Caught On Tape

[Ewall007]

I've heard talk of wild torpedos after firing at a ship. Well here's one caught on tape. It was at night so that made it even more crazy to get away from.
I'm in the Flores Sea coming out of the Lombok Straits, heading 014 degrees N. I fired two torpedos at a Akita Maru using Dick O'Kane Attack Rules. When the second shot left the tube and was around 300 yards from my boat it went crazy at just a little after that I noticed it was circling back at me. I didn't want to end up like the Tang, so I went to Emergency Back Full and Hard to Stb. Lucky for me the first circle missed my boat by 50 yards and the circle didn't get any wider after that.
See image below on the attack map.

It has already done two circles at this point


I'm moving as fast in reverse as the sub will go!!!

Ok how many of you sub captains out there have had this happen to you?

Ewall007
"Ranging Far, Sweeping Wide"
Quote from Victory at Sea 1955

[MKalafatas]

Great screen caps!

On my last patrol in the S-boat I aimed the boat at a small passenger carrier. Fired one torpedo, crash-dived away. "Torpedo impact!" "Target destroyed!"

Except ... the icon for the destroyed target appeared miraculously 90 degrees to port! It was a light cruiser.

I didn't watch the torpedoes but can only surmise a circular run was responsible.

[Soviet Creeper]

*is calmly firing 6 torps at a set of tankers*
" Hey sonarman, wheres my 6th torp?"
"Sir, this game doesnt allow my to tell you its about to slam into our conning tower"
"very well"
*dead*

[Hinrich Schwab]

Circle runs suck. I have gotten in the habit of manually checking all of my gear and maps to make certain I do not have a circle run. Judging from your screenshots, it looks like it circled port. Is this true? All the times I have seen circle runs, they have circled starboard.

[Ewall007]

Originally Posted by Hinrich Schwab

Circle runs suck. I have gotten in the habit of manually checking all of my gear and maps to make certain I do not have a circle run. Judging from your screenshots, it looks like it circled port. Is this true? All the times I have seen circle runs, they have circled starboard.

Yes it circled to Port. When it happened I was looking through the parascope, I just happened to check the attack map when I saw the thing making a turn to port. I was at 2/3rd's speed going forward. On the first turn I said to myself "No way". I quickly went to Back Emergency and started turning the boat to Port to get my nose clear. I must have caught it just in time, cause it missed my bow by 50 yrds! I kept backing up, then went rudder midships still backing as fast as I could. Lucky for me the circle didn't increse with each loop or I wouldn't be here now.

The screen shot was taken on the torpedo's second loop so I am in the safety zone. I didn't say this before but I was also at parascope depth 65 feet on this sub. When I surfaced I could still see the things wake in the water in front of my sub.

Ewall007
"Ranging Far, Sweeping Wide"
Quote from Victory at Sea 1955

[Ewall007]

Originally Posted by Soviet Creeper

*is calmly firing 6 torps at a set of tankers*
" Hey sonarman, wheres my 6th torp?"
"Sir, this game doesnt allow my to tell you its about to slam into our conning tower"
"very well"
*dead*

Sorry to hear that you lost your sub

I think I was lucky.
If I had not gone back to the attack map I would have kept moving forward at 2/3rd's speed right into the torpedo's path and had the samething happen to me.

[TorpX]

Ewall007,

I can't really tell what happened. You said you were on course 014 N, but from the screen shot it looks like you are going ~ 170 S.

In any case, I would not try to reverse course or go back full. It takes significant time to slow and them reverse, and anyway the boat can not go very fast in reverse. I would try to go full ahead and turn in the opposite direction of the circle. Either that or dive fast.

Lucky for me the circle didn't increse with each loop or I wouldn't be here now.

The circle run is due to the rudder jamming/sticking. Once this occurs, it will continue to run in a circle of constant diameter, unless it becomes unstuck. (i.e. there is no reason for one to make wider circles).

[Ewall007]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Ewall007,

I can't really tell what happened. You said you were on course 014 N, but from the screen shot it looks like you are going ~ 170 S.

In any case, I would not try to reverse course or go back full. It takes significant time to slow and them reverse, and anyway the boat can not go very fast in reverse. I would try to go full ahead and turn in the opposite direction of the circle. Either that or dive fast.

The circle run is due to the rudder jamming/sticking. Once this occurs, it will continue to run in a circle of constant diameter, unless it becomes unstuck. (i.e. there is no reason for one to make wider circles).

