For me, it depends on targets, how many torps to sink following;
Medium cargo - 2 torps typically
Empire type frieghter - 2 torps typically
Large Merchant - 1 torp typically, rarely takes 2
C3 - 2 torps typically
Large tanker - 1 torp if it load with fuel, if not, it may take 2 if it not sinking
Modern tanker - same as large tanker
Whale factory ship - same as large tanker
Troop ship - 2 torps typically
Large troop ship - 1 torp if its stationary, fire another one if it doesn't sink, but if its sailing on sea, then 2 would be better
Ammo ship - 1 torp if hit right and it blows up, so 2 would probably be safer.
destroyers or escorts - 1 torp always
battleships - depends if it stationary or sailing and its hull protections. Few days ago, there were 3 battleships at high speed NE of Ireland, Hood, Nelson, & Revenge. I fired only 3 torps, one for each battleships, they all hit their bows near fronts. Both Revenge and Nelson's bows went into water and sank, but Hood slowed down to 7 knots and getting away while their escorts were after me. So I should have fire 2 at Hood in first place. :damn: After the escorts lost me and went away, I chased that Hood, the escorts went off somewhere else. I was around 16,000m away before Hood disappeared at Firth of Clyde. Oh well, there will be next time anyway.

For small ships like small/coastal merchants, I use deck gun on them or I don't bother with them if they have guns or there are planes & warships nearby. I prefer 1 torp per 4,500t minimum. I know in real life Kaluens used torps on any ships regardless of their tonnages. I would do the same if in real life cuz no TC. I probably would be tempted to use a spread of 4 torps at a 2,000t merchant to deplete torps sooner so I can return back to port to get breaks from stress, dangers at sea, the reeks of all men in a tight ship, and to enjoy fresh food and women. Or I could go flank speed all way to patrol zone using up fuel giving me excuse to return back to port. They probably would demote my rank then. Of course this game is fun, but not for real life.

to get the spread angle for the TDC - if you want to use it; I do both, TDC and manual aiming -

Just unlock the target move the scope left and right and watch the degrees covered by the ship... do not "read" them just of but move your scope..

e.g. start at the bow at lets say 270 and move it towards the stern and your are now rougly between 270 and 275 in the middle... so I say set the angle to 2°

But I usually aim for masts...chimneys... etc and just firw off two torps by hand

:o :o :o :o the rule generraly follows...

1 fishing boat 1 torpedo.

stationary elco... 1 torpedo
:lurk: :lurk: :lurk:

No. But again, who wants to play a game where you don't see any action for hour after hour? There are plenty of spots you can reach easily on the map where you can sit for a year and never see a ship - if that's what you want. :ping:


Another reason for high tonnage totals is expirence. I don't play that much but even I have probably done 100 patrols.
And how many times have I died? IRL I wouldn't have been able to go back out and use the expirence gained from my death. Haha
The real thing and the game are different, of course. But that's a big factor. We've had hundreds of times the expirence playing the game as real captains did sailing the real ships.
Also, I think it's a lot easier to do your job when your life isn't really at stake.

A lot of reasons factor into this.

Same for me, pending the type of target, weather conditions. The one part for me, is the position of my U-boat. If it is a warship, I try to avoid detection, if not I always fire on torpedo at it to bring it to a stop and attack the convoy. If it's a large warship (HMS or a Carrier) I will salvo 3 to 5 torpedoes. If it is a tanker/Cargo I usually aim for it's weakest spot with one torpedo (and have sunk them with one) If it fails or it doesn't sink I fire one more. Usually small merchants I fire one torpedo. Small fishing and tug boat I will shoot with deck gun if I want/have to. That's it for me, I keep a limit to save ammo, never know when the enemy have a TF near ye and you want the opportunity. Maybe there could be bigger ships for a good opportunity, always save your torpedoes before you reach the dock!

i think its poor form to shoot fishing boats.

