SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

jenrick · 06-12-17, 05:34 PM

I'm by no means an expert in naval architecture, torpedo design, or the physics of underwater explosions.

I thought that one of the major advantages of the post WW2 US torpedo design with the Mk48 was that it would automatically attempt to detonate under the keel of a vessel, versus going for an impact against the hull. As we know from WW2, even a single well placed torpedo had a decent chance of doing non-survivable damage to pretty much anything smaller then a cruiser. That was also to ships built to a very sturdy design standard, that was moved away from by most of the worlds military's over the years. The MK48 has a warhead that is slightly more powerful then MK14 mod 3 torpedo of WW2 (approximately 1200 lb TNT equivalent to 1000 lb TNT equivalent). So I think the effectiveness of a MK48 detonating under a ships keel or on contact should be equivalent roughly to what was seen in WW2 at a minimum.

One of the major issues in CW is that a ship is either in fighting trim (I'm have no clue if they are degraded when damaged, but they are certainly not out of the fight) or they are sinking. I have yet to see a propulsion casualty, a ship break off and run after being torpedoed etc. There also isn't the slow death of a ship, where you spend 30 mins to a couple of hours waiting for it to slow down and slowly sink that historically was pretty common. If a ship sustains enough damage, it simply sinks right then and there.

I think the ideal answer would be to have a mechanism for the degradation of the ship when damaged, and it's sinking be based on the nature of damage etc (if only wishes were fishes.....). However based on the current binary (alive, firing, and driving or sunk) conditions of ships, I think it works out. Would a cruiser be headed to the bottom within 30 seconds after impact by a single torpedo that detonates near the bow? Probably not, but it might be after 3-4 hours. As a player I'd love to have the longer sinking time as it keeps me guessing if it's still in the fight, but the end result is still a sunk ship.

TLDR: With the current surface ship damage modeling, the 1.0 torpedo damage levels provide the correct result. However due to the limitations of the game, the graphical representation appears to be off.

-Jenrick

06-12-17, 05:34 PM	#28
jenrick Bosun Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 64 Downloads: 28 Uploads: 0	I'm by no means an expert in naval architecture, torpedo design, or the physics of underwater explosions. I thought that one of the major advantages of the post WW2 US torpedo design with the Mk48 was that it would automatically attempt to detonate under the keel of a vessel, versus going for an impact against the hull. As we know from WW2, even a single well placed torpedo had a decent chance of doing non-survivable damage to pretty much anything smaller then a cruiser. That was also to ships built to a very sturdy design standard, that was moved away from by most of the worlds military's over the years. The MK48 has a warhead that is slightly more powerful then MK14 mod 3 torpedo of WW2 (approximately 1200 lb TNT equivalent to 1000 lb TNT equivalent). So I think the effectiveness of a MK48 detonating under a ships keel or on contact should be equivalent roughly to what was seen in WW2 at a minimum. One of the major issues in CW is that a ship is either in fighting trim (I'm have no clue if they are degraded when damaged, but they are certainly not out of the fight) or they are sinking. I have yet to see a propulsion casualty, a ship break off and run after being torpedoed etc. There also isn't the slow death of a ship, where you spend 30 mins to a couple of hours waiting for it to slow down and slowly sink that historically was pretty common. If a ship sustains enough damage, it simply sinks right then and there. I think the ideal answer would be to have a mechanism for the degradation of the ship when damaged, and it's sinking be based on the nature of damage etc (if only wishes were fishes.....). However based on the current binary (alive, firing, and driving or sunk) conditions of ships, I think it works out. Would a cruiser be headed to the bottom within 30 seconds after impact by a single torpedo that detonates near the bow? Probably not, but it might be after 3-4 hours. As a player I'd love to have the longer sinking time as it keeps me guessing if it's still in the fight, but the end result is still a sunk ship. TLDR: With the current surface ship damage modeling, the 1.0 torpedo damage levels provide the correct result. However due to the limitations of the game, the graphical representation appears to be off. -Jenrick