Torpedo Problem

[mido]

It is August 1943 by now in my first career with RFB/RSRDC and the game was total fun so far. But now, since the Mark 10 torpedo is not available anymore one has to use the useless Mark 14 Torpedoes again.

NOW, THIS IS A PROBLEM:

I shot 15 torpedoes so far on this patrol, all hit the target but were duds. Were the torpedoes really that bad or is this a game bug? In 1941/42 the Mark 14 worked at least 50% of the time but now in '43 none explodes, all duds. I tried different angles on impact and different speeds, NO DETONATION!

[TorpX]

Historically, the Mk 14 was certainly known to produce many duds. Different sources have given different figures. Unfortunately, no one is in a position to say *exactly* how many failed. I think RFB was intended to give about 80% duds at 90 degree impact. You might try magnetic influence detonation when seas are calm, or sharper angles of impact.

If you are at mid '43, you should soon have better torpedos, though.

I have been having the same problem with torpedos in WitP. All the USN torpedos are nerfed and how. I would guess that about 75 or 80% fail here.

Dud...Dud...Dud...Dud...Dud...Miss...Dud...Dud...D ud...Miss...Dud...Dud...Dud...Dud...Dud...Miss...D ud...Dud...:nope:

The appalling irony of it all, is that almost all the problems in the Mk 14 were with the Mark 6 exploder and if Bu Ord had bothered to test these, a replacement design could have developed without extraordinary trouble. Other than the exploder, the Mk 14 worked well.

[razark]

Where the torpedoes really that bad...?
Yes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tinosa_%28SS-283%29#First_and_second_war_patrols.2C_May_.E2.80. 93_August_1943)

After shooting nine torpedoes at a sitting duck over almost an hour and a half 1009 to 1131, and taking time out to examine the fish in the torpedo room between shots, Lieutenant Commander Daspit took Tinosa back to Pearl Harbor with the single remaining weapon.

[Kongo Otto]

Where the torpedoes really that bad or is this a game bug?

Yes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tinosa_%28SS-283%29#First_and_second_war_patrols.2C_May_.E2.80. 93_August_1943)

More about the Mark 14 Problem: Mark 14 Torpedo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_14_torpedo)

What are the angles when your Torpedo hits the Ship?
What distances have you shot?
Which Detonator have you used?

[Hylander_1314]

Yep! US torpedoes really sucked bigtime until about mid to late 1943.

One account of a sub Skipper said that of all 24 torpedoes fired only one detonated on target.

The key to success early in the war,

1. Don't use magnetic detonators! Ever!

2. Set torpedo depth as shallow as the dial will allow. The Mk 14 fish were known to run as much 10ft deeper than the depth setting. This was due to something with original test firings not having the weight of the warhead in them when they were tested, so this never got addressed until the torpedoes were fired finally, in anger.

3. Always set up your attack, so the fish will hit at at least a 45 degree angle. The closer to a 90 degree impact, the greater the possibility of the contact firing mechanism being bent or broken before it can strike the firing pin.

4. Until these issues were solved later in the war, it is not recommended to set up attacks in medium to heavy seas. The wave action of strong winds and whipping seas can cause premature detonations. The highest wind speeds I fire early in the war are 5 to 8mps winds. Anything above, is usually a waste of torpedoes.

And trust me, it sucks letting a juicy target go unmolested on it's merry way.

But if you follow the above guidelines, you can count on anywhere from 75% to 90% success ratios for your torpedoes doing what they were meant to do.

[mido]

Thanks to all for the answers, makes me feel better. Sounds like I just got frustrated like a real sub commander.


What are the angles when your Torpedo hits the Ship?
What distances have you shot?
Which Detonator have you used?

I tried all kinds of different angles (not 90 degrees, read that somewhere...) but no difference. Shooting distance was always between 800 and 1,500 yards and I always used the contact detonator.

I finished the patrol by now and of that 24 torpedoes only (!!!) 3 detonated but all torpedoes hit the target as the game gives you the message "...is a dud, sir."
If the torpedo misses you get the message that it missed. A freighter would not sink after 2 hours game time, so I wanted to give her the 'coup de grace' and fired 6 torpedoes at a stationery ship and none would explode. Finally finished her off with the deck gun.

[USS Drum]

Here's the answer do NOT try to hit the target at a 90 degree angle I tried it in TMO and when I hit at a 90 degree angle dud.,... non 90 degree angle bang bang bang bang .

[mido]

How do you get better results in terms of detonation, shooting the torpedoes at high or low speed?

[gmuno]

Mixed. At stadionary or not warned targets low speed is preferable, at moving and suspicious targets always fast.
For avoiding duds: when the range to target is <1.500 yards and there are calm or medium seas, use the magnetic detonators and set the torps shallow. Even at 90° the dud rate is down to 25% this way. Tested it at full realism and it got confiremd over and over again.

[TorpX]

How do you get better results in terms of detonation, shooting the torpedoes at high or low speed?

Low speed should give a much better rate of impact detonation, but I don't know how well the game handles this. It was the higher inertial forces of the exploder components, that caused them to fail at impact. Obviously, one would prefer to be using fast torps though.

[max-peck]

My rule of thumb for shooting fish in TMO is when it is relatively calm (wind speeds 5ms or less) shoot on fast setting with the magnetic exploder, rougher seas I use the slow setting with the impact exploder.
Using this I get more booms than duds.
And watch out for circle runners :DL

[mido]

Wow! Finally there are some new torpedoes to choose from when preparing your boat for the next patrol. Is there anything special one should know when using the new Mark 18? Is it finally a reliable torpedo?

[Hylander_1314]

The electric torpedoes? I think that's what the Mk 18 is. The biggest advantage is there is no wake since they don't use steam to propell them.

Disadvantage, you have to get up close and personal with the target. The short range forces you to fire thm only at approaching ships.

[USS Drum]

What about the Cutie?

[Mescator]

Wow! Finally there are some new torpedoes to choose from when preparing your boat for the next patrol. Is there anything special one should know when using the new Mark 18? Is it finally a reliable torpedo?

Don't know what it's modeled like Ingame, but keep in mind Tang was sunk by a Mark 18 Torpedo that circle ran and I've read multiple accounts of it being just as bad, if not worse than the 14 in real life.

[Sailor Steve]

The Mark 18 was a copy of the German G7e. It came out late enough that the early-war dud problems were mostly fixed, but it had a whole set of its own troubles that led the navy to finally give up on it altogether in 1950 and go back to the Mark 14.
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTUS_WWII.htm