What the Falke?
 

It is March 1942 and I have the option of equiping the G7es Falke homing torpedo. Is there a secret to using this?

I realise it is not a MK 48 ADCAP, but even with good solutions I have never seen it "home" in for a hit.

Is there something I am missing? Currently I am not carrying any Falkes as I would rather stick with my ole reliable G7a.

Any Falke lovers out there who can airmail me a clue?

It has been my experience with this torpedo that you must use it like any other torpedo. except for the following...

1. It is most reliable against warships - particularly escorts.

2. It is most reliable when used against escorts with a 4 meter depth setting and magnetic trigger

3. you will still have to plot a solution on the target

4. they do not start homing until traveling several hundred meters ... IIRC it is over 500 meters distance before they start to home in on anything... or it might be that they do not start homing until they have passed the range setting in your solution - i cant recall.

things to watch out for... if they are seeking a destroyer and he turns toward you to DC you - you are then at risk of getting hit by your own torpedo as it chases him!

also it will seek to the closest / loudest sound when homing so if you were aiming for a merchant and a desttoyer speeds by it might start chasing him instead of the target you were wanting to hit.

I have used them with over a 95% success rate - and they WILL home in on something using small "S-turns" to chase the target... good way to ensure a hit on an unsuspecting escort.

The Falke works as an acoustic homing torpedo. You need to have a ship moving at a decent speed for it to lock on, and at a range beyond about 200-400m. At this range, it will turn towards whatever the loudest noise it hears is. Obviously, you want to go silent when you use this torpedo. Normally aiming in the general direction of your target works if it is going at the recommended speed of 10-20 knots. Not sure if it works with less, but that's what would work IRL.

It's a nice sight to see a Falke creeping up on a dd and finally sinking it!

I believe it was common practice in the German navy to dive after firing an acoustic homing torpedo in order to not get hit by your own torp!

Got a few kills with the Falke, never got hit by one...

oooh so they are available as early as '42?

I'm on my first career in GWX and have just reach February 1942 - cant wait to try them :arrgh!:

if I,m correct you automaticly get some Proto types.

you cant buy them yet, but you get them :up:

I've used the homing torpedo twice and have had it chase down and hit DDs. It's fun to watch them in the TDC - you can see the torpedo squirming around if it's tracking.

Only prototypes were available that early, and given to a very few boats to test, but I guess you could regard yourself as one of the lucky test boats, so it is 'sort of' realistic to have them that early.

Incidentally, it was recommended at the time of those tests to place the acoustic homing torpedo only in the rear tube, so that you could run away from it, also as ReM points out, diving was common practice too in order to be below the 'floor' of the seeker (a common practice with torpedoes today in fact).

It was noted at the time that they were unlikely to be 'miracle weapons' as there would be many occasions where a standard convoy engagement firing position would not be conducive to use of the acoustic homing torpedo, so if you are having problems employing them, that's realistic, as the real sub skippers faced that too.

There's a lot of useful info about their use and capabilities in the book 'Type VII U-Boats' by Robert C Stern (ISBN 1-86019-855-4), which I thoroughly recommend if you are even remotely interested in German submarines, as it is a mine of information, and in fact one of the 'modders bibles'.

The guideline for Falke torpedoes was to dive to at least 50m after a shot from the bow tubes and to go to silent running after a stern shot.


BTW i am in May 1943 and all i get are those lousy FAT I & III torpedoes. Does the BdU hates me or am i just unlucky?

You still need to set the shot up for acoustic torpedoes. This includes setting the depth correctly -- for an "under the keel" shot. Acoustic torpedoes will rarely result in a nice impact shot, but they do work nicely by following a DD, undershooting the props and blowing up under the rear magazine.

They work well for removing escorts, but they can also be used to cripple a merchant (e.g. a fast moving tanker), allowing you the time to evade any escorts and come back for it later.

(PS: There's nothing wrong with FaT I torpedoes. I really like them!)

hiya!

got these Falke prototypes in 42 and I am starting to play around with them... so far I have tried them against DDs and it's cool to see/hear them homing on the DD, but once they hit little seems to happen! (in my case at least!)

I once tracked the torp with the "F12 external view" and saw it go for (and hit) the propoller (makes sense). The DD couldn't steer but continued afloat...

Are there any thumb rules (for n0000bs :oops: ) as to how to effectively use these??

Thanks and good hunting!

Actually, even if you don't sink the DD, but it can't manuever, that is almost as good as a kill. The technical military term for when you don't completely destroy a target, but prevent it from being employed (either by damaging it so bad that it can't maneuver, or you destroy the weaponry but not the platform, or you just harass it so much that it is ineffective is called a "Mission Kill". It isn't as good as an actual kill, but better than nothing.

In the case of a Falke taking out the rudder and/or props of an escort, to the point where it can't maneuver, I'd definitely call that a success. You won't get renown points for it unless it actually sinks, but the flip side is that it can't sink you unless you surface within gun range.

The arming range for the Falke is 400 metres :arrgh!:

An early run in I had with an acoustic

Fired then the DD was sunk by aircraft
As I didnt slow down I became the target

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ooly/Notme.jpg

Thank god for ext cam
:rotfl:

2 choices for this: stop engines, or crash dive. Your type XXI will get too deep for the torp very quickly, so this is the best option, unless the torp is very close...:arrgh!: