Can we knock out deck guns on merchies?

[Galanti]

I've got a game paused at home where I've holed a medium old maru in the bows with a fish, but he's buggering off and I haven't the juice in the can to pursue submerged, so I'm considering a battle-surface.

But i've spotted a 3 or 4 inch on the foc'sle. Is it possible to damage / or destroy deck armament on merchies? I would hope it wouldn't be for warship turrets, but I would think these mar-mounted guns would be fairly unprotected.

If so, the plan is to surface and swamp the gun position with my two twin 20mm mounts and 4-inch fire before he can respond. Running TMO / RSRD / NSM 3.3.

[Scarto]

It is possible to destroy the deck gun with 1-5 direct hits with HE shells. But I wouldn't waste the time on it. if you just keep about500 meter distance u will almost never get hit. And if you do get hit before u sink them the damage is never so bad that u'll sink.
Only bad thing would be if they destroy your deck gun but i've never seen it happen yet.

Twin MGun wont do nothing.

[FIREWALL]

My past experience in that scenereo they were pretty good shots even at longer range. Be Careful.

[M. Sarsfield]

I'm running TM, NSM, and RSRDC and I sunk a medium composite freighter last night with my deck gun. I started at 5,000 yards and closed at full speed. He was initially steaming at 11 knots. By the time he sank he was at 1,000 yards. He was running from me and I punched a bunch of holes into the water line near his prop and rudder. He had a lot of near misses when he shot at me, but his biggest mistake was trying to run, since his deck gun was bow mounted. If he charged at me, he probably would have done some damage and forced me to submerge... only to get a nice Mk 27 up his rear-end.

[Galanti]

..only to get a nice Mk 27 up his rear-end.

You know what...I actually did take one of those along for this patrol, for evaluation purposes. Well, well. I suppose some new possibilities will open up now.

[M. Sarsfield]

The 27 should aim for the prop, since it's the noisiest object on the ship, and blow it and rudder clean off. Then, you can sink it at your leisure. It's not a huge warhead, but it can get the job done. Just keep in mind that it only has a speed of 12 knots.

[Major Johnson]

And if you do get hit before u sink them the damage is never so bad that u'll sink.

Why do find no comfort with that thought?? :p

[Galanti]

Arghh, just realized the Mk.27 is in the reload racks and I haven't fired off any bow tubes yet.

Back to the battle surface plan.

[Scarto]

Do new torpedoes become available later in game? Only seen the Mk14/16 (or was it 17) yet.

[seafarer]

Yes, as the right date comes up, you'll have the option of spending renown on Mk.27 and Mk.18 (in that order of appearance). Personally, I've been sticking with Mk.14's as I'm too cheap to spend 300 renown on Mk.18's, and the no wake does not make up for the drop to 29 knots (I prefer to get in close with my Mk.14's on hi speed and nail 'em before they can react).

[M. Sarsfield]

I'll buy a few 27's and 18's for the aft, in case an escort needs to visit Davy Jones. Otherwise, I load up with 14's and 24's in the bow.

In RL skippers liked using the 18's for their stealth, since it didn't leave a trail back to their boat for DD's to lock onto. Most torpedoes issued near the end of the war were 18's.

[Scurvy]

I'll buy a few 27's and 18's for the aft, in case an escort needs to visit Davy Jones. Otherwise, I load up with 14's and 24's in the bow.

In RL skippers liked using the 18's for their stealth, since it didn't leave a trail back to their boat for DD's to lock onto. Most torpedoes issued near the end of the war were 18's.

Is the game modelled to hide your position from enemy warships, when firing Mk 18's?

[M. Sarsfield]

I believe so. My game is heavily modded and I still get confused DD's if I use Mk 18's and I remain undetected. You can only rely on the stop watch if you use electric torpedoes, though, since you can't track the wake, either. So, it's a two-way street.

[Red Devil]

apart from a few bullets pinging off the metal work I have only ever been hit with a shell once. 2-3 hour repair time saw that right.