timing torpedos

[rat sub]

hi to you all i was playing sh4 and fired a couple of torpedos at a simple gun boat with one escort and as soon as i fired the gun boat turn and i missed the shot.
have the japs have a timed evaision pattern and is it a zig sag one, i have sank four ship with eight torpedos the rest are just misses please help

rat sub

[SteamWake]

Yes the IJN have superhuman response times. As soon as they 'hear' or 'see' the torpedos they jump to flank and hit full to port or starbord. Under normal conditions they sail in a straight line. Ive never seen them or a convoy do a zig zag as a matter of routine.

The trick is to get really close ... like inside of 1,200 meters and or use electric powered torpedoes.

Even then your going to miss some.

Personally I dont care to get that close to combat vessels so I tend to pick on merchant vessels. They sometimes try to turn but are too slow.

Also when attacking a convoy at the first sign of trouble they tend to start sailing erratically. If you have enough time you can observe them and find a pattern to their zigs and zags and get a lucky shot in.

[Orion2012]

If they were zigzaging before you even began to open up a salvo, chance are you were spotted.

They won't zig-zag without being alerted, as making them do so would require the entire convoy route in the mission file to be edited by hand.

If you made contact visually, it would be a fairly safe assumption that they spotted you at around the same time.

[rat sub]

the problem is when i fire the ships see the torp wakes and evade them it really fustrating

is there any way to fire at close range at periscope depth and dive quick.

[buddha95]

sneak up real close or let them come to you,,, fire all forward tubes,,, drop scope, drop to 90 ' go flank to a pre-"x"ed spot just on the other side,,, drop tp 2 kts,, come up to periscope view ( already looking at 180 degrees), then give em your aft tubes
then go deep and flee dead ahead.


git er done

[rat sub]

but that means your emptyimg your tubes for one ship if your running silent thats a no no the only thing is dive deep and hope thay dont depth charge you!?

only shoot merchants at 2000 or less range, 1000 if zig zagging.

only shoot warships from 1500-1000 range.

only shoot destroyers from 400-600 range but under 375 the torpedos wont have time to arm and will be duds.

these ranges will give you the highest chance to not miss, shooting from longer distances occassionally works but more often just ends up wasting torpedos

[rat sub]

thanks webster some time s i do get luck shots say with merchants but i have to fire two fish to get the kill

rat sub

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by rat sub

thanks webster some time s i do get luck shots say with merchants but i have to fire two fish to get the kill

rat sub

Usually a good idea to shoot two anyhow just in case the first one is a dud or deep runner.

[rat sub]

in the career mode when do you start to get the eletric fish i would get alot more hits with them!!!??

rat sub

[Orion2012]

Originally Posted by rat sub

in the career mode when do you start to get the eletric fish i would get alot more hits with them!!!??

rat sub

Not til 1943, not sure of the month.

Originally Posted by rat sub

in the career mode when do you start to get the eletric fish i would get alot more hits with them!!!??

rat sub

in my opinion not really, i dont notice much difference.

one thing that may help is to fire your second torpedo aimed just forward of the very bow so if he speeds up #2 hits and if he doesnt #1 gets him. also if he zigs on you in the direction you lead him with second torp then you will probably hit with it.

i find if your taking on a DD it has to be a down your throat shot at point blank range to get the kill. they can see AND hear the torpedos coming in most cases.
you can surprise one but most of the time, as you are aware they react as the torpedo gets near them.