Deck gun fires erratically TMO 2.5

Using TMO 2.5 with RSRD and also without. When firing the deck gun manually about 2 out each of 10 firings results in the shell going into the water next to boat, or sailing way beyond the set firing range. Don't recall this before. I am using the game option allowing stabilizing but I guess that is view only. Anyone have an explanation?

[WernherVonTrapp]

That's due to the waves and sea swells, like in real life. Try blading your boat (head on OR Stern on) to minimize the effect. I've also had some results timing my shots with the passing of the swells.

[donna52522]

I have 'no stabilized view' set, but my view at the gun stations are always stable. If your not zoomed in using the guns scope, you can see the gun barrel bouncing with the swells.

Not sure if the gun does that if you are using stabilized setting.

[Armistead]

As Wern stated it's rough sea's, but even it the highest winds I can aim pretty good by turning my sub until I find a sweet spot. I'm not sure if this is a game flaw or by design, but even in rough seas if you find the right direction it's easier to shoot, not perfect but much better. I also think it has to do with wind direction. Also watch your gun and time your shots with the wave rolls, again by flaw or design your gun will stable for about 1 sec why aimed, probably for when the crew shoots.

However, long distance shots can be a problem and it can be dangerous to get in close with TMO unless your shooting blind in a storm by radar.

[Stealhead]

I usually take a look at the deck gun while in it and zoomed to see how much movement is occurring then I will time my shoots with the sound of the waves against the hull.You can also see the movement even while zoomed in both vertical and lateral it is just very slight I use no stabilize view.A general rule of thumb would also be to take into consideration the current weather conditions anything over 8 knots and you should expect some effect on your shots.But as others have said just change you heading here and there if you getting thrown around.As Armistead said I too find that most times I can get fairly consistent hits in all but the worst 15 knot weather which realistically crews would not have manned the gun anyway(I think it will let you do so in TMO at least with 15 knot winds have not yet tried in a actual storm)

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by jldjs

Using TMO 2.5 with RSRD and also without. When firing the deck gun manually about 2 out each of 10 firings results in the shell going into the water next to boat, or sailing way beyond the set firing range. Don't recall this before. I am using the game option allowing stabilizing but I guess that is view only. Anyone have an explanation?

Not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the crew firing the gun, or you firing the gun? AFAIK, the crew have always been lousy shots. I was playing around with designing a training mission, and I noticed even a shore placed AI gun will put shells into the water almost at their own feet, eventhough they are shooting at something 2000 yds. away. Obviously, guns/ballistics were something Ubi didn't put too much effort into.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Obviously, guns/ballistics were something Ubi didn't put too much effort into.

I wouldn't be too sure about that. Overall hit rate for all navies in World War Two was only about 7%, and up close and personal was still less than 20%. In his book Guns At Sea Peter Padfield compared it to sitting in a rocking chair shooting at a ping-pong ball rolling across a mantle with a pistol while being rocked randomly by someone else.

Naval gunnery has never been a precise science and, even with the latest radar fire control, still isn't, and u-boats were an unstable platform shooting an unstabilized gun with iron sights. I think Ubi's effort in this department is just fine; perhaps a little too easy.

[Armistead]

I agree with Steve, unless waters were calm shooting a DG off a sub was a job, as in real life you do have to time the shot with the wave action. Only thing we don't have is being able to use radar, subs also watched shell splashes by radar to tune in the next shot.

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I wouldn't be too sure about that. Overall hit rate for all navies in World War Two was only about 7%, and up close and personal was still less than 20%. In his book Guns At Sea Peter Padfield compared it to sitting in a rocking chair shooting at a ping-pong ball rolling across a mantle with a pistol while being rocked randomly by someone else.

Naval gunnery has never been a precise science and, even with the latest radar fire control, still isn't, and u-boats were an unstable platform shooting an unstabilized gun with iron sights. I think Ubi's effort in this department is just fine; perhaps a little too easy.

Nice description there. What I meant was that I consider the SH4 game makes guns rather too powerful. At least, that is the impression I've gotten from my readings. Also, there seems a very big difference between the crews performance and manual operation. Shouldn't they be somewhat comparable?

You have a very good point about the gun's stability, but I am even more concerned with the damage capabilities of the shells. In sub games, 20 or 30 shells can sink a ship as well as 1 or 2 torpedos. This seems dubious to me.

[Sailor Steve]

I think you're right. This book mentions the attack on SS Cathrine by Gunther Prien and U-47. The claim is that it took 113 rounds of 8.8cm to put the merchant down. There doesn't seem to be any indication of how many shells actually hit the target, which means that it may have taken a lot less than that number to sink the ship.
http://books.google.com/books?id=gDP...veness&f=false

There is a lot of good information in that article.

On the other hand a quick look at U-boat.net's article on the attack says that U-47 fired 113 rounds for a total of 12 hits. That means that 101 rounds missed. It also means that it only took 12 shells to sink Cathrine, which only displaced 1885 tons.
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/382.html

[TorpX]

I've gotten the impression that the whole gun vs. ship thing is very "hit or miss", no pun intended.

During Operation Drumbeat, Hartigen (?) certainly sank some ships exclusively with shelling, but I think this was at close range where they could place shells at the waterline, and may have been helped by the tendency of the merchant crews being eager to abandon ship. On the other hand, I recall on one of O'Kane's patrols they tried to sink an armed yacht with their gun (I'm not sure if it was a 3 inch or 4 inch); they had to engage from a distance, and failed to sink it after using up most of their ammunition. I don't think they were able to get too many hits. This surprised me, as I would have thought a wooden yacht could be blasted to splinters by high-explosive shells.