Torpedoes not exploding.

[drakkhen20]

some times when I'm on a 45 degree angle on a ships bow or stern and fire torpedoes at it, its almost like they just bounce off. they aren't duds cuz i turned the dud thingy off in the realism to see if that was it. i'm just wondering is there a fix for this or is this how it really happened? cuz i'm wasting a lot of torpedoes.

[Flaxpants]

Something to do with the bit about the 45 degree angle I'll wager. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but try hitting them at nearer 90 degrees, give or take no more than about 20 degress one way or the other.

[HW3]

Yes, anything less than 60 degrees and they will bounce off unless you use the magnetic pistol. The closer to 90 degrees the better for the impact pistol.

[papa_smurf]

Yes, anything less than 60 degrees and they will bounce off unless you use the magnetic pistol. The closer to 90 degrees the better for the impact pistol.

Be wary of using magnetic pistols before May 1940, as they are very unreliable and likely to explode prematurely.

[RConch]

Even after May 1940, I have found them unreliable and prone to premature explosion.
Use impact only on my boat.:yep:

[sharkbit]

Same thing will happen if you set them a little too deep and they hit the ship's hull where it starts to curve. The eels will just bounce off. :damn:
Not that I've ever had that happen to me before. :oops:

:)

[maillemaker]

Magnetic failures usually manifest themselves by predetonation. In game, they almost never pre-detonate under 1000m.

Steve

[RConch]

I have had them go off well under 1000m.
Nearly blew my bow off. :nope:

[papa_smurf]

I have had them go off well under 1000m.
Nearly blew my bow off. :nope:

Launch further than 1000m then. I go for around 3-5km when attacking.

[drakkhen20]

ok thanks fellas. just making sure it wasn't a game gliche.:salute:

[ralphnader23]

If you have to shoot at the 45 degree angle I would just fire 2 torps, set to magnetic under the boat. Then the angle won't matter so much, at least as far as the thing detonating.

[sektor2006]

Hi everyone, I am new to the game (and to the forum for that matter). I've been playing it for the past few days. I have the same problem with torpedoes - very often they hit the ship and then just bounce. I don't seem to understand what I need to do in order for them to explode. I turned the Dud Torpedoes option off but they still don't explode. What is this thing about the angle? I specifically hit a ship at a 90 degree angle but the torpedoes did not explode again. Can someone explain to me how to fire the torpedoes, because I am getting frustrated. I know SH3 is a great game but I am getting close to the point when I will simply uninstall the game...

[Depesz]

I prefer the magnetic ones. They explode too fast very often but sure they give a hell of a punch only thanks to them I destoyed Rodney with 2 magnetic torps (4 were fired) :arrgh!:

[sektor2006]

Okay, but how do you choose this type of torpedoes specifically?

Maybe I should explain a bit more - I play missions in 1939 and command a Type IIA U-boat. I don't think I can choose torpedoes there, right?

[benitorios]

hi sektor
the pistol setting (impact or magnetic) is independent from torpedo type, so you can choose your pistol setting in any situation. in the TDC screen (F6), look for that toggle that has I and M. By default, it's M (magnetic). To avoid malfunctions (mostly, early explosions) early in the war, set your torpedoes to Impact.
Now, i think your problem has more to do with your AOB and depth setting. Even if your torpedo hits at a clean 90 degree AOB, it may fail to explode if its depth is set too deep: in that case the torpedo will bounce off the curved part of the target hull and will fail to explode.
My personal rule of thumb is to set torpedo depth at around one third of the target's draft: if you attack a ship with 7m draft, set depth at around 2.5meters. This can also be set in the TDC, top left dial if i remember correctly. By default, it's at 4 meters, which in some cases may be too deep and result in non-explosions.
Hope this helps!

[sektor2006]

Thank you for the response! :)

I tried what you suggested, well it partially worked, I guess I need more practice.

Anyway, now I encountered another weird problem - torpedo reloading. Is it normal for a torpedo to load for a full 24-hour period? I am sitting next to a crippled cargo ship and can't kill it cuz my last torpedo won't load. This happens in a Type IIA boat. :damn:

[derrinurban]

Do you have enough crew in the torpedo room? Adding crew to the torpedo room makes the torpedos load faster.

[Depesz]

Maybe your crew is tired also make sure you are not running silent mode or you shoot them all, type IIA has only 5 torpedoes

[TorpX]

Hi everyone, I am new to the game (and to the forum for that matter). I've been playing it for the past few days. I have the same problem with torpedoes - very often they hit the ship and then just bounce. I don't seem to understand what I need to do in order for them to explode. I turned the Dud Torpedoes option off but they still don't explode. What is this thing about the angle? I specifically hit a ship at a 90 degree angle but the torpedoes did not explode again. Can someone explain to me how to fire the torpedoes, because I am getting frustrated. I know SH3 is a great game but I am getting close to the point when I will simply uninstall the game...

