Advice for keelbusting shots

[Incubus]

I play with auto aim on and duds off, vanilla SHIII. On bigger ships, I really try to get a keel-busting magnetic pistol shot to crack the ship in two, but they seem awfully random. I aim under the bridge, but one of several things happens-

1. If it is a smaller ship (coastal/small merchant) it will sink, but not blow up spectacularly.

2. If it is a bigger ship, it will be struck and possibly slowed/immobilized (sometimes not even that ) but not knocked out in one shot.

3. Even though I set the depth under the keep by a reasonable margin (.7 to 1 meters under the draft) the torpedo glances off the keel and does does nothing. I thought magnetic torpedoes detonate when they get under the ship's hull- why is this happening?

One thing I'd like is to be able to set the depth of the torpedo down to the tenth of a meter: Instead of turning a little dial, I want to actually input the numbers. I think the reason #3 is happening is because I'm not factoring in the diameter of the torpedo itself (is the depth the center of the torpedo? the bottom? the top?) when I want the torpedo to pass under the keel. I try to keep it close because I noticed that sometimes the magnetics don't detonate if its a little more than a meter below (what is the exact range, anyway?)

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by Incubus

I play with auto aim on and duds off, vanilla SHIII. On bigger ships, I really try to get a keel-busting magnetic pistol shot to crack the ship in two, but they seem awfully random. I aim under the bridge, but one of several things happens-

1. If it is a smaller ship (coastal/small merchant) it will sink, but not blow up spectacularly.

Aim for the fuel bunkers and you will see some fireworks. Mods will help as there are some very nice fireworks incorporated into a number of mini and super mods.

Originally Posted by Incubus

2. If it is a bigger ship, it will be struck and possibly slowed/immobilized (sometimes not even that ) but not knocked out in one shot.

Keep aiming for Fuel bunkers. usually just forward of the funnel on most ships. There is a good guide somewhere that shows where it is on each type.

Originally Posted by Incubus

3. Even though I set the depth under the keep by a reasonable margin (.7 to 1 meters under the draft) the torpedo glances off the keel and does does nothing. I thought magnetic torpedoes detonate when they get under the ship's hull- why is this happening?

What is your angle of attack for the torpedo? if you are not at approx 90 degrees, even magnetic shots can still miss fire. I've found that about 1m below keel is about right for most ships.

Originally Posted by Incubus

One thing I'd like is to be able to set the depth of the torpedo down to the tenth of a meter: Instead of turning a little dial, I want to actually input the numbers. I think the reason #3 is happening is because I'm not factoring in the diameter of the torpedo itself (is the depth the center of the torpedo? the bottom? the top?) when I want the torpedo to pass under the keel. I try to keep it close because I noticed that sometimes the magnetics don't detonate if its a little more than a meter below (what is the exact range, anyway?)

I'm not sure what the point of measurement is but I dont think it is as much a factor as wave action etc on the shot.

[mayandlex]

I cant understand the exact interest in the running depth of the torpedo as they were pretty unreliable in this respect. Sea swells and waves were further confusing factors.They simply were not reliable depth runners!

[SeaToad]

Shooting under the Keel is just a load of Bunk man.
Whoever started that must have been smoking some bad weed.
Just set your torpedo depth for 3 meters and 2 meters for tankers

[Jmack]

humm ... for a medium cargo i set them to 6 meters ... blows right under them it breakes them in half ... never fails