Torpedo Upgrade
 

USS Balao. 6th war patrol. Oct '43.

Mods: TM, ROW, NSM4.0

Just about to leave Pearl Harbour. Should I upgrade my fish to the Mk 23's?

I've just installed NSM4.0 (I want those Keel Busters!) and I'm in two minds of what to do. Do I take the improved reliabilty of the new fish at the loss of the variable speed setting? Without the variable speed I lose my ability to target 2 ships and aim for simaltaineous (sp) hits.

Whilst on the subject of Torpedo's, any thoughts on the Mk 27 homing torps?

NB: Did a search, but 'Torpedo Upgrade' brings up a LOT of threads.

Thanks in advance.

How much reknown do you have? I think that the 23's are 200 each.

Nearly 8000 renown. Cost 100 in TM. So a 1/3 to deck the full sub.

If you want to try some under the keel shots, do a partial load out of each type. You'll probably need to fire a number of Mk. 14's to finally get the right effect. Ducimus did fix the Mk 14's running too deep in the latest upgrade.

I got 1/5 in the Sub school mission Vs the Mogami.

I took manual targetting and dud torpedo off to ensure a 'middle' hit, didn't check which torp I was equipped with :oops:, found 8 feet below the keel the one that worked for me.

Cuties!!!!
 

I love em. But they're too expensive. If we could mod the price to free they'd be a lot of fun to bag some escorts with. They might be even more useful to stop some merchies to finish off later. I took a sternful of cuties out on my last cruise and bagged four escorts.

I take it you're talking about the 27's?

Do they always hit aft?

That's them!
 

I have had Mk 27 Cuties hit forward on occasion. Mostly they hit aft. What I'll do is get myself in a situation where the escorts are NOT charging around at 30 knots. A cutie is only good for 10 or 12 knots. But hang on, that's a huge advantage.

How many times have you watched a torpedo go out at 40+ knots, rip inches from a DD and head out into intergalactic space? Yup, it's a heartbreaking sight. Cuties don't have to do that.

Ok, you're at some depth and four escorts are just badgering you to death. Assuming the cuties are in the stern tubes, maneuver so that you can cluster all of them in about a 45º arc behind you. When that happens, you would like them to be about 1000 yds away or more, but don't panic if the setup isn't perfect. Now come up to 99', the max torpedo launching depth. Set up the TDC to launch on bearing 180, not critical that you be exact. Launch cutie! Initiate a 180º turn while descending below the thermal barrier again.

Now you're at depth running silent and the cutie is out there amongst the baddies. No joy? You're pointed right at the cutie, so it's time to call him to Papa. Hit ahead emergency for about 20 seconds and the cutie will turn around and come toward you. Hehehehehe. Go silent running again. Now, the escorts heard you real good, right? The cutie heard you real good, eh? Where is all that scrap metal going to meet? Rinse and repeat as necessary until you hear a boom. You'll be surprised how long you can jockey that cutie back over the top of yourself where all the escorts have to go to drop their special deliveries on you. It makes evasion FUN!

I'll give that a try. Cheers for the advice.

I've also found that pinging the bottom is good way to get a DD's attention. I sometimes use that trick to lure them away from shallow channels I want to penetrate.

Boy has brass :rock:

Did this by accident once and found that like you it works to get the DD's to come after you and away from where you want to go.

Upgrade Torpedo's?
 

Hi guys
Here is a silly question for you,

How does one upgrade torpedo’s? I seem to have no choice in campaign mode. I was just given a new boat (I’m using TM1.7 ) and I didn’t see where I could upgrade torpedo’s.
Thanks
TJL

Click on the Crew portrait on your desk and ten the torpedo tab at the top.

You can then click and drag torps in and out of your loadout. The availability is governed by the year. I think the upgrades are available around late 42/early 43.

What is the best torp?

One that runs straight and true.:up:

Well, it really depends on what you want to do.

Mk23's are just basically the Mk 14 without the slow speed setting, so IMO those are a waste of prestige.

If you like getting in very close before launching torpedos, pick the Mk18. It's wakeless (meaning it has no big white line to tell the enemy where it's going) and thus the first warning that they need to start zigzagging is that a torpedo cracks one of their ships in half. They're FAST, so you can also do follow up attacks even while they zigzag.

These IMO are the most useful torps out their (maybe Cuties are better), but they cost a lot. There's a mod that changes the cost so that all torpedoes cost 0 in the years they were used in quantity.

The Mk 14 is your general all-round torp. It has slow and fast speeds, so it's the only torpedo good for 10,000 yard attacks. Problem is it's quite unreliable with the Contact Influence setting; later in the war, they should come standard without it, though you can still turn it on if you wish.

Mk 27's are the mother of all escort killers. Homing torpedoes. Problem is, it has only a 12 knot speed setting, only 4500 yard range, and it can aquire you if you are faster/louder than another ship out there.

Best thing here is to creep along silently, ping the bottom so the escorts come rushing in. Just hide from them, but stay close, until they slow down below their massive max speed. Then fire a torpedo and (silently) go down as deep as you can, so the Cutie doesn't acquire you. A few minutes later you should hear a boom and an escort should be dead, or at the very least crippled.

Use these sparingly: they cost 500 renown, MINIMUM.

NOTE: Cuties also only work against ships that are moving as well. They can't target ships in port if you are thinking about that.

Thank you FishLord.....:lol:

Great post Fishlord!
 

Later in the war Mark 23s are free and they are more reliable than Mark 14s so you might change your mind about them. They are great for down the throat shots on DDs because they are so darn fast. Switching from them to the Mark 18 was a big adjustment this cruise for me. First time I shot a a DD I thought everything just stopped and proceeded in slow motion. Wow! Take another 100 yards off the shooting distance there!

The different torpedo types really contribute to making SH4 a great game. Sure wish cuties were faster! And cheaper!:up:

Torpedo
 

I'm playing TMaru 1.7.6 with NSM 4.0 Classic and just recently got offered these Mk 16 Hydrogen Peroxide torpedoes with 13,000 yard range and 46 knot speed in mid 1944 for my Balao class submarine. They are 500 renown each, but I'm really itching to try these puppies out!

Found a good reference for WW2 U.S. Torpedoes here:

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WTUS_WWII.htm