View Full Version : Stationary Carrier avoids Torpedo. How???????
melnibonian
10-12-06, 08:54 AM
Hello everyone
I’m in March 1940 on a VIIB sneaking through Scapa Flow, only to find the HMS Formidable (Illustrious Class Aircraft Carrier) and the HMS Queen of Bermuda (Auxiliary Cruiser) moored in the bay!!!!! :up: After the initial shock I’ve started planning an intercept course. :arrgh!: Both ships were stationary, so I assumed they were easy pickings. First I went for the Carrier. I’ve approached the HMS Formidable (in silent running at 3 knots at periscope depth) to 600m. There I stop the engines and fired a salvo of 4 torpedoes. To my big surprise the Carrier started moving at 9 knots instantly after I fired the salvo!!!!!!! One torpedo hit and the other three missed. I was firing from 600m away at an angle of 91 deg with fast torpedo settings. There are two questions here:
a) How on earth they could hear the torpedoes as they do not have hydrophones. It’s an aircraft carrier and not a destroyer!!!:damn:
b) How on earth they managed to go from stationary to 9 knots instantly and avoid the torpedoes???? The laws of physics talk about inertia and it’s mighty difficult to start moving a ship (especially a pretty big one) from a stationary position.
I don’t know I’m lost here. I just cannot understand how they’ve managed to avoid being hit, to hear the firing salvo and to start moving at top speed so quickly. I just don’t get it. Any ideas anyone?????
Thanks a lot. I’m playing GW by the way
P.S. In the end both the Illustrious and the Queen of Bermuda went down but not without using all my torpedoes.:-? :-?
Captain Nemo
10-12-06, 09:06 AM
a) How on earth they could hear the torpedoes as they do not have hydrophones. It’s an aircraft carrier and not a destroyer!!!
It was quite common for lookouts on warships to spot the torpedoes wake and take evasive action to avoid them. Not sure about your other points, but it does sound like an impossible manoeuvre to go from 0 to 9 knots instantly.
Nemo
Hartmann
10-12-06, 09:26 AM
it means that the carrier has the boilers on, and the bridge manned , ready to steam at full speed , despite it is in port and probably the crew is in the cantines drinking and drinking
:rotfl:
it would be interesting the possibility of tweak the ship aceleration, they could reach the speed but not instantly
why this ugly avatars ??
Respenus
10-12-06, 09:41 AM
That is strange. 0-9kn in an instant. Somene has been playing God in GW :lol:
To make sure you hit with good old steam torps, make sure you're really close. REALLY!!! 500m should be good enough (but it bring into question the arming time :hmm:). The second thing is, like mentioned before, gas torps leave a trail on the surface. You should have targeted a bit before the ship and set it fast (like you did).
it means that the carrier has the boilers on, and the bridge manned , ready to steam at full speed , despite it is in port and probably the crew is in the cantines drinking and drinking
:rotfl:
it would be interesting the possibility of tweak the ship aceleration, they could reach the speed but not instantly
why this ugly avatars ??
Well I believe it's a "one post stand" avatar. Write another post and it should be gone!
melnibonian
10-12-06, 09:58 AM
Thanks.
I've learned from that experience and now I never fire beyond 400-350m!!!!!!! That's how I've got them in the end. Still the acceleration is a bit ....'unrealistic' ;)
Sailor Steve
10-12-06, 10:49 AM
As to "hearing" the torpedoes, what time of day was it? If it was daytime they could see the wakes, unless they were electrics.
As to moving, it's BS. Even a stationary destroyer couldn't accelerate fast enough to avoid a torpedo from a standing start. All ships in SHIII, including your U-boat, accelerate WAY too quickly.
On the other hand, you being able to go into Scapa Flow at all is BS as well. In October '39 Gunther Prien only managed to do it after much discussion with Doenitz himself, including consulting every available chart and planning the mission for days. After that embarassment the main British bases were much more heavily defended. The "harbor raids" in the game are a joke.
SteamWake
10-12-06, 11:18 AM
As to "hearing" the torpedoes, what time of day was it? If it was daytime they could see the wakes, unless they were electrics.
Ive had ships react to and avoid electrics as well :hmm: at night, in open water.
Pretty damn sure they dident know I was there till the torps were fired.
The instant acceleration has been talked about since release and yup.. its BS.
Albrecht Von Hesse
10-12-06, 11:20 AM
The instant acceleration has been talked about since release and yup.. its BS.
