his fleet to L out around the end of the enemy fleet to cross their bow forcing half their ships to point bow on to at least one of his battle lines. Allowing his broadside salvo beams to do the most damage possible down the length of the enemy ships instead of simply through and out the back side and hope they hit something vital. Though his gunners had to be well trained to hit the smaller aspect targets.
Tom's Battlecruiser continued scoring hits on enemy ships from long range but except for a couple of unlucky destroyers and a light cruiser accidentally hit knocking them out of the fight, he was having a hard time with the wildly maneuvering fleet, scoring enough hits on the same battleship to knock out one of the big boys even with his big guns doing considerable damage when a beam made a solid hit on one. Though even with his big guns, he still needed several solid hits to knock out a Battleship even from dead ahead. Even one scout would have allowed him to accurately concentrate his fire on one Battleship though a small squadron spaced around the enemy fleet would have more than doubled his hit rate. Jack just shook his head. Wishing he had spent the money for a flight bay for Tom long enough ago to have it ready for Tom to have put in before deploying for this battle. Surly he could have come up with some cheap old scout to use before he deployed. Though he had offered him a discount at his shipyard a year ago, plenty of time to have produced, installed it and even built new scouts by now.
Jack even thought about using his destroyers as Targeting Scouts for him this once just to show Tom how good the idea was. But realized putting his Destroyers close enough to act as Targeting Scouts and making them sit there while taking the necessary scans would insure the loss of far too many of them. They simply were too big for the job even if they were a lot smaller than a battleship.
Jack watched several of the close ly spaced beams from Tom's Supper Battlecruiser's guns finally hit a wildly maneuvering heavy cruiser, blasting the ship almost in half from stem to stern and sending it tumbling end for end. "All right Tom. Looks like a kill to me. Finally getting their range old buddy." Though he knew it was just luck. Jack checked his own range and position and smiled as he turned to his comm officer. "Squadron Helm, come Port 45 degrees. Fleet Weapons, fire torpedo spread attack Tango 6 in 10 seconds." Jack frowned as several of the squadron's ships were slow coming around to the new course including his newest arrival. "Damn cold ships." Hitting the squadron Comm. "Squadron, Weapons hold." The squadron finally settled down on the new course. "Squadron Weapons, Shoot."
Six torpedoes with 24 missiles left each of the 12 ships in Jack's fleet of Destroyers and raced away to the Starboard side on an intercept course with the enemy fleet at low thrust, making it harder for the enemy to detect them this far out. Jack waited another few seconds to make sure the torpedo's were clear and running true and then. "Fleet Helm, return to original course."
Six torpedoes from each ship against a fleet as big as they were facing, just suddenly seemed pitiful. But then he had tried before to add more torpedo tubes but the destroyer simply did not have any room left inside the hull for more tubes and the magazines that went with them. Unless he did not want a crew. Watching the drop tanks rapidly receding into the distance. But maybe he could add tubes to the drop tanks. Only thing was he did not need to fire torpedoes every time he had to drop a set of tanks. Which meant careful planning on which tanks to put them on, not to mention the extra costs.
But then how much could it cost just to scab some disposable torpedo tubes in the front of a tank? Then come to think of it, if the enemy changed their base course during the attack. All he had to do was retrieve the tanks later and not worry about losing the torpedoes like he would
Tom's Battlecruiser continued scoring hits on enemy ships from long range but except for a couple of unlucky destroyers and a light cruiser accidentally hit knocking them out of the fight, he was having a hard time with the wildly maneuvering fleet, scoring enough hits on the same battleship to knock out one of the big boys even with his big guns doing considerable damage when a beam made a solid hit on one. Though even with his big guns, he still needed several solid hits to knock out a Battleship even from dead ahead. Even one scout would have allowed him to accurately concentrate his fire on one Battleship though a small squadron spaced around the enemy fleet would have more than doubled his hit rate. Jack just shook his head. Wishing he had spent the money for a flight bay for Tom long enough ago to have it ready for Tom to have put in before deploying for this battle. Surly he could have come up with some cheap old scout to use before he deployed. Though he had offered him a discount at his shipyard a year ago, plenty of time to have produced, installed it and even built new scouts by now.
Jack even thought about using his destroyers as Targeting Scouts for him this once just to show Tom how good the idea was. But realized putting his Destroyers close enough to act as Targeting Scouts and making them sit there while taking the necessary scans would insure the loss of far too many of them. They simply were too big for the job even if they were a lot smaller than a battleship.
Jack watched several of the close ly spaced beams from Tom's Supper Battlecruiser's guns finally hit a wildly maneuvering heavy cruiser, blasting the ship almost in half from stem to stern and sending it tumbling end for end. "All right Tom. Looks like a kill to me. Finally getting their range old buddy." Though he knew it was just luck. Jack checked his own range and position and smiled as he turned to his comm officer. "Squadron Helm, come Port 45 degrees. Fleet Weapons, fire torpedo spread attack Tango 6 in 10 seconds." Jack frowned as several of the squadron's ships were slow coming around to the new course including his newest arrival. "Damn cold ships." Hitting the squadron Comm. "Squadron, Weapons hold." The squadron finally settled down on the new course. "Squadron Weapons, Shoot."
Six torpedoes with 24 missiles left each of the 12 ships in Jack's fleet of Destroyers and raced away to the Starboard side on an intercept course with the enemy fleet at low thrust, making it harder for the enemy to detect them this far out. Jack waited another few seconds to make sure the torpedo's were clear and running true and then. "Fleet Helm, return to original course."
Six torpedoes from each ship against a fleet as big as they were facing, just suddenly seemed pitiful. But then he had tried before to add more torpedo tubes but the destroyer simply did not have any room left inside the hull for more tubes and the magazines that went with them. Unless he did not want a crew. Watching the drop tanks rapidly receding into the distance. But maybe he could add tubes to the drop tanks. Only thing was he did not need to fire torpedoes every time he had to drop a set of tanks. Which meant careful planning on which tanks to put them on, not to mention the extra costs.
But then how much could it cost just to scab some disposable torpedo tubes in the front of a tank? Then come to think of it, if the enemy changed their base course during the attack. All he had to do was retrieve the tanks later and not worry about losing the torpedoes like he would
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