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Nemo66 · 02-28-15, 12:42 PM

Ahoy washishu,

my experiences in years of SH3 learned me, that there are two different approaches to a torpedo shot:

1. If you want to hit the target directly with a "direct hit ignition head" it is preferrable to hit the target mor or less rectangularly, otherwise the torp might just slip off.
This also happens if the torpedo is laimed to deep, because it slips off the ship's rounded structure near the keel
If you watch the impacts by free outside cam (F12) or with detected units cam ( the point or semicolon key) you can see it slip off which seems very close to real life physics to me. In fact, this is one of the best things about SH3 to make things realistic; in SH 2 every torpedo with a direct-hit-head that crossed the course of the target exploded no matter what angle.

2. If you use a "magnetic ignition head" things are totally different. The torp has to pass UNDER the ship at a depth of 1-2 m under the keel. If you do this in a rectangular way, the eel passes very fast under the ship, leaving the magnetic head not enough time to ignite, because you use only the width of the ship which is obviously much smaller that the length. The eel might not explode and just pass the target, or explode right behind the ship causing less damage. This happens especially when you use a T1 at 44knts in rough seas, because the ship goes up and down with the waves and it might happen, that it is going up right at the moment your torp passes, and the distance to the keel becomes to big to ignite. If it runs along with the keels direction, the ship goes down again while the torpedo is still underneath it and the eel will explode.
What i do to assure a clean magnetic hit is to shoot the eel in a very flat angle, almost paralell to the ships keel, say 15-30 degrees. The torp's way under the keel is a lot longer this way, so the magnetic head has a lot more time to ignite properly, as the eel runs more or less with the ships keel direction. Also i stay behind the ship and never fire when the ship is heading towards me, because this would also shorten the torpedos time under the keel as the two speeds of the target and the eel accumulate resulting on a smaller time-window for the collision.
If i let the ship pass and fire from the back this procedure gives the eel more time to ignite because the speeds diminish each other.

So a perfect attack (according to me) is to hit at first with a magnetic, flat angle attack form the back, then wait a little bit in order to give the target time to get flooded, and in the second approach i give him another one in a rectangular, direct hit way, and try to hit the ship at another compartment, not to close to the first hit, in order to create mximum destruction.
It's very hard to determine how the waterline of a ship changes after being hit and flooded to some extent, and therefore its very hard to hit with a second magnetic, as you don't know exactly how deep to fire. Especially with ships that sink to one side or sink via stern or bow this is very hard to do, so i always fire only one magnetic hit and do the rest with direct rectangular hits.

As the german torpedo crisis in 1942 when operation drumbeat took place was over, and the magnetic heads worked properly in this latitude, (and made much bigger damage , too), i could imagine that U-Boat captains did it pretty much the same, so i think that might be the answer to your question.

I hope i could "enlighten" you a bit

02-28-15, 12:42 PM	#2
Nemo66 Bosun Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: munich, germany Posts: 68 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	Ahoy washishu, my experiences in years of SH3 learned me, that there are two different approaches to a torpedo shot: 1. If you want to hit the target directly with a "direct hit ignition head" it is preferrable to hit the target mor or less rectangularly, otherwise the torp might just slip off. This also happens if the torpedo is laimed to deep, because it slips off the ship's rounded structure near the keel If you watch the impacts by free outside cam (F12) or with detected units cam ( the point or semicolon key) you can see it slip off which seems very close to real life physics to me. In fact, this is one of the best things about SH3 to make things realistic; in SH 2 every torpedo with a direct-hit-head that crossed the course of the target exploded no matter what angle. 2. If you use a "magnetic ignition head" things are totally different. The torp has to pass UNDER the ship at a depth of 1-2 m under the keel. If you do this in a rectangular way, the eel passes very fast under the ship, leaving the magnetic head not enough time to ignite, because you use only the width of the ship which is obviously much smaller that the length. The eel might not explode and just pass the target, or explode right behind the ship causing less damage. This happens especially when you use a T1 at 44knts in rough seas, because the ship goes up and down with the waves and it might happen, that it is going up right at the moment your torp passes, and the distance to the keel becomes to big to ignite. If it runs along with the keels direction, the ship goes down again while the torpedo is still underneath it and the eel will explode. What i do to assure a clean magnetic hit is to shoot the eel in a very flat angle, almost paralell to the ships keel, say 15-30 degrees. The torp's way under the keel is a lot longer this way, so the magnetic head has a lot more time to ignite properly, as the eel runs more or less with the ships keel direction. Also i stay behind the ship and never fire when the ship is heading towards me, because this would also shorten the torpedos time under the keel as the two speeds of the target and the eel accumulate resulting on a smaller time-window for the collision. If i let the ship pass and fire from the back this procedure gives the eel more time to ignite because the speeds diminish each other. So a perfect attack (according to me) is to hit at first with a magnetic, flat angle attack form the back, then wait a little bit in order to give the target time to get flooded, and in the second approach i give him another one in a rectangular, direct hit way, and try to hit the ship at another compartment, not to close to the first hit, in order to create mximum destruction. It's very hard to determine how the waterline of a ship changes after being hit and flooded to some extent, and therefore its very hard to hit with a second magnetic, as you don't know exactly how deep to fire. Especially with ships that sink to one side or sink via stern or bow this is very hard to do, so i always fire only one magnetic hit and do the rest with direct rectangular hits. As the german torpedo crisis in 1942 when operation drumbeat took place was over, and the magnetic heads worked properly in this latitude, (and made much bigger damage , too), i could imagine that U-Boat captains did it pretty much the same, so i think that might be the answer to your question. I hope i could "enlighten" you a bit Last edited by Nemo66; 02-28-15 at 02:54 PM.