Can flak guns sink ships?
 

Simple really, what it says on the tin.

I recently found an unescourted modern tanker, and with no eels left and my deck gun not fitted, I had to let him go :( Can you use AA flaks to sink ships? In the past using my AA, I have:

• set fire to barrels on tankers
• blown up small coastal patrol boats
• destroyed guns on destroyers and armed merchantmen
• blown up the bridge on a damaged merchant

So I assume they can do damage and take oyt certain bits of the ship, as well as sinking the very small ones. But is it possible to sink a ship? Is plugging away at the waterline a waste of time?

Theoretically is possible to sink any ship using AA, however for large ships you will be out of AA ammo very soon and you gonna look like jerk after that watching him escaping :D

i used to change the aa gun power。then，you can sink a nelson with one bullet

I have sunk previously torpedoed - and thus damaged - vessels with my flak guns firing armor-piercing shells when I'm out of eels and deck gun ammo but REALLY want that last ship to go down before returning to port. I even sank undamaged fishing and tug boats with 20mm. :up: However, the amount of time spent on the surface doing so is dangerous as you may suddenly have unwanted contact with aircraft or a destroyer answering the call for help.


However, I don't see any real difference in the amount of apparent damage inflicted by the 37mm vs. 20mm flak.:06: My deck gun has a lot more punch.

I rarely use my flak guns on a patrol

Stock: maybe
Mods/GWX: doubtfull, they changed the damage system to rely upon flooding. And it doesn't flood by bullet holes. Not enough damage level. Or so I read around here.

Haven't been able to do it using the LSH3 mod.

Tried when I was out of torpedoes, emptied my entire ammo pile of AA shells on a small ship. Saw some explosions, probably just eye candy, because the stupid thing just drove off and laughed at me. :doh:

I do it in GWX.

It just takes a lot of ammo and you have to aim at the waterline.....unless you just like watching deck cargo explode.

Undamaged, I've never sunk anything larger than a small merchant with the flak guns. Small tankers seem especially vulnerable - if they don't have guns of their own.

Well, that seems to settle it. Thanks for all your replies, guys.

I think the lesson is, nothing much bigger than coal tenders is worth even trying. Motor boats, schooners etc, worthwhile - anything else, even if it's possible, you'd need to be on the surface so long it's dangerous.

Having said that I found myself in EXACTLY the same situation last night, one eel on a small merchant and it was struggling along, bow-heavy, so I surfaced and flakked it. I've just got to 1943 and got the new Flakvierling, it made short work of all the superstructures and the thing soon sank. But it may have been going down anyway.

Raptor I think you have it - the flaks are really no use at all, you shouldn't need to sit on the surface to fight off planes. Dive and escape.

Flak guns
 

I always use my flak guns against Elcos they are too fast for the deck gun.
I aim for the stern and that ignites their fuel.

stock game it is possible with a heavy flak. sank a passenger liner like that. haven't been able to with any of the super mods though

if the ship has reveived enough hit points of damage beforehand, it can be sunk by a wave or a few flak rounds.

Another unrealistic aspect of SH3.

Yes, particularly the heavier flak guns but need to get close in. Anyway, because the merchant ships can literally explode I have lost my whole deck crew and on occassion the sub too after getting caught in the blast.

I read this thread to see if it worked, and not 30 minutes ago I actually sank a large merchant ship with my 20mm flaks after having damaged it with a torpedo.

So yeah, at least for me it does work.

These mods are the ones I have listed as activated, btw.

GWX Open Hatch Mod
GWX VIIC41 Player Sub Mod
GWX Lite Harbor Traffic Mod
GWX 16km Atmosphere
GWX Late War Sensors and Snorkel Antennas
WB and evan82's XXI 1939 v1.3
evan82's XXI Autocannon mod

^Welcome to SubSim Alphafax,:salute: Good luck with your mission.

Wipe out enough points in the damage file and eventually you'll succeed...but all depends on what level of realism you apply.