question on torpedos

I did a search but found lots of random stuff. Is there a general rule of thumb on how many fish you shoot at them to sink ships. BTW i just installed tmo if that helps any.

[Char]

I dunno much about TMO,and what it did to the damage properties of the torpedos.The amount Varies on the size of the warhead (duh) but in general,the table provided in the manual of Silent Hunter 4 gives a pretty good estimation of what it will take.bigger merchants require more then 2 or 3,while the smaller ones might go down with a single torp and some added deckgun rounds.

IIRC,TMO's Damage model is based on flooding,while Vanilla's is based on Hit points.so of course more holes the better.

(back to Vanilla) it can also depend on where you hit.you can pull off the old SH3 Keel Shot on trop kill (dont count on it though) or you could ignite hit the very explosive cargo of the target.

Take for example the Torpedo test Mission's Mogami.you can kill it with 2 (or one if your Lucky) well placed torpedos,with one of them detonating the Forward Ammo Bunkers.

Realism also plays a factor.with Dud torpedos on,you should always fire one or two more than nessicary,just in case (especilly with the Mark 14s,double in TMO because I heard the fail more) They also could run deep (again Mk.14s) and even Cricle back at you (yet again MK.14s....)

So,it's really more of an expirmental number,as some will fire more than others.

or you could say "F it" and download Webster's More Powerful US Torpedos,put in V3,and Laugh as Battleships fall to a mere 2 torps below the main guns!

[WernherVonTrapp]

Originally Posted by jason8888

Is there a general rule of thumb on how many fish you shoot at them to sink ships.

For me personally, that depends on many things and there's no single, clear-cut, answer.

Some of the variables that influence the number of torpedoes I fire are:
Ship Size
Early War or Late War
Warship or Merchant
Torpedo Type
Aiming Skills

In a nutshell, I generally fire 4 torps at a target during the early war years and decrease the number gradually as the time and my experience progresses.

[Rockin Robbins]

For maximum efficiency I always shoot two torpedoes, one a quarter of the way back from the bow and the other about a quarter of the way forward of the stern. With two hits rhis will stop anyrhing but an empty tanker and some warships. If you are not concerned about being historically accurate this works throughout the war.

If I'm shooting at a BB or CV I shoot six, spaced evenly along the target length. SH4 does not give you a bigger hole when two or more torpedoes hit the same spot.

[Armistead]

Nothing sucks worse early war than sneaking through an escort screen, getting a perfect attack angle and shoot one or two torps at a target and both dud or the ship evades them, early war, it's better to shoot 3-4 per target if you have duds on.

I do use the S boat early war and the M10's seldom fail, so I may just shoot two of those. If I use M14's, I can get anywere from 50-80% failure and boy does it suck to set up on a fat carrier and have all your torps fail.

Also, many merchants carry cargo on the deck, if you hit a ship carrying fuel or ammo, one torp will blow it sky high, so learn the cargo.

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by jason8888

I did a search but found lots of random stuff. Is there a general rule of thumb on how many fish you shoot at them to sink ships. BTW i just installed tmo if that helps any.

If you are/intend to play realistically, you shouldn't worry too much about how many torps you use. In RL, it was more a matter of IF the torps sink the ship, than HOW MANY torps sink the ship. This was especially true before mid '43. There was a pre-war doctrine of how many torps should be used to attack a ship, but experience showed this did not produce the desired results.

[bill clarke]

What sucks more is firing 3 or 4 at a carrier and the first one ignites her avgas/magazine and you get a message "enemy unit destroyed"