RFB How to tell when a ship is mortally hit

Longknife · 04-15-15, 09:20 AM

Good day Captains,

I am pretty sure I am wasting ordinance trying to "kill" a vessel quickly to make sure it doesn't get away. In RFB the vessels seem to sink very slowly unless significant damage is heaped upon them.

Last night I was in my beloved S-Boat & made a snap shot at a Medium composite that was traveling close to flank speed. 2 of my 3 torps connected but 1 was a dud. My AOB wasn't great (52deg) & he was moving fast. I had no chance for another shot so I surfaced & engaged with the deck gun. I had put about 5 rounds into him when the deck watch spotted an aircraft so I crash dived.
The freighter never slowed & had no appreciable list when I lost sight. Surfacing some 30min later the ship was long gone & my 11kt max speed precluded a chase so I gave up on him. 6hrs later (game time) I get a notice that the ship sank.

My question is if there is a way to tell if a vessel when hit will surely go down? Right now my "cease fire" signal is if I kill the engine (no more prop wash). Are there any other tells when I can let gravity run its course?

CCIP · 04-15-15, 09:44 AM

Just as in real world, there isn't really a way (and there are numerous real incidents of ships that were left for dead but managed to survive and make it to port). The only real way to make sure is to get it down to a state where it is listed as sunk.

One tip, though: regardless of how damaged a ship is, if you leave the area before it sinks it will not be counted. So the ship you hit must not have been far.

Longknife · 04-15-15, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CCIP

One tip, though: regardless of how damaged a ship is, if you leave the area before it sinks it will not be counted. So the ship you hit must not have been far.

Thanks for the reply!

I didn't measure how far the ship was away when the sunken ship marker that RFB does appeared but I would guess it was at least 100mi away.

That's why I expend so much ordinance to get them under, I don't want one to get away & not get credit.

Sniper297 · 04-15-15, 12:09 PM

Answer in this game is when the credit for sinking the ship shows up in your tonnage list, not before. I've had cruisers listing 25 degrees with the entire bow/stern or even the whole main deck underwater, fires everywhere, creaking groaning screeching collapsing bulkhead noises, sit there for 48 hours and nothing changes. One of the glaring faults of this game is that in real life and sub simulators from other companies (Microprose Silent Service for example) you got partial credit for damaging targets you were unable to sink.

In this game nada, fire 12 fish into YAMATO and leave her DIW and half sunk, zero credit at all, you might as well have saved the torpedoes for another target. In real life you'd get a medal since even if she was towed back to port she would be out of the war for as long as it took to repair the damage, sometimes a year or more.

That's why I won't use mods with realistic sinking physics, the way the game is programmed there's no point in attacking anything unless it goes down.

Pigboatcook · 04-15-15, 12:18 PM

The U.S.S. Neosho (ao-23) fleet oiler took seven Japanese bombs and one suicide plane, stayed afloat, and it took another two torpedoes and 146 five inch shells from an American destroyer to finally sink the drifting wreck.

CCIP · 04-15-15, 12:40 PM

The other thing that often sinks ships is storms and weather. I'm not totally an expert on the RFB model, but I think while it does model slow flooding, it limits it to a certain extent - that is, the ship will flood a certain amount after you damage it, and then it'll stop flooding until it takes more damage. However, things like weather (i.e. waves washing over the deck) will often damage it more and force it to take more flooding. So if you're in calm weather, once you no longer see the ship's waterline changing and you don't get the "ship sunk" message, chances are it will not sink. If you are in rough weather, there is a chance it will still sink, but it's fairly small.

Longknife · 04-15-15, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sniper297

sit there for 48 hours and nothing changes.

I had something interesting happen along those lines a few days ago. I fired a spread at a minelayer, 2 hit & it went up like the 4th of July. One torp missed & made a lucky hit on one of the escorting DD's breaking its back (2 instant kills). The rest of the escorts drove me down for 9hrs of merciless depth charging.

When I surfaced I was astounded to see the DD that I broke its back sitting there floating. Both halves a few feet apart.

les green01 · 04-15-15, 04:02 PM

i had that also in rfb just a floating i finaly just unistall it

04-15-15, 09:20 AM	#1
Longknife A-ganger Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Northern KY Posts: 80 Downloads: 66 Uploads: 0	RFB How to tell when a ship is mortally hit Good day Captains, I am pretty sure I am wasting ordinance trying to "kill" a vessel quickly to make sure it doesn't get away. In RFB the vessels seem to sink very slowly unless significant damage is heaped upon them. Last night I was in my beloved S-Boat & made a snap shot at a Medium composite that was traveling close to flank speed. 2 of my 3 torps connected but 1 was a dud. My AOB wasn't great (52deg) & he was moving fast. I had no chance for another shot so I surfaced & engaged with the deck gun. I had put about 5 rounds into him when the deck watch spotted an aircraft so I crash dived. The freighter never slowed & had no appreciable list when I lost sight. Surfacing some 30min later the ship was long gone & my 11kt max speed precluded a chase so I gave up on him. 6hrs later (game time) I get a notice that the ship sank. My question is if there is a way to tell if a vessel when hit will surely go down? Right now my "cease fire" signal is if I kill the engine (no more prop wash). Are there any other tells when I can let gravity run its course?

04-15-15, 09:44 AM	#2
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	Just as in real world, there isn't really a way (and there are numerous real incidents of ships that were left for dead but managed to survive and make it to port). The only real way to make sure is to get it down to a state where it is listed as sunk. One tip, though: regardless of how damaged a ship is, if you leave the area before it sinks it will not be counted. So the ship you hit must not have been far. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

04-15-15, 12:40 PM	#6
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	The other thing that often sinks ships is storms and weather. I'm not totally an expert on the RFB model, but I think while it does model slow flooding, it limits it to a certain extent - that is, the ship will flood a certain amount after you damage it, and then it'll stop flooding until it takes more damage. However, things like weather (i.e. waves washing over the deck) will often damage it more and force it to take more flooding. So if you're in calm weather, once you no longer see the ship's waterline changing and you don't get the "ship sunk" message, chances are it will not sink. If you are in rough weather, there is a chance it will still sink, but it's fairly small. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

04-15-15, 04:02 PM	#8
les green01 Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Freeman Missouri Posts: 1,784 Downloads: 1405 Uploads: 0	i had that also in rfb just a floating i finaly just unistall it __________________ I'll tell you what bravery really is. Bravery is just determination to do a job that you know has to be done. Audie Murphy

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04-15-15, 12:09 PM	#4
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	Answer in this game is when the credit for sinking the ship shows up in your tonnage list, not before. I've had cruisers listing 25 degrees with the entire bow/stern or even the whole main deck underwater, fires everywhere, creaking groaning screeching collapsing bulkhead noises, sit there for 48 hours and nothing changes. One of the glaring faults of this game is that in real life and sub simulators from other companies (Microprose Silent Service for example) you got partial credit for damaging targets you were unable to sink. In this game nada, fire 12 fish into YAMATO and leave her DIW and half sunk, zero credit at all, you might as well have saved the torpedoes for another target. In real life you'd get a medal since even if she was towed back to port she would be out of the war for as long as it took to repair the damage, sometimes a year or more. That's why I won't use mods with realistic sinking physics, the way the game is programmed there's no point in attacking anything unless it goes down.

04-15-15, 12:18 PM	#5
Pigboatcook A-ganger Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 74 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	The U.S.S. Neosho (ao-23) fleet oiler took seven Japanese bombs and one suicide plane, stayed afloat, and it took another two torpedoes and 146 five inch shells from an American destroyer to finally sink the drifting wreck.