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Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific

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Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific > Guides > Bodin's Guides

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Over-simplified Manual Targeting Guide (for Ships and Giggles)

By Bodin

I am no pro at SH4, but I've picked up tips over the course of my playtime (from sources such as subsim.com, Rockin Robbins' youtube videos, and Capt-n-scurvy's high realism tutorial [http://archive.org/details/Capt-n-scurvysSilentHunter4HighRealismTutorial]), and this is generally how I sink enemy merchants who stumble into my path (without the stadimeter). While I'm sure there are better ways to do things, I think and hope that some folks who are new and/or have troubles with certain aspects of manual targeting will find something useful here.

Good luck out there, and give 'em hell.

Edit 12/2021: Well, I made a mistake on AoB calculation when I wrote the guide, as someone pointed out in the comments, and I have been too lazy to change it the past eight years... But, it's now updated, at least until I feel like fleshing it out a bit. Thanks for reading :)

NOTE: This is for vanilla SH4. Keep an eye out for possible version based on modded play.

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Created by

Bodin
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Category: Game Modes

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

12 Sep, 2013 @ 7:39pm

6 Dec, 2021 @ 12:16pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Where to?

Full speed ahead!

How fast?

How far?

Angle on Bow

What's that?

Wait for it...

Silent but deadly

Comments

Where to?

Found an enemy ship? Set up a firing solution. Go to your chart, and figure out which way she's going. Select the ruler, and draw a line through the center of the ship, adjusting it until she's following it as closely as possible. Zoom out, and extend the line a good distance away, beyond the point at which you plan to attack. Use the tool helper to keep your line as close to the ship's center as possible while zoomed out.

Full speed ahead!

Now that you know where the enemy is going to be, go and get into position. At maximum speed, get well ahead of the ship so that you have plenty of time to set up an ambush. Be sure to stay out of sight--keep at least 5000 yards or so away. When you are well ahead of the target, get just within about 1000 yards away from the line, approaching at a 90 degree angle. You should probably go to periscope depth at or before this point, depending on how much of a lead you have on your prey.

How fast?

Whip out your chronometer/stopwatch. With the marker, put an X on the target's current position, and start the timer. After three minutes have passed, mark the ship's new position, and put away your watch. Center the compass tool on the first mark, and drag a circle outward until it intersects the second. Look at your measurment: If the distance between the marks is 800 yards, your target is traveling at about 8 knots; if 1000, 10 knots, and so forth. Put the speed into the TDC.

How far?

Using your marker, put an X somewhere on the line within the 1000 yard radius. Using your ruler, measure the distance between this mark and the center of your boat. Do your best to enter this number into your range finder (it need not be exact). When the target reaches the mark, you can turn on the position keeper, but leave it off for now.

Angle on Bow

Use the protractor to trace a line over the target's course, and then out to your boat from where the target is. Enter the angle into the TDC.

What's that?

When she's getting close, look through your periscope, and pull up the recognition manual. Do your best to identify the ship, taking note of the draft, and hit the check mark. Set your torpedoes to high speed and contact/influence (if possible), and set their depth to five feet (give or take) below the target's draft. Don't forget to open your torpedo tubes. You will probably only need to fire one or two (you can finish her off with the deck gun on the surface if you have to).

Wait for it...

When the target reaches the mark you set up, go to your battle map and turn on the position keeper (hit the round button on the bottom right). With your periscope up, make sure the white line is pretty close to the ship, and follows along with it. If it isn't, you likely need to hurry up and adjust your range or AOB.

Silent but deadly

Wait for it... wait for it... fire (but don't wait until the target is directly in front of you, or past the center of your 1000 yard radius). I fired four torpedoes in this image, just for ships and giggles.