I am playing GWX and at times the waves are so huge the target ship is bobbing up and down so much the torpedo will go right under the hull and miss even when set to 5 or 6 meters. " i see this with the cam waiting for the big boom" , I now set mine to impact and run at 3 meters and sometimes the torp will fly out of the water on the surface and explode. sooo its a catch 22.
GWX is extreme!!!

That was always a dilemna for kaleuns in extremely rough conditions...often they would deem the weather too bad for attack purposes and just try to shadow their prey until conditions were more favourable :arrgh!:

That's right, no one says you have to attack anything that moves in any conditions. Some time you are in a favourable situation and sometimes not. Your torpedo stock being limited, I would better wait for good conditions rather than gambling them.;)

The change could only be made when the torpedo was out of its tube. I don't know any more than that, sorry.
It's a good question :hmm:

From the U.Kdt.Hdb. 1942

Section I. D. # 78
A rough state of the sea restricts the use of submarines as a weapon of war.

a) as regards the underwater use of torpedoes: as soon as the underwater steering gear can no longer be controlled at periscope depth. In case of small submarines, the dividing line will be sea No. 5 or 6, for medium and large boats, sea No 6 or 7, approximately.

b) as regards the surface use of torpedoes: the dividing line is in this case reached in somewhat less rough conditions then apply to the underwater use of torpedoes, on account of the unfavorable influence of the rough sea on the maneuverability of the vessel on the surface.

c) as regards the use of gunnery: as soon as it becomes impossible to man the gun.

From Section II. A No. 101

101.) Unfavorable conditions for attack

a) heavy seas or swell: It is difficult to keep the submarine at the right depth for attack, especially when the attack has to be carried out against the sea. According to the qualities (efficiency) of the underwater steering gear of the boat, this will soon put a limit to the possibilities of underwater attack (see No.78). It is in a rough sea that an attack in a direction parrallel to the waves is more likely to succeed most favorable for the underwater steering of the submarine and the depth course of the torpedo.


Now all you need is the "World Meteorological Organization Sea State Code" and the "Beufort scale of wind force and its probable wave height"

the limits can be read on the first one - sea 5, 6 and 7
Sea state -text description - wave height
5 - Very rough sea; waves heap up, forming foam streaks - 8-13 feet
6 - High sea; sea beggins to roll, forming very definite foam streaks and considerable spray - 13-20 feet
7 - Very high sea; very big, steep waves with wind-driven overhanging crests, sea surface whitens due to dense coverage with foam - 20-30 feet.

Now ask your navigations officer for a weather report. The Beufort scale can convert the wind speed to sea state via wave height.

Reading from that its seen that a wind speed of aprox. 22-27 knots (10.8 m/s) will give sea state #5. 13-20 m/s will give sea state #6 and 20-25 m/s will give sea state #7.


No dont even start to read Section I. D. # 79....:o

Section I. D. # 78
A rough state of the sea restricts the use of submarines as a weapon of war.

I agree with this "BUT" when one encounters a pyro ammo carrier the rules should have special circumstances. Something like sink at all cost by orders of the fuehrer. recommended tatics : are to close within 700 meters and fire a spread if deemed nescessary.

Or shadow it for days untill the weather (or geographical location like a fjord) makes it possible to take the shots.

Btw. #79 states that u-boots operating in shallow waters (less then 20 m's) that are detected are to be considered unsavable......take that as a manual instruction...:damn:

I know what it is in the game, and I know the pains US submariners went through to modify torpedo pistols by hand. What I'm asking for is a photo of the real switch, showing how easy it was for the Germans.

This is the best I could find so far :(..."the crew programmes the torpedo":

http://www.uboataces.com/images/torpedo_maintenance.jpg

At 10,000 reichsmarks a piece? (a little internet research and my handy calculator says that's about $53,000 in today's dollars) I think not! :know:

Thanks for that reference. I was going to say something about the guidance, but that has to be done just before the torpedo is launched and these guys are obviously working on it long before that.

More telling is this phrase from the text:
Lacking any evidence to the contrary I have to believe the source. On the other hand, if you're right about this being what they're doing in the picture then the pistol selection had to be made before the torpedo was loaded, so it took some little time; they didn't just flip a switch, like in the game. Then again, the text says "before the weapon was launched", and not "before it was loaded".

Maybe better evidence will surface. I hope so; I'm intrigued by this.

There's a passage in "The Laughing Cow" (a book by a member of U-69)

I can't find the line, but it reads something like "the captain ordered the torpedoes to be loaded without magnetic pistols"


but that could mean anything and I can't find any really solid proof one way or another