If you are too close, the torps will not arm.

[Depesz]

I don't know if I can post this here but here it goes. There is a guy on youtube, doing a let's play of silent hunter 3 with gwx, and other stuff and full realism. You can look what he is doing. I Learned alot from this good man. Search him on youtube by the name of Frontier359

[Bakkels]

Or you are waiting for the external torpedoes to load. Which will not happen. You have got to drag them to the internal torpedo slot first. (I hardly ever played the type II so I don't know if they have external torpedoes?)

Otherwise, as someone else said, be sure to have enough (and not too tired) crew in your torpedo room. The better and less tired your crew, the faster your torpedoes load.

[FIREWALL]

Canoes only have 5. No externals. You've shot your load after 5. :p2:

[Hondo314]

Once again, the subsim community charges to the rescue! All the appropriate answers are in this thread. Resist the TLDR disease here for sure.

[Pisces]

Once again, the subsim community charges to the rescue! All the appropriate answers are in this thread. Resist the TLDR disease here for sure.I just woke up so my head isn't screwed on correctly yet, ... TLDR???

[Hondo314]

I just woke up so my head isn't screwed on correctly yet, ... TLDR???

Too Long Didn't Read

[sektor2006]

First of all thank you everyone for the responses.

I finally figured out (with the help of other forum members :) ) why my torpedoes did not explode and now I will share my experience and knowledge with everyone here and most importantly with new players who have the same problem. I use the automatic aim of the game without dud torpedoes.

1. Range - the target ship must be between 400-500 meters away from the U-boat. After shooting torpedoes need at least 300 m distance to arm themselves, if you are 300 m away or closer they will not arm, hence not explode.

2. Angle - your position should be (ideally) perpendicular to the ship but some angle say 120-140 degrees is not fatal. Do not shoot the ship from behind or from impossible angles - I had an occassion when I shot a ship directly from behind - the torpedo hit the propeller of the ship and nothing happened. Same thing if the ship is coming straight to you. The angle is bad and you will most likely miss.

3. Torpedo preparation - in the TDC (you can see its icon in the left upper corner of the screen) you will need the (four I think - two big, two small) right upper adjustment knobs (??? can't find a better word):
- select a tube - it can be first, second, third, etc.
- select torpedo depth - I choose 3 meters, choosing 4 m, 5 m or more is not good since the torpedo can go under the ship.
- select torpedo speed - I choose medium (or fast) - that way the ship can't escape my torpedo.
- select type of explosion - impact or magnetic. I choose impact (the torpedo explodes on impact) since magnetic is less reliable (at least at the beginning of the game in 1939) and may result in explosions before the torpedo hits the ship.
- open torpedo tube - press Q on the keyboard - it speeds up the shooting of the torpedo, if you don't press it first then there is a 3-4 second delay, which sometimes may matter.
- shoot!

This method has given me nearly 90% success rate in shooting ships.

I hope this helps. Good luck hunting! :)

[Tessa]

2. Angle - your position should be (ideally) perpendicular to the ship but some angle say 120-140 degrees is not fatal. Do not shoot the ship from behind or from impossible angles - I had an occassion when I shot a ship directly from behind - the torpedo hit the propeller of the ship and nothing happened. Same thing if the ship is coming straight to you. The angle is bad and you will most likely miss.


Once magnetic's become more reliable they're you're ticket to 1 hit kills on nearly every kind of ship, even BB's. Magnetic settings are the most forgiving in that they can still sink a ship with 1 eel at a 30 degree AOB or hitting the ships "sweet spot". Even the mighty Hood can go down with 1 well placed magnetic hit to the boilers, CV's are even easier; aim at the aircraft elevators and a solid hit will usually bag you a flat top :arrgh!:

[desirableroasted]

Once magnetic's become more reliable they're you're ticket to 1 hit kills on nearly every kind of ship, even BB's. Magnetic settings are the most forgiving in that they can still sink a ship with 1 eel at a 30 degree AOB or hitting the ships "sweet spot". Even the mighty Hood can go down with 1 well placed magnetic hit to the boilers, CV's are even easier; aim at the aircraft elevators and a solid hit will usually bag you a flat top :arrgh!:

You can even use mags early on in the war. The bang for the buck outweighs the reliability issues.