Convoy attacks with MK18s

[derekb525]

First off, Merry Christmas to you all!

I've stumbled on a 10 ship convoy with only 2 mine sweepers for escorts (October, 43 Japan/Palau shipping lanes)

I had enough renown in port before the patrol to get a few mk 18s, well after sinking a few ships before hand with mk14s I'm down to 2x mk 14 and 4x 18s in the bow.

I'm OK at hitting multiple targets in a convoy and can do it fairly consistently (manual targeting) using the different speed settings on the mk 14s, but how can I fire at 2 or more targets with torpedoes such as the mk 18 which are all one speed?

[merc4ulfate]

Target the ones farther away first.

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[derekb525]

I did try that but maybe I didn't fire the other volleys of torpedos fast enough. Thanks I'll keep at it

[torpedobait]

As they say, timing is everything. It helps to know (or guess) at how far a torpedo will run over a distance; choosing the one farthest away, fire at it and watch the stop watch. When the torpedo has run a distance equal to that target and the next closest, fire at it, and so on. I have actually hit multiple targets simultaneously that way. Drives the escorts crazy!

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by derekb525

I'm OK at hitting multiple targets in a convoy and can do it fairly consistently (manual targeting) using the different speed settings on the mk 14s, but how can I fire at 2 or more targets with torpedoes such as the mk 18 which are all one speed?

As merc4ulfate said, you must alter you approach so you launch on the longer track first. If this is really important to you, you might draw out the torpedo tracks and measure them before firing and make a detailed plan (this could get to be rather involved). Otherwise, rely on an intuitive estimate of run time (much simpler).

Note that you will not find USN submarine patrol reports where skippers painstakingly layed out a precisely calculated attack plan to achieve simultaneous hits on multiple ships; this is more of a SH game thing.

It would seem to suggest, that real-life ships could not maneuver as well as our targets can.

[merc4ulfate]

I did what Torpx suggested once. IT does work.

What your doing is taking fish speed x time running and getting distance and then planning the shot that way.

speed x time running = Distance traveled

They do not come out of the tube going top speed and you have to start from when they left the tube so have the doors already open for faster exist. There will be a slight error on this but if you open the next door as soon as you hit fire you can get a spread out faster.

[derekb525]

great tips thanks for the quick responses guys I'll put them to practice this weekend