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frau kaleun · 08-25-10, 04:23 PM

If you have realistic sinking times selected in your realism options, it will take longer for ships to go down. Especially with only one torpedo hit on a medium or larger ship. A lot also depends on where you hit her and whether you used an impact only or a magnetic fuse.

I think the longest time I ever kept track of was well over two hours, maybe closer to three. That was for an ore carrier IIRC, one torpedo to the bow section in pretty heavy seas. Had the seas been calmer and had I not been in great position and range to choose my desired detonation point pretty much at will, I don't think I would've tried to take her down with only one eel (it was too rough to finish her off with the guns). But blowing a hole out from under her bow, combined with the rough seas, was enough do the job. I just had to wait for nature to finish what I started.

Hitting the bow section seems to help, particularly in rougher seas, as the ship's forward momentum will (in theory) cause even more water to be scooped up and into the hole you made.

And an eel set with a magnetic fuse that runs just deep enough to detonate directly below the keel, or at least much farther below the waterline than would be possible with an impact fuse, will cause far more damage, and more immediately critical damage, than blowing a hole in the side of a ship just below the waterline with an impact torpedo.

Also, hitting the engine room or fuel tanks or ammo holds (if it's an armed ship) should also be more likely to result in fires, explosions, or other nasty things that will sink a target faster.

I think I also remember reading that hitting a ship at the spot where a bulkhead separates two compartments belowdecks may also do more immediate damage and result in a faster sinking, because it can cause flooding in both compartments. I seem to remember that a good rule of thumb for this was aiming for a spot directly below one of the ship's masts? But I could be wrong.

I know there is or was a chart showing the different "hit points" of the various ships in the game, giving an indication of which spots on each vessel were more "valuable" in terms of doing enough damage to actually sink her. I don't have it but I'm sure someone else can provide a link to it.

08-25-10, 04:23 PM	#10
frau kaleun Rear Admiral Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Skyri--oh who are we kidding, I'm probably at Lowe's. Again. Posts: 12,706 Downloads: 168 Uploads: 0	If you have realistic sinking times selected in your realism options, it will take longer for ships to go down. Especially with only one torpedo hit on a medium or larger ship. A lot also depends on where you hit her and whether you used an impact only or a magnetic fuse. I think the longest time I ever kept track of was well over two hours, maybe closer to three. That was for an ore carrier IIRC, one torpedo to the bow section in pretty heavy seas. Had the seas been calmer and had I not been in great position and range to choose my desired detonation point pretty much at will, I don't think I would've tried to take her down with only one eel (it was too rough to finish her off with the guns). But blowing a hole out from under her bow, combined with the rough seas, was enough do the job. I just had to wait for nature to finish what I started. Hitting the bow section seems to help, particularly in rougher seas, as the ship's forward momentum will (in theory) cause even more water to be scooped up and into the hole you made. And an eel set with a magnetic fuse that runs just deep enough to detonate directly below the keel, or at least much farther below the waterline than would be possible with an impact fuse, will cause far more damage, and more immediately critical damage, than blowing a hole in the side of a ship just below the waterline with an impact torpedo. Also, hitting the engine room or fuel tanks or ammo holds (if it's an armed ship) should also be more likely to result in fires, explosions, or other nasty things that will sink a target faster. I think I also remember reading that hitting a ship at the spot where a bulkhead separates two compartments belowdecks may also do more immediate damage and result in a faster sinking, because it can cause flooding in both compartments. I seem to remember that a good rule of thumb for this was aiming for a spot directly below one of the ship's masts? But I could be wrong. I know there is or was a chart showing the different "hit points" of the various ships in the game, giving an indication of which spots on each vessel were more "valuable" in terms of doing enough damage to actually sink her. I don't have it but I'm sure someone else can provide a link to it.