88 flak cannon, how to use

[samcan244(73 61 6d)]

when attacking unarmed convoys or after destroying the armed part the other ships take evasive action, at this point if i can confirm theres no guns i surface and let the 88 fire into the convoys remains...
i was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what ammo to use as i watched the AI gunner just fire off 80 rounds to sink a single ~4800 ton ship and thats a little depressing

[ждун]

actually the deckgun didn't prove itself in WW2 for german subs. It was rarely used because not realy effective. Kriegsmarine finaly gave up on it in favor for Snorkel.

[samcan244(73 61 6d)]

Originally posted by ждун:

actually the deckgun didn't prove itself in WW2 for german subs. It was rarely used because not realy effective. Kriegsmarine finaly gave up on it in favor for Snorkel.

yeah that makes sense just a little surprised in both this and SH4 the deck gun is prity much useless even against civilian ships

[Horst Marines]

the 88 flak is super strong when controlled by officier against planes in this game

[Wyzard]

the Deck gun is best used by the player - the ai will waste ammo - the best place to shoot is next to the ship an shoot at the water line or below it - 10 Armor shells should be enough to stop it an 5 more to sink it - or it will just float while the crew leave the ship - the ai will just shoot at the ship

[ждун]

fun fact:

on 06. Feb. 1942 U-109, which was a type IX-B boat, armed with a much more powerful 10,5 cm deckgun, sank steamer Halcyon (3531 GRT) using its deckgun only. Commander Heinrich Bleichrodt was shelling the 3,5K GRT steamer carrying ballast for more then 5 hours and fired 200 rounds in total (100x 10,5cm + 100x 3,7cm) until it finaly flipped over and sank.

http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/index.php/Halcyon

[Horst Marines]

200 Rounds over 5 hours wow

[wolf310ii]

Another fun fact:
Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere on WW1 sunk on a 4 week patrol 54 ships using only 4 torpedos, one was a miss. His main weapon to sink ships was the 8,8cm deck gun.

The deck gun in WW2 wasnt rarely used because it wasnt effectiv, it was rarely used because other circumstances than in WW1, like airplanes, convoy system and armed freighter

[ждун]

Originally posted by wolf310ii:

it was rarely used because other circumstances than in WW1, like airplanes, convoy system and armed freighter

well which all together turned the deckguns basically into ballast.

it is also just a bad idea to put a deckgun on an unstable platform like the deck of a submarine. It may work well in calm conditions, when the sea is flat like a mirror, but as soon you have rough conditions like they are common in the atlantic and the north sea, you barely can actually hit anything.

U-109 fired 200 shells, but only few of them was actually a hit.

[ждун]

Originally posted by wolf310ii:

Another fun fact:
Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere on WW1 sunk on a 4 week patrol 54 ships using only 4 torpedos, one was a miss. His main weapon to sink ships was the 8,8cm deck gun.

In WW1 the total naval warfare doctrine was not yet applied, and it was common practise to stop the merchants, get on board, inspect them, let the crew get off board, prepare the vessel for sinking by in example flooding the balast tanks and opening all bulk doors and then finaly finishing it off from close range with a few well aimed rounds. When you properly prepare the vessel and are aware of its weakenesses yea this is propably a different story.

[jamesglen7]

88AP for hulls and 88AA for AC. They both work very well with an assisted skilled Gunner.

[El Rushbo]

The deck gun was largely considered as an auxiliary weapon. Ideally used against small coastal vessels not worth a torpedo or to finish off a crippled ship. In the Pacific, US fleet boats often had heavier deck gun armament as the war progressed. Many boats had two 5 inch guns, largely because of the large number of wooden fishing boats and sampans they had to deal with.

The type XI U-boat concept was based off the famous "cruiser submarines" of WWI. A number of U-boats were fitted with heavier guns for use against merchants while torpedoes were saved for more valuable warships. The type XI was an effort to revisit this concept in WWII but the project was cancelled early on.