one thing I still cant get is setting Magnetic Contact torps.

I set the torpedo to hit the keel of the ship, set the depth for as deep as I can go (Was aiming at a Fuzo class Warship). I set it to 50 feet, and it STILL blew up early because it wasnt deep enough :-?

It think that has more to do with the notoriously unreliable Mark VI exploder. ;)

From wiki:

"The Mark 14 had four major flaws.

• It tended to run about 10 feet deeper than set.
• The magnetic exploder often caused premature firing.
• The contact exploder often failed to fire the warhead.
• It tended to "circular", turning back to strike the firing ship.

Running too deep

The torpedo tended to run some ten feet (3 meters) too deep for two reasons. The first was that it was never tested with the correct mass density in its warhead. A concrete dummy warhead was used to set the depth during development of the weapon. The dummy warhead was lighter than the wartime load. Additionally, the depth mechanism was designed prior to the warhead's charge being increased, making the torpedo heavier overall. Also, two depth testing devices used by NTS to verify results were both off by the same amount in the same direction, which compounded the problem. After hearing of the problem, most submarine skippers simply set their torpedoes running depth to zero,risking a broach. By August 1942, the faulty running depth situation was in hand and submarines were getting more hits with the Mark 14. Ironically, curing the deep-running problem caused more prematures and duds, now that hits were being achieved. The number of sinkings did not rise.

Premature explosions

Many submarine commanders in the first two years of the war reported explosions of the warhead with little to no damage of the enemy. The magnetic exploders were triggering prematurely, before getting close enough to the vessel to destroy it. Earth's magnetic field near NTS, where the trials (limited as they were) were conducted, differed from the areas where the fighting was taking place.

Duds

Early reports of torpedo action included some dud hits, heard as a dull clang. In a few instances, Mark 14s would strike a Japanese ship and lodge in its hull without exploding. The contact pistol appeared to be malfunctioning, though the conclusion was anything but clear until running depth and magnetic exploder problems were solved. Daspit's experience was exactly the sort of live-fire trial BuOrd had been prevented from doing in peacetime. It was now clear to all at Pearl Harbor the contact pistol was also defective.

Circulars

There were numerous reports of the Mark 14 running erratically and circling back on the firing boat. This sank at least one sub, Tullibee, for certain.The Mark 15 torpedo had collars to prevent circulars, but the Mark 14 was never given this feature."

[quote=gAiNiAc]Very true. I remember even in SHIII it tended to be the same.

I just did this today.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...Games/SH18.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b9...Games/SH16.jpg

I fired a 5 fish spread. She was able to dodge two and one was a dude. The first hit right behind the tower and the second hit just forward of the fantail. It jammed the rudder and blew a large whole where the keel forms into the rudder socket. The concussion also took out all four screws.

That was Dec 23rd, 1941. I love RSRD. Beautiful task force about 720nm Northwest of Wake Island. Included two Maya CA's (Heavy Cruisers) and two Hiryu's.

TMO 1.5 + RSRD

[quote=Suicide Charlie]My very first SHIV patrol I ran across that TF.......

:up: