Mk 27 (Cutie) explosive power

[tale]

Hello skippers,

my question today is about the Mk 27 (aka cutie) torpedo, how does the explosive power compares to the other torpedo types, is it similar to the standar Mk 14?

The torpedo as a whole is way smaller than the Mk 14/18/23 but how about the warhead?

TIA

[Torplexed]

95 lbs. (43 kg) Torpex warhead for the Cutie.

643 lbs. (292 kg) Torpex wearhead for the Mark 14.

Here's a site that compares the stats of all US torpedoes of WW2. Air launched/ship/sub.

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTUS_WWII.htm

[tale]

Only 95 lbs. (43 kg) and the same explosive type :down: Then this is barely more powerful than a firecracker.

So let's see:

-This is almost useless against merchants, underpowered

-Self defensive weapon against escorts they say, but for this you have to stay quite close to the surface waiting for the destroyers (1, 2, 3 of them maybe) so you can launch the fish; then you can fire and go deep, but the mk 27 is slow like a turtle on the shore so it's very easy to miss the target, true you can make noise with your engines so the cutie will come back to you, and with it a couple destroyers; if you are lucky one of them might get hit by the firecraker, but wait there will be plenty of firecracker for you too, the canned ones that go down.

I don't know, the price of these mk 27 is too high for the performance obtained.

I think I will go deep down as soon as I can, disappear in the dark and stay as silent as a ghost and leave the firecrackers for the welcome home party.

[AlmightyTallest]

Well, they do have their uses.

They like noise, which makes them tend to hit the aft section of a destroyer or smaller escort, and in a few cases I've seen, they blow off a propeller, or damage the engines or propeller shafts of the escort ship, leaving it crippled and in some cases helpless.

After firing a few cuties at each oncoming escort I dive and run silent to escape, after awile you can surface and usually find a nice disabled destroyer that you can use your larger torpedoes on :D

I like them personally, but it takes some time to know when to use them, and how to use them in a way that suites your play style.

[M. Sarsfield]

I accidentally fired one at an old european merchant and after destroying the prop and rudder, it eventually sank stern first.

[CaptainHaplo]

The idea of the cutie was to disable/sink an escort by popping the engine shaft seals. This is where the propeller shaft comes out of the hull. If you destroy the screw or rudder, its as good as a kill for everything but the tonnage. Its no longer a danger to you.

Even today in ASW warfare, a "stern" shot is best. Hitting a target and popping the shaft seals will kill a sub, whereas some of the larger subs (typhoon for instance) are so large that a hit elsewhere will most likely allow the sub to survive.

[V.C. Sniper]

All subs require 1 torpedo to be sunk. Typhoons are no exception.

[LukeFF]

Of 106 Mark 27s fired in combat, 33 hit (24 ships sunk and 9 damaged).

[M. Sarsfield]

At 12 kts it's not a very maneuverable device. A lot of skippers probably said a Hail Mary and just blindly popped one out the rear while evading.

[Soundman]

All subs require 1 torpedo to be sunk. Typhoons are no exception.

I tend to agree with you , but how would one know? I have never heard of a Typhoon being hit with a torpedo!:lol:

[-Pv-]

"but how would one know? I have never heard of a Typhoon being hit with a torpedo!:lol:"

Good response. We only know they can be easily sunk by their own internal torpedoes.
-Pv-

[SteveHump]

...I like them. Even on 12-15 kt DDs. I launch from stern tubes usually about 4 or 5 ship lengths in front of bow of DD, then begin evade at flank speed and deep. Usually it took about 1 hr for the DD to finally sink stern down. Dainty but deadly in my sub. TMO with 1.5 and some minor mods on 2.4Ghz Piv with overclocked Nvidia 7600 works fine for me if I run 2 Gb ram and use Enditall to remove all memory resident progams before SHIV.

[M. Sarsfield]

I'm not too impressed with the Mk. 27. It's like firing Helen Keller out of a torpedo tube. It could be that the real acoustic listening device was as bad as it's portrayed in the game. The real life statistics seem to point that way.

[AVGWarhawk]

Of 106 Mark 27s fired in combat, 33 hit (24 ships sunk and 9 damaged).


Yep and the USS Torsk used a 'Cutie' to sink the last vessel of the war!

[jetthelooter]

the mk27 was original designed as an air-dropable device to be used against submarines and was later adapted to be fired from a submarine.

[Quillan]

In the game, I've fired a total of one Cutie, and hit and sank the ship with it alone. I took out Parker's Tincan with it! It was the only way I got past the frustration of that portion of the sea trials in Trigger Maru.

[Raptor1]

jetthelooter, You are referring to the Mark 24 FIDO, an Air-dropped acoustic Torpedo which was developed to sink U-Boats and I-Boats, It was such an effective weapon that the US Navy cut production down to less then half because not so many we're needed, the submarine launched Mark 27 Cutie was a variant of this weapon, designed to be used against surface ships

[tale]

I just checked and these little devils are less than halft the size of a Mk 14:

Mk 14: 20 ft 6 in (6.248 m)

Mk 27: 7 ft 6 in (2.286 m)

But still they take a whole storage slot for themselves; If at least you could have two of them in one storage slot that would be nice, but NO, you can only fit one firecracker per box. :shifty:

[M. Sarsfield]

That's a good question to ask a sub vet. I'll ask the next time that I see one of them if they stored two cuties in one storage slot on the boats. It probably won't be until the Batfish reunion in May, though.

Speaking of acoustic fun, you guys need to try out keltos1's Mk. 28 torpedo. Right now it takes up the Mk. 27 slot in the game files/structure, but he's working on changing that.

[AlmightyTallest]

Another problem with the results from Mk 27 firings during the war was that some of the guys were firing them and just hoping they'd guide themselves to the target. The Navy determined that the torpedo should be fired using the same procedures as you would any other torpedo, guiding it closer to it's intended target and letting it home in on the sound of the target as it got closer on it's own.

Also helps to give the cutie or Mk 28 a noisy target to begin with, wait until the enemy ship just passes your position and make a shot toward it's stern.

[M. Sarsfield]

I made some dead reckoning shots with the Mk. 28's last night and they found their targets. Target had moved closer to my position and 15 degrees to the right of the inital launch bearing each time. Ranges were 3,000 yards and 2,500 yards, respectively. They were warships, though, and I think the filters on that warhead are more geared toward high frequencies. My results with the merchants are so-so, unless something has gotten him stirred up and he's going flank speed.

I might starting pinging my targets before firing, just to get them spooled up and going crazy.

[gimpy117]

but it's just enough to make the destoyer have a very bad day, hitting by the porps and engine room (the spot that the torpedo is drawn too) will damage running gear, at least slowing him. heck my cuties often sink destroyers.

[Solidsnake2234]

I tend to agree with you , but how would one know? I have never heard of a Typhoon being hit with a torpedo!:lol:

Really? Then watch "The Hunt for Red October" XD

[Daniel Prates]

THere was a good discussion here about 3 months ago or so, about the Cutie. Go check it out, whoever didn't so far.

Why do I read so much about the Typhoon here in this forum, lately? Has something changed in the previous week?

[Popeye the Salior]

USS Torsk I have been on that boat she is a museum ship now berthed in Baltimore harbor.

[Popeye the Salior]

Mark 28 where can you find that mod?