As you said, they did not haul out the trig tables and a notebook and work out the calculations. They used the calculators built into the TDC and Angriffsscheibe to perform these calculations exactly as I have described. Therefore they DID agree that it would be stupid to actually work out the trig equations while doing an attack.
When you disagree, it is usually considered essential to contradict the point with which you disagree.
What a great find in the tactics manual, well worth repeating!
Quote:
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a good U-boat commander would be prepared to use a variety of techniques to generate precise and accurate firing solutions so as not to waste a single precious torpedo (see U.Kdt.Hdb. Parts 91, 105).
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See a fundamental difference between American (most American captains) and German tactics. Where American doctrine was to shoot a spread, usually of four torpedoes, some of which were expected to miss, the Germans, partially forced by their lesser torpedo capacity in Type VII boats, but mostly by their inherent love of precision and efficiency, stressed wasting no shots! Every torpedo was intended to detonate against the side of an enemy ship. I love that thought! Do I EVER look forward to OLC GUI in SH4 and executing exactly this plan! I'm a rebel in the American Navy, never fire spreads and believe in Eugene Fluckey's "one torpedo, one ship" doctrine. He also believed every torpedo should hit the target.
Do you have English translations of the Handbook you linked to, and do you have the U.Kdt.Hdb as well? I'm foaming at the mouth in anticipation here.
Their table mentioned was similar to a table that gutted made for SH3, showing columns for torpedo speeds, rows for target speed and an array of lead angles. I reproduce an adaptation for American steam torpedoes:
Of course all captains, American and German were trained in the actual trigonometic equations used during an attack. If they were absolutely forced to, they might even have had to use them. I haven't seen a single instance of that happening in the American boats.
Run for your life! That's just a small part of the section on derivation of the trig behind the working of the Position Keeper. Obviously, there is no intent for a captain to actually work these formulae. He only learned them to understand and appreciate all the PK did.