Torpedo Min Range question?

[MudMarine]

Skippers,
Is there a minimum range that a torpedo can be fired at a target? Historically a torpedo had to travel a minimum range to arm.

[tater]

In RL for US torpedos it was 350 to 450 yards (I keep reading different numbers).

The default in game is 220 according to people who have looked at the tweak files. I assume that number is in meters. Never seen 220 (or anything even close) in the numbers I have read for RL.

[jlacy94]

Originally Posted by tater

In RL for US torpedos it was 350 to 450 yards (I keep reading different numbers).

The default in game is 220 according to people who have looked at the tweak files. I assume that number is in meters. Never seen 220 (or anything even close) in the numbers I have read for RL.

Interesting. I've found from my experience the default minimum range to be 500 yds in game. Using TMO, they never explode if the target is less than 600 yds. They either bounce off or go under.

[propbeanie]

TMO is attempting to model the real issues that submarine crews had with their torps, in that they had a high percentage of duds - the magnetic detonators did not function correctly (several aspects of it), and if the impact detonator was used instead, the pin had a tendency to mash sideways and / or balloon, thus not detonating. Plus, the depth was off, sometimes running 10 foot or more deeper than set. To top it all off... the turning mech would sometimes jam, and the torp would go in a circle, kind of like "BOOM-erang" back at the boat... scary... Also, the arming distance varied from torpedo to torpedo, no two being exactly alike. "Analog" devices, it was an approximation as to how far they'd have to run in order to arm. Plus, the time they sat in a flooded torpedo tube prior to firing influenced ALL of the above.

[Gray Lensman]

Originally Posted by jlacy94

Interesting. I've found from my experience the default minimum range to be 500 yds in game. Using TMO, they never explode if the target is less than 600 yds. They either bounce off or go under.

I would not say never explode at less than 600 yards, rarely is the more correct term in the first few months (playing TMO). I've had a few rare successes at 500 yards in those months. After the first 6 months or so the success rate rises especially if you use angular intercepts such as RR's John P. Cromwell Attack.

the reason for the confusion is if the target is coming towards you the min is 400 but if it its going away from you then it "can be" as little as 300

the torpedo must travel 350 before it arms but travel distance keeps reducing if the target is coming at you and of course it increases if the target is going away from you.

if you want a good rule of thumb for any situation, don't fire if its under 500 and you are ok and it its a DD coming right at you its best to not fire if its under 500 because they can close distance very fast and a torp fired at 600 barely goes 400 before the DD runs into it

[CaptainHaplo]

Yes - the minimum appears to be in the 300-400 yard range - historically accurate as the minimum run was 350 - give your torps at least that much - anything over 400 and your torp will arm. Of course - allowing duds on means you can either hit with no boom - or get a premature.

[GTHammer]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

Yes - the minimum appears to be in the 300-400 yard range - historically accurate as the minimum run was 350 - give your torps at least that much - anything over 400 and your torp will arm. Of course - allowing duds on means you can either hit with no boom - or get a premature.

Ok so you're saying these prematures happen because I've got duds enabled? I figured my game was just glitching 'cause the torps would just vanish before they reached target sometimes...

[orangenee]

I've had them bounce off ship hulls at around 400yds so I think it's close to historically accurate. I did a bit of testing. That's with the No dud setting.

[PepsiCan]

Maybe a really dumb remark, but having a ship targeted at a range of 400 yards can still cause issues when it is coming towards you. Because in that case the torpedo will travel less than 400 yards, will not arm and will only dent the target.

At the same time, when your target is moving away, shooting at a range lower than 400 yards can still result in a hit as the torpedo will actually travel a larger distance.

So, I launch whenever the target is between 500 and 1000 yards. (450 and 950 meters roughly speaking)

[Red Devil]

Originally Posted by GTHammer

Ok so you're saying these prematures happen because I've got duds enabled? I figured my game was just glitching 'cause the torps would just vanish before they reached target sometimes...

the darn torp dud switch has a habit of resetting itself so that lovely torp heading for that cruiser is not going to get there!!

What I do, and have just set it again after installing SH4 on my new rig:

open data folder, open cfg

go to gameplaysettings.cfg - find the level of expertise you have selected and look there for dud torpedoes = true. and change it for false, then save file.

example:

[Normal]
LimitedBatteries=true
LimitedCompressedAir=false
LimitedO2=true
LimitedFuel=false
RealisticRepairTime=true
ManualTargetingSystem=false
NoMapUpdate=false
RealisticSensors=true
DudTorpedoes=false
RealisticReload=false
NoEventCamera=true
NoExternalView=false
NoStabilizeView=false
MPShowPlayerNames=true
MPShowTorpedoes=true