I was quite surprised seeing how quickly I shot out of dock even at ahead slow. Especially the first time I stood on the bridge to do a full 'eyes-only' out-of-harbour navigation.
Hartmann
10-12-06, 11:25 AM
yes , destroyers can "see" the electric torpedos at night . :damn:
i lost two firing to a american destroyer after usa enter in the war.
Safe-Keeper
10-12-06, 11:29 AM
b) How on earth they managed to go from stationary to 9 knots instantly and avoid the torpedoes?"Engage warp drives!":p
yes , destroyers can "see" the electric torpedos at night . :damn: Zat's the Yanks for ya:p.
AVGWarhawk
10-12-06, 11:47 AM
I have seen that before...it is total BS and just some bad programming. At any rate you got one torpedo to hit. Hopefully you could finish her off!:rock:
Respenus
10-12-06, 01:25 PM
b) How on earth they managed to go from stationary to 9 knots instantly and avoid the torpedoes?"Engage warp drives!":p
You're not really correct on that one. Even Scotys' Enterprise NCC-1701 needed to get to impulse, before getting to warp! :up:
Somene has been playing God in GW
No fault of GW here - just a bug present in the stock game.
BRGDS
Sven
Phantom II
10-12-06, 03:05 PM
This is why, in my WaW campaign, I made a point to use electrics when I sunk the Illustrious, so the bastards couldn't avoid it
Respenus
10-12-06, 03:15 PM
Somene has been playing God in GW
No fault of GW here - just a bug present in the stock game.
BRGDS
Sven
I never meant GW in general, but SH3 in general (I'm playing with GW, so it's an automatic connection between SH3 stock and my moded SH3 with GW).
:yep::yep::yep:
MothBalls
10-12-06, 05:09 PM
The "harbor raids" in the game are a joke.
True, but still fun to do. The later in the war, the better.
Have you ever listened to a torpedo in the water? I sometimes fire then jump to the hydrophone and listen, and track my target. I listen to both and watch the angle get less.. and less. then listen to the boom.
So anyway, is it possible that the electrics could be detected by sound and trigger the ship to make an evasive move?
Just a thought.
One other thing. My step-father was a plank owner on CVAN65 - Enterprise. He had home movies of her during sea trials. They did things like full power turns, dead stop to full power, dead stop to full power with full rudder, etc. testing all kinds of scenarios so they would know what to expect.
It was amazing to see the power of something that size. Kicking up a rooster tail behind it higher than the flight deck and watching the aft sink down like a powerboat. Seeing it lean into corners, it was just amazing. He said that if it was to beach itself at full speed it would run up on shore twice the length of the ship.
I wonder if I can convert those movies to digital? I'll have to see.
Albrecht Von Hesse
10-12-06, 05:25 PM
So anyway, is it possible that the electrics could be detected by sound and trigger the ship to make an evasive move?
During a U-Boat torpedo attack a sonarman picked up the distinctive hiss of an approaching fish. "I ran out on the bridge to prepare for an explosion. I looked over the side in time to see the torpedo streak on by about 10 feet away from the hull! An order had been given to stream FXR, and sure enough the torpedo headed for it and blew up well astern!"
Rocky Schoenrock, Sonarman, USS Inch (DE-146)
http://www.de220.com/Armament/Decoys/Decoys.htm
MothBalls
10-12-06, 05:57 PM
http://www.de220.com/Armament/Decoys/Decoys.htm
Thanks for that, good read.
It still amazes me how much money we humans spend tryng to kill each other.
Zero Niner
10-12-06, 08:48 PM
In a patrol (Sept '39) I sneaked into Brighton harbour & found a Fiji and a Dido class CLs moored in port. I fired a few torps at them & managed to sink 'em. They never moved.
1.4b + GW 1.1a
I wonder if I can convert those movies to digital? I'll have to see.
If you do I'd love to see them. My father was an AE on HMAS Melbourne and he told me about some their emergency manouver trials. Similar experiences to your step fathers from the sounds of it just on a much smaller scale.
Hylander_1314
10-12-06, 10:48 PM
If someone were able to adjust the thrust forward and reverse, maybe we would also be able to see occasional collisions in the convoys too, as the ships seem to almost stop on a dime, and reverse to avoid bangin' into another ship. As most heavily laden ships will take up to a mile to stop.
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