Sinking ships in GWX
 

I've been trying to get one-shot kills in GWX but can't quite cut it. I'm still running in 1939 so I've been usually picking off lone merchants, but even the 2000 ton passenger cargoes and small merchants take a torpedo and followed up with some target practice with my deck gun to finish off.

I know that it can take the ships a while to sink in GWX, but how long? I'm operating right off the coast of Scotland and don't want to stick around waiting for airpower or a lone destroyer to respond, so I usually surface and finish them off with the deck gun.

How do I know when the ship is going down (before the crew announces it at least) and when I need to send another torp?

And what are the best settings to use? I thought that the magnetic torpedoes were preferred, 1 - 1.5 meters below the draft of the ship, to break their back, but the how-to on ship weak spots at http://www.mysh3.info/shiii/index.ph...hip_Weak_Spots recommends impact shots 2-3 meters deep on most ships.

Any suggestions on what else I need to be doing?

Vielen dank, kaulens!

Alright, lets assume your magnetic exploders will work. Check your reginition manuel for the Draft of the vessel, set your depth for that, or barely below that for maximum efffect. Normally for me, knocks off large cargos in 1 hit.

Aim for just behind the foremast on most ships and you should be able to get them to force the bows under. Nothing is guaranteed of course!

This works for me. It could take some time for a ship to sink this way, up to 30 minutes for what I've seen. Although if there's little or no wind I'm not sure if it works. But under all other weather conditions it seems to work perfectly.:yep:

That's normal. Ships almost never break up or instantly sink (with one torpedo or more) in GWX.
I find that most ships sink within the hour (game time) with one torp aimed in the bow. Size doesn't make much difference as much as weather does. Some take longer, some will need the second torpedo to sink.
That's a good idea
You won't know until the "she's going down" message comes up. However, you don't have to shell or torpedo the bastard continuously until you get the message. You just need to wait and see what happens.

What I usually do is:

1. (Optional) Shoot a torpedo to the bow and loiter for about 5 minutes to observe the effect
2. If the ship is still sailing at the same speed, surface and fire some 20-odd shells to the waterline
3. Loiter some more for 10-15 minutes
4. If the ship is still sailing then give it some more 10-odd cannon rounds
5. Repeat until she's going down
6. Always throughout the time maintain a torpedo launch position just in case the odd destroyer or aircraft shows up

The effect of your shots can be observed progessively by watching for the following signs of almost certain signs of a ship's demise:

1. Water over the bridge in rough weather
2. Engines stop
3. Very rough weather
4. "She's going down, sir!"

If the ship(s) is/are escorted or there is air cover, then just shoot from the start an appropriate number of torpedos (1 torpedo per <5000t ship, 2 torpedos per 5000-15000t ship, 3 torpedos per >15000t ship) and pray that they sink quickly enough to get the credit while you dive to the bottoms. Or use more torpedos.

That Wiki is out of date if you are using GWX. The GWX manual (great bed-time reading) explains all this in wonderful detail. There are no longer weak spots (or there are no weak spots one should know about) - just do whatever it takes to sink the tommie, the hard way!

Keep checking the map view. Sometimes I have found the red marker indicating a sinking will appear before the 'she's going down' call.

I think trying one hit kills is a bad idea if you can't use the deck gun afterwards.

1. The chance that you actually hit the target is smaller, because:
a. you may have miscalculated the target course or speed causing the torpedo to be off target.
b. in case of magnetic torpedoes there is a chance that it will explode prematurely

2. If you hit the target it will become very hard for you to hit it again with a torpedo, because the target will:
a. change speed (either loose speed because of the damage or speed up to get away from you)
b. start zizagging.

3. You never know if it's going to sink from that first torpedo. This takes time in which enemy aircraft or warships may be on the way.

My advice if you can't use the deck gun (properly): Always fire two torpedoes at a small ship and three at a big ship.
The first torpedo at the bow, and the last torpedoe at the stern, or vice versa. Simple and effective.

:know:

Thanks -- I'll ignore the Wiki piece on sinking ships. And I'll be a bit more patient letting them sink.

Just yesterday i surfaced to use my deckgun on a liberty cargo (not being catious) after a torpedo hit and i lost 3 good men due to the enemy's deck gun:down:. I sent her to the bottom and told the men to forget rescuing survivorsand gunnend down the surviving deck gun crew (of enemy). Thats what they get.

I always commit two torpedoes (at least) to any large ship. One for the bow, one for the middle. If they both blow, she's doomed. As for small ships, I shoot one, which usually cripples her. Sometimes it takes another to take her down. I rarely get one-shot kills in GWX.

One of the indications that you have delivered a fatal shot is an immediate reduction of the target's speed. But some ships will carry on as if you have missed, then sink anyway.

On my last patrol I hit a whale factory with apparent no effect. 12 hours later I was about to attack the same convoy and the whale factory sank. :arrgh!:

Liberty cargos are mean, man :down: They can punch as hard as a destroyer - no point messing with them. Two torpedos and be done with it.

They should give more renown for bagging one of these :arrgh!:

I've been successful on sinking some of the warships with single shots. The Blackswans have been my main target. I've been operating down around Gibraltar and most of the convoys have had 4 or even 5 Blackswans. (It's Feb, 1941).

Normally it seems that no mater which direction I approach the convoy from, rigged for silent running, etc, these buttheads seem to know I'm there! It's almost like they have ESP or something!

In my last 3 patrols, I've had no choice but to take them out (a serious waste of ammo to sink a small amount of tonnage!). Normally I lay in wait for them as they come closer to me with a "S" patern at about 11 to 12 knots. I set my torpedos for 3 meters depth, fast speed and magnetic det. Right when the Blackswan reaches 450 meters I cut a single torpedo loose. I score a hit 99% of the time (the other 1% I scream in terror, lower the scope, got to Flank speed and turn hard to either port or starbord, then if I've survived their pass, I shoot a stern torpedo at them).

I've found that shooting them again is a waste of torpedo as in just a few minutes, the Blackswan slows it speed to only a couple of knots or a dead stop. You can see them going down by the bow in minutes. Normally they are gone in less than 5 minutes.

Now I HAVE seen the Flower Corvettes die violently. I pulled the same tactic as the Blackswan, only the Corvette must have seen the torpedo and heaved over to starbord, exposing her broadside to the torpedo, which detonated and the ship split in two! God that was loud!

Since I installed GWX, every merchant I've ever sunk, seemed to take at least 2 torpedos. :hmm:

One torpedo will normally do the trick as long as you hit it in the bow area which has been mentioned by others earlier. I sunk a couple of large cargoes off the west coast of Africa (near Freetown) using this method. They do take about 10 or so minutes to go down and can sometimes maintain a good speed until they are about to sink. Obviously if I need to get out of the area pronto another torpedo or the deck gun might be necessary to speed up the sinking process.

Nemo

@andy

No crap. Don't know if your talking about torpedoes or the 88mm, but it seems to me that all destoryers take 1 eel.

But in early 39 I was crusing along Briton's east coast, spotted a convoy with 1 escort, 10 merchantmen. I wanted to get the destoryer's attention, so I decided to put a shot across it's bow.

Well, that "Hello, come get an eel in your face" shot, actually hit him and he exploded. :huh: (Was a V&W class)

10 merchantmen went to the bottom.