Comments by "Frank DeMaris" (@kemarisite) on "Learning about the Imperial Japanese Navy - Introductory book recommendations" video.

  1. What was it like in the Imperial Japanese armed forces? One of the rare occasions where "The beatings will continue until morale improves" is entirely appropriate.
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  2.  @potatomasher1852  the answer to that can get incredibly detailed and change as drastically over that period as gunfire control did. In WW1, especially at the beginning, aiming torpedoes depended almost entirely on the submarine captain's ability to estimate range, beating, and speed, and then do the math (or at least an estimate) in his head, or with a slide rule, because the boats are so small and don't have room for extra crew and equipment (not that the equipment even existed then). It will be apparent that HMS Cressy and Hogue assisted in their own sinkings by stopping to rescue survivors from Aboukir, making themselves easier targets for a U-boat that only carried a total of six torpedoes anyway. By WW2, estimates of range, speed, and beating still depend heavily on the captains ability to make them through the periscope, but in some cases mechanical computers made the calculations. In particular, the US torpedo data computer was an enormous improvement over the previous methods for calculating torpedo settings. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo_Data_Computer
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