The images were taken just after the second loop. When I recived the first sound contact I was headed N at 014 degrees, then I turned E to get into attack range. Then I turned S to line up on his track.

Reverse was my first reaction, because I caught the torpedo quite by accendent. I just happened to check the attack map after firing 2 torpedoes. After going back full I thought that by turning to port if the torpedo did increse its circle it would either go past me or just in front of me.
Of course I didn't know that it would maintain the same circle. It was all gut reaction on my part, however; I will remember what you told me, your method sounds a hell of alot better than mine .

I was trying to get the arrows in the image to match what my boat was doing at the time I took the screen shot.

Thanks for the great advise. I will remember to do that next time.

[merc4ulfate]

I had one circle to port on me once with an escort hot on my tail. I had hit flank speed and as it circled the second time it hit the DD on her port side sinking her. One lucky shot my friend.

[Char]

Had one a few days ago.Forgot to take some screens.Caught it on the Hydrophone Ordered Flank Speed and a Crash Dive.Missed me by about 10 Feet. A little too close for Comfort.Since I was shooting at two Seperate targets,I had had to scan between the different Bearings.

"Alrighty,Torp 1 is good.There's Trop 2!"
*Changes Bearing to second set*
"Okay there's Torp Thre-"
*Notices Bearing
"OH *BLEEP* THAT'S TORP 4!"

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Ewall007

Of course I didn't know that it would maintain the same circle. It was all gut reaction on my part, however; I will remember what you told me, your method sounds a hell of alot better than mine .

I was trying to get the arrows in the image to match what my boat was doing at the time I took the screen shot.

Thanks for the great advise. I will remember to do that next time.

Well, you beat it and that is the important thing.

My advice was theoretical; not sure exactly what works best in-game. Thinking about it some more, I would crash dive if already submerged (hard to get any speed submerged), but go flank and turn away, if surfaced. Of course, if you don't detect it in time, your in big trouble.

I had one circle to port on me once with an escort hot on my tail. I had hit flank speed and as it circled the second time it hit the DD on her port side sinking her. One lucky shot my friend.

Did you buy a lottery ticket when you got back to port?

"Alrighty,Torp 1 is good.There's Trop 2!"
*Changes Bearing to second set*
"Okay there's Torp Thre-"
*Notices Bearing
"OH *BLEEP* THAT'S TORP 4!"

It would be nice if the sound operator was wide awake and could give a warning. I guess we're lucky we don't have very many circle runners.

[Loudspeaker]

In an interview, German ace Kretchmer (spelling?) explained how the sub skippers would instantly dive after having launched their torpedoes because of the risk of circle runners. He was absolutely sure that Prien in U-47 was never sunk by a destroyer, as history says, but that he was hit by one of his own torpedoes.

I am too lazy and too curious to dive right after firing, even though I was once hit by a cirle runner.

I don't know if the American skippers also used to dive because of this.

[TorpX]

I think the US lost 2 or maybe 3 boats to circle-runners. It is impossible to be sure. I have not had any CR's yet, but then I don't play as often as many do. I don't really dive or take any special precautions. RFB doesn't put the torps on the attack map, so looking at that would not help. I could try listening with hydrophones, but this would have to be done promptly at a busy time. It would also be problematic, if one was launching several torpedos, or targeting multiple ships. I prefer to hold course and look through the periscope to confirm the hits. Diving is not always a practical precaution.

What strikes me as odd about all this, is that the US did have, prior the the outbreak of war (not sure about the time period), an anti-circle device in the torpedos, but chose to drop it.

[SuperEtendard]

when firing torps to a convoy, i always level down the periscope, so no ship can notice my presence before the impacts, later when the torpedoes get close to the ship, i rise the scope to see what happens

Once, i fired 3 torps to a big tanker in the middle of a convoy, i pulled down the periscope, i checked the attack map and i saw only 2 torps heading for the ship (it was early in the war, MK 14, it was normal)... I rised the periscope, and before reaching the surface I saw dead ahead of my sub a torpedo passing in front of me (90°), i was like . First i though a DD or a IJN sub had fired it at me, but later i saw it was one of my torpedos (same colors ), after that i read that in stock the DD doesnt fire torps and no IJN sub "exists" (i know there are, but they are floating pieces of metal that do nothing ) in the game.

In any of the mega mods (TMO, OP, RFB) could i be attacked with torpedoes ??? Are they like stock? (im the only