Recent messages from CaS players have made it clear how dangerous it is to assume anything.

First, the recent second edition of the rules added more detail to surface ship fire control, describing forward and aft directors for the main battery along with their arcs (see page 6-4 of the rules).

Jim Broshot has pointed out, quite correctly, that in their drive for economy between the wars, many British cruisers did not receive an aft main battery director. This practice continued into WW II.

The ships with only a single main battery director are the C class (both early and late), Hawkins, D class, E class, County, York, Leander, Modified Leander, Arethusa (193 5), Town, Dido, Modified Dido, and Fiji classes.

The modified Town class was the only cruiser to have both director positions, but was followed by others with only one again.

The second correction concerns the fire control system of British WW II submarines. In the rules (page 6-10) we describe torpedo gyro angles, used by subs and ships to have the torpedo turn to a preset course to left or right of the tube's bearing after launch. We mention that Soviet torpedoes, at least at the beginning of the war, did not have this capability, requiring the sub to line up exactly with the torpedo's intended track before firing.

In another bout of prewar economy, or perhaps incompetence, the early marks of the British Mk8 torpedoes, introduced in 1927, could not accept gyro angle settings. Later marks could, but British submarine fire control systems were never refitted to have the ability. Therefore, the firing arc for all British submarine torpedoes should be changed from PB&SB or PQ&SQ to "see remarks" and the note added in the remarks section: "Can only fire torpedoes on same course as submarine."

Thanks to Jim Broshot for that one as well.

BT