I just started messing with magnetics in early 1941. I'm finding its better to shoot 2 torpedoes at a target at least. There's just too many things that can go wrong with magnetic pistols. It's too easy to set the torpedo depth too shallow- becuase the torpedo will glance off the bottom of the keel, or too deep- becuase then the magnetic arming wont be close enough to detonate. Or, you get a premature detonation, those are fun. In any case, magnetics may be the way to go later in the war becuase I'm not sure how good the chances are going to be getting a point blank 90 degree aob shot.

Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice!:arrgh!:

I almost always fire two shots, particularly when making a convoy attack

So Say We All!:up:

nice said! :up:

Early in the war, one torp then gun 'em! I'll likely switch to two torp shots later, but I rarely find they need more than that in GWX 2. Also, in my brief experience with the game, I'm finding that frontal/bow shots seem to be more effective in sinking the boat. Stern shots might slow it or blow it better, but given that ship destruction is rare in GWX 2, I find that forcing the bow under the waves by flooding it with water (due to torp) really helps sink the ship. Once the bow aquires a negative angle, the momentum of the ship does a lot of the sinking for you! Silly wounded ships, trying to act like a sub! :roll: :D

So it might not be historically accurate at later dates, but I feel my method is historic enough for the early days when there was a fair bit of experimentation amongst the boats.

Only if you miss.:rotfl:

Did real life u-boat captains generally use impact or magnetic torpedoes?

Obviously, for the real thing, they wouldn't have had a funky little window to find out whether their shots bounced off the hulls, missed, or even ran at all...

I'm out to become realistic with my ammunition expenditure, you see... :up:

I think the only generalization one can make about german torpedos in World War II is that there were a lot of misses. And as said, captains didn't have the event camera to find out why they missed.
Over time, captains and technicians discovered some flaw patterns: warheads were too small, torpedos ran too deep, detonators failed; Torpedo performace increased as these problems were identified and fixed.
However, as allied antisubmarine tactics improved, captains were forced to launch torpedos from farther away, reducing accuracy. Sabotage increased with time and quality control got worse.
As a result of all this, I imagine that captains beck then were equally unsure about which detonators to use. They no doubt discussed it amongst themselves and BdU crunched some numbers, but in the end each captain made his decisions based on experience and feeling.

Now a little story: on my first patrol of the war in a type IIa, I sank a coastal ship in thw Wadden Sea with one fish set to impact. About a hundred miles to the west I intercepted a C-2 and sent two torpedos into her side. She kept puffing along, albeit a little slower, so I had to finish her off with a third fish.

Left with one torpedo and plenty of fuel, I decided to head in the direction of the Thames Estuary, looking to top 10K tonnes for the patol. I eventually got a sound contact heading west and overtook her in no time. It was another C-2 going at five knots. Since I only had one fish left and no deck gun, I had only one chance to sink her. After my last experience with a C-2, I went for a magnetic detonation set to about 0.75 meters below the keel, 44 knots. The shot was perfectly lined up from 800 meters away, and as the time to detonation arrived ... nothing. The smoke coming out the the C-2's stack stopped for a second, but then she went on her merry way. C'est la vie!

What went wrong? Did the toppedo run too deep? or too shallow and bump the keel? Maybe at 90° it swam under too fast to detonate. I had no external camera (versteht sich), so I guess I'll never know. I was halfway back to Germany before I remembered setting all topedos to impact out of habit. I never switched back to magnetic for that last shot. :damn: That's one mistake I haven't made since.

If your ever fortunate enough to read the two volumed Clay Blair books 'Hitler's U-Boat War' (you may already have them). You'll find that after days or in some instances even weeks of failing to come across anything of real worth (in a tonnage sense).
The sudden appearance of a ship in the 10.000 ton or above category would lead to the expenditure of between 4 and 6 torpedoes if that is what was needed as a result of misses and malfunctions. http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif