So how do I get my gun to target who I want? I tried locking onto the tanker with my TDC, but they still kept firing at the freighter. I also tried manual control, but in the dark I found it hard to see if I was hitting the target or not. Really short shots I could see the splash, I couldn't tell when I was overshooting or hitting the target.

[VonHesse]

To make the deck gunners fire at the target you want (in stock)

1) go to the bridge
2) make sure you have the "bridge" taskbar opened
3) zoom in on the desired target with your binoculars
4) when the binocular is over a target, the reticule will turn red
5) click on the taskbar box that says "set as target for deck gun or AA" (it's shaped like a deck gun)
6) As long as the guns are manned, that's all you need

Note: As a former artilleryman, I have to say that the American gunner's accuracy is ABYSMAL! They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. The Japs, however have super-snipers manning their guns. Don't try to fight it out and expect your gunners to save you. They'll be burning up your rounds all willy-nilly while the IJN drop a steady stream of hot steel straight down your conning tower hatch.

The only way I've been able to duke it out and live is if I man the guns myself. Get the range off the nav map and adjust fire according to your respective headings and speeds. With a little "bracketing", it works like a charm, and you can save your fish for the heavy merchants

Edit: BTW, in harbors, subchasers and gunboats that are on the other side of a pier from you can't shoot you if you hug the side of the pier in an S-boat. They can't shoot you if the pier is in the way. The S-boats sit too low in the water. They'll still shoot at you, but if you do it right, the rounds will just hit the pier.

if you like s-boats then you might like to try my s-boat mod, it is v1.4 compatable and VonHesse can confirm it will help change the way you use your s-boat

[Ships-R-Us]

VonHesse, thanks for that good information on the binocs in combination with the deck guns. New people like myself were not aware of that........Thanks. I copied and pasted your text for use in a little bit....
Cheers to you and yours.

[VonHesse]

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

if you like s-boats then you might like to try my s-boat mod, it is v1.4 compatable and VonHesse can confirm it will help change the way you use your s-boat

Darn right I can confirm it changes the way you use an S-boat. Makes me unashamed to admit to raiding harbors and/or standing off at 6000 yards and plinking away with my deck gun, lol. Can't risk getting too close to the action, a piece of shrapnel might hit one of the lumps of rust that you used to keep the water out.

@Shipsrus: Glad to have something to add, thanks. Cheers to you

Edit: WOOT!! I just made "Popeye the Sailor man"!!! Christmas came early...