Is this attack doable / worth attempting?

[treblesum81]

I've recently started to wonder if it would be possible to conduct a fore/aft dual attack by setting the boat up parallel to the course of the target and then finding an attack point which can be hit by both sets of tubes (basically 90° off one side of the boat or another). The idea here is to give you a much better "alpha" strike without having to reposition the boat to get access to the rear tubes. Does this make any sense to attempt? Or does the curve the fish have to make cause too much mess in the solution?

Thanks

EDIT: This is intended to be used with convoys where you might want to have the extra 2-4 torpedos ready to go without having to turn the boat...

[Nisgeis]

Yes firing a broadside is possible, if the target is more or less on your beam and you are on a more or less parallel course. An accurate range is much more important with the high gyro angles.

[Fincuan]

Entirely doable, and given the agility of ships in SH4 actually even a good practice in convoy situations. Turning the boat takes time, during which the ships are likely to spot the torps and start evading. Using the technique you described it's possible to get off all ten torps within a short period of time and guarantee maximum surprise. As Nisgeis said you'll be firing at very high gyro angles so distance has to be right or you will miss. Firing at a moment when the ships overlap slightly will also greatly increase your chances of hits.

[kvbrock82]

Cant believe i havent heard of anyone else doing this. Sounds like a great idea. Could sneak past the sweeping destroyers under the thermal layer with all calculations for a 90 degree set up prepared and just point and click at the two capital ships, 4 fish each.. no need for repositioning. :|\\

Ill try this today thanks :)

[Rockin Robbins]

Just remember, with the extreme gyro angles, accurate range is critical. Radar is absolutely mandatory if you're going to have consistent success here. Make sure you carefully check all solutions on the attack map.

This is not a bad strategy, but it is very dependent on accurate information and perfect torpedoes. In the real war they discouraged gyro angles of greater than 30º. You are talking angles of 90º to 110º, the extreme limits of the torpedo's capabilities. It will work fairly well in the game, not so well in real life.

[Diopos]

Doable....
In SH2 at least :D!!

For medium speed targets a ~45°-ish angle between Ownship and target course was a good compromise. Stationed ahead of the target, aft tubes fired first. Never tried something similar in SH4 though, plus I'm not that young anymore!!!:D.



.

[Overkill]

Keep an eye out for circling fish.

[treblesum81]

Ok, so, the biggest problem is range? You can't setup a "kill zone" as you could with a fast 90° / Dick O'Kane style attack? Or is there a way, just not really that accurate? Also, I'm still curious how the curve the torpedo has to make affects timing and range?

[Inner Sound]

You could shoot off a few fish from bow and stern at a fictional target at different ranges on your beam and watch their tracks on F6 attack map. That'll give you an idea of what happens.

Come to think of it the F6 map shows the curves of the fishes course before you launch.

I once got myself in a good spot for the Tokyo Express - a long line of destroyers charging along at 30kts. No chance of accuracy so I just let go the whole lot from bow and stern on ready reckoning intervals - got three hits.

[Bubblehead1980]

Doable BUT even small errors in firing solution can mean a miss unlike with smaller gyro angles, more room for error usually.I have done this before, it works in the game, as Robbins said, not so much in RL.

[Armistead]

I do it all the time, moreso on the 30 plus ship convoys, you just need some distance. Still you can hit at some crazy angles that wouldn't happen in reality.

Here I shot a carrier. How many times do you get a torp hit when you're in front of the carrier and wasn't a circle runner, actually hit it 3 times and sunk it. Keep in mind the carrier was going 26kts and was much further back when I let go and I had about a 87 bearing, which was the limit.
http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/Armistead1424/SH4Img2010-05-30_220405_437.jpg

The good thing about firing bow and aft is the torps come in from two different angles even at the same bearing.

[green_abobo]

i pondered the exact same thought last night actually.

how else could they fire a salvo using fore and aft tubes w/o maneuvering?

question is what would the AOB be for the salvo? you're facing either 90 degrees or 270 (east or west)

it works in the case of a fast 90 attack for the fore,with range at whatever,but what about the aft? that's the part i couldn't comprehend at the time.

[treblesum81]

i pondered the exact same thought last night actually.

how else could they fire a salvo using fore and aft tubes w/o maneuvering?

question is what would the AOB be for the salvo? you're facing either 90 degrees or 270 (east or west)

it works in the case of a fast 90 attack for the fore,with range at whatever,but what about the aft? that's the part i couldn't comprehend at the time.

I was thinking of it more as a broadside, where you're still shooting as they pass perpendicular to your point, but you're lined up parallel to the course of the convoy so all of your tubes would be firing at about the same point. My example shot, which I'm not really able to post because I'm getting weird screenshot results, would put me facing the convoy about 1500y off to one side and parallel to their course. Firing point would be approximately 80° off the bow so that both fore and aft tubes would be lined up to hit at a bearing of 90°. I guess the tough part is the range, so I'm wondering if setting range way out there (3k yards) while manipulating target speed to get the fish to make a less convergent run is an option?