Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy-rai
OK, thanks for the replies. I'm not a sub expert but my opinion is that it's very unlikely that a strafing run by 2 20mm equipped fighters could result in a submarine sinking 10 seconds later.
But it sounds plausible that if they got very lucky, they could inflict enough damage to force the sub back to the surface after some minutes due to leaks (which could eventually be repaired). And then the sub would have to duke it out with the aircraft. That would be interesting !!
What struck me about the attack upon my sim sub was that the sub was fatally wrecked so quickly. I had expected to get a lot of time to repair some leaks but instead experienced massive system failures. Then game over. 
Anyway, I googled the subject and found this link:
https://www.history.navy.mil/content...dfs/Appen3.pdf
It is record of USN sinkings of U-boats and IJN subs. I skimmed and didn't find any examples of these boats being damaged by aircraft gunfire. I'm thinking that many of these U-boats did receive aircraft gunfire but it was not significant. In all the cases I found that fatal damage was inflicted by depth charges \ bombs \ mines \ torpedoes. |
I agree. Machine guns, auto cannons like 20 mm 25 mm, esp enemy being overpowered have long been a issue in SH 4. One problem is devs of SH 4 got lazy and had a lot of guns, both those used by AI enemy and player guns share shells, so from what was told if you reduce power, you will nerf your guns. Because they interact with different damage models (player sub vs AI ships) can be problematic.
Plus, far as I know no one has ever been able to fully track down the shells used because its complicated and not easy to discern exactly.
Sustained hits from 40MM or larger would likely damage pressure hull to some degree but doubt could sink a sub unless previously damage.The 20 mm and machine guns were mainly a threat to superstructure, topside equipment , and any crew topside, not so much the pressure hull itself. Definitely not enough to sink it .