Quote:
Originally Posted by SwissSubCommander
In WW2 the U-boat skippers had gadgets like the RAOBF to calculate the target data and the TDC to compile it into a firing solution. Plus a hydrophone to detect ships and submarines. How did the u-boats of WW1 handle these tasks? And how is early war ASW going to be represented in the mod? Small boats with sailors armed with hammers?  |
There was a good post several months ago about the primitive "computer" and rulers used as a targeting system by WWI skippers....nothing like a modern "computer"; it was an unpowered device with no screen. Unfortunately it can't be included in the mod because of the lack of images; I have not been able to find out what all its parts looked like. Also, exchanging the existing targeting objects for them would be another problem. Not a huge loss because in real life the "computer" was disliked by many skippers and inaccurate. At present I will have a WWII targeting interface similar to what is in UBoat and SHIV ATO mods with restrictions, such as no FAT functionality/leg settings, no homing, and reduced torpedo gyro arc setting options to represent more limited WWI torpedoes, like the 45cm "C" series and the 50cm G6.
Early ASW will feature crude depth charge predecessors like bomb-floats; these equipped several Q ships and escorts. There will also be some hydrophones; they were used with some success but were more common on late war escorts circa 1917-1918. I may use a weakened version of sonar just to make sure escorts don't give up the chase, although it is not 100% historical; I still want there to be frightening depth charge attacks once DC's are available. Despite mediocre sensors the allies often had a good idea of where a U-Boat was in WWI - to the point where in one month in 1918 front line U-Boats suffered about a 25% sinking rate. By the end of the war, the hydrophone + DC equipped destroyers were very deadly.
I will try to find the post for you after work; going out on the job now!
And thank you, Captain Lehmann, for the compliments, this week expect to see more progress!