How to attack a port?

[Seelenwerk]

Well the question is in the titel
How on gods good earth do you guys attack a unit in a port. I was fighting the japanese around wake island and on of their carriers retreated with around 2 HP into the islands port.
And suddly it became impervious to all kinds of attacks 2 Battleships, a CA and 2 destroyers didnt manage to kill it of.

Am i misunderstanding the gamemechanics here? I know that you only get a small chance to hit a ship in a port. But looking at a picture of wake island makes this situation a bit silly.

Hope my question is clear & cheers!

[Bo Rearguard]

Am i misunderstanding the gamemechanics here? I know that you only get a small chance to hit a ship in a port. But looking at a picture of wake island makes this situation a bit silly.

It's actually sort of counterproductive to bombard ships in port with surface ships. Ships in port gain a degree of protection from surface attack, so there is only a base 10% chance of them receiving damage when the port is attacked, and this increases by 10% for every level of Naval Weaponry research. More likely you'll damage your own ships in the attempt although you may hurt the port facility itself a little.
Best to stick to using air power when attacking ships in port. I know this can seem a bit ridiculous since some islands like Wake weren't much more a shallow lagoon with little natural protection, but the game treats all ports the same in this respect.

[Nginear]

In my experience that 10% chance is a 0% chance. Can't recall a ship ever bombarding a unit except in mods where the 10% is cranked up to 50% chance.

There are some hidden mechanics for aircraft based on the unit type which is attacking. Heavy bombers (startegic aircraft unit type) attach the resource first, and then a second dice roll % chance to hit the unit. Medium bombers (bomber type) on the other hand, even though they have a resource attack value, will not bombard the resource if a unit is there. If a ship is there, it only attacks the unit. If there is no ship, then the resource attack value is used.

Ships vs ports act more like strategic bombers. They also use 2 supply when attacking a port, I assume one for the unit and one for the port.