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Bothersome · 04-03-14, 10:31 AM

Pisces,
You are correct that a 90 degree perpendicular angle (torpedo travel) attack is best. At the time I was trying to find an angle that if a torpedo attack was slightly miscalculated (speed of target being a little off) that the torpedo would have a better chance at hitting different ship.

Turned out 60 degrees was about the worse angle one could have for a 750 yard spaced convoy.

The numbers I quoted came from the calculations done on the TDC. Observing the torpedo angle and gyro angle. The target bearing had to be about 15 degrees starboard to get the torpedo to fire at 0. The speed was calculated using radar over a 15 minute period of travel. I used the calculation of Distance (yards) / Time (seconds) * 1.8.

The problem is, that as the convoy moves, some ships tend to slow down and speed up a little to adjust their position a bit in the convoy. This can cause a miss when using such slow torpedoes.

Also, a good angle to fire "into" the convoy while staying out of the direct path of a destroyer is also a must. If any one destroyer passes too close to you, they can detect you just sitting there and then the gig is up and you are suddenly the hunted.

As I said in above posts, the best torpedo angle is 90 degrees to the convoy, but that still only works for shooting ships in a line. I have yet to see any solution to shooting a column where the torpedoes hit simultaneously. I haven't come up with an adequate solution either.

Eventually, I could come up with a few per-determined angles to set the TDC to for each given speed (one for 9 knots, one for 11, etc) and convoy configuration. Basically, come up with one angle for the second ship in the column and fire when it crosses the target bearing. Then change the target bearing for where the first ship will cross at its timing mark. Shoot the next torpedoes when it crosses its per-determined angle. I was just hoping someone had already had a better solution for the whole shooting a large convoy thing. One that gave an easy targeting solution and have the best chances for a margin of error.

04-03-14, 10:31 AM	#11
Bothersome Planesman Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 194 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	Pisces, You are correct that a 90 degree perpendicular angle (torpedo travel) attack is best. At the time I was trying to find an angle that if a torpedo attack was slightly miscalculated (speed of target being a little off) that the torpedo would have a better chance at hitting different ship. Turned out 60 degrees was about the worse angle one could have for a 750 yard spaced convoy. The numbers I quoted came from the calculations done on the TDC. Observing the torpedo angle and gyro angle. The target bearing had to be about 15 degrees starboard to get the torpedo to fire at 0. The speed was calculated using radar over a 15 minute period of travel. I used the calculation of Distance (yards) / Time (seconds) * 1.8. The problem is, that as the convoy moves, some ships tend to slow down and speed up a little to adjust their position a bit in the convoy. This can cause a miss when using such slow torpedoes. Also, a good angle to fire "into" the convoy while staying out of the direct path of a destroyer is also a must. If any one destroyer passes too close to you, they can detect you just sitting there and then the gig is up and you are suddenly the hunted. As I said in above posts, the best torpedo angle is 90 degrees to the convoy, but that still only works for shooting ships in a line. I have yet to see any solution to shooting a column where the torpedoes hit simultaneously. I haven't come up with an adequate solution either. Eventually, I could come up with a few per-determined angles to set the TDC to for each given speed (one for 9 knots, one for 11, etc) and convoy configuration. Basically, come up with one angle for the second ship in the column and fire when it crosses the target bearing. Then change the target bearing for where the first ship will cross at its timing mark. Shoot the next torpedoes when it crosses its per-determined angle. I was just hoping someone had already had a better solution for the whole shooting a large convoy thing. One that gave an easy targeting solution and have the best chances for a margin of error.