3 replies to this topic

[Jim O'Neil]

I note the Japanese have RFC for many ships as early as 1941...They of course never had RFC for any ship. Neither did any other Navy excepting the USN and a slot of late war RN ships.RFC Means the radar is making all the determinations, except for the "enable" which allows it to fire. US MK 8 and later Main battery directors could do this, as can the Mk-4 (FD) 5" director. I don't remember the RN designations, sorry.US Mk-3 and most other radar sets assist in firing, they do not have much , if any, blind fire capability. Most RN ships up to 1943-44 have this sort of radar fire assistance. The USN ships up until 1943, excepting the 5" director, also are Radar Fire Assistance.The Kriegsmarine had radar ranging only until very late in the war, and often didn't use Radar until they were spotted, as they were concerned about it giving away their position.Japan didn't have Radar ranging until 1943, and it was slow to be deployed, Type 22 (a centimetric set) was capable of fine range determination, but poor target distinction and deflection determination. The French got what radar they were able to use aboard ship (with a few exceptions) from the Allies. The Italians suffered without Radar for almost all the time they were in the war.Range only Radar offered a considerable advantage to "no Radar", but it is much less useful than the USN SG set that provides the Plan Position Indicator, allowing the captain to see where ships and land were in relation to himself, on a constant basis.The rules do not portray these differences well at all.

[Lonnie Gill]

I think there may indeed be some confusion here. The majority of Japanese ships have gray shading rather than entries in the radar areas of their Ship Logs. This indicates they did NOT have radar. A ship only has radar when an effectivness grade is listed (+, - or =). The gray shading provides an area for those who want to explore what might have been if Axis navies had made more use of radar. Only two IJN ships are shown as having RFC. As noted, it had limited capacity.Further, the definition of radar fire control in the Bravo6 comment is narrower than that used in General Quarters. RFC covers a range of capacity. R - radar fire control simulates what Bravo6 aply describes as "radar assisted" fire with little or no blind fire capacity. This is the capability of the the USN Mark 3 (FC) main battery and Mark 4 (FD) secondary battery radars and the British Type 284 main battery and Type 285 secondary battery radars. Limited capacity, but useful.The Bravo6 definition applies more to the R + radars. The USN Mark 8 and later Mark 13 main battery and Mark 12 secondary battery radars were much more capable as indicated in the Now Hear This box on page 1-17.We'll be posting a Radar Availability Table (RAT) on the web site soon which will provide you more informaton on the radar outfits of ships at various times. This is an area where it is hoped that others will share their research to provide us all better information on an improtant area that has long remained shadowed by wartime sercecy.

[Jim O'Neil]

Lonnie,Thanks for clearing that up... the gray shading was indeed making me think they had something. Be glad to share what i have...Jim

[Lonnie Gill]

Jim,That would be great! When we get the Radar Availability Table (RAT) posted on the web site, you'll see the radar types used for the different grades used in General Quarters. More importantly, there is a lot of room to add the radar fits for individual ships. As indicated in the Now Hear This box on page 1-15, this is an enormous project. But if we each contribute what we've found in our individual research, we can creat a data base that will be very useful for all, whether you play General Quarters or use another set of rules.Look forward to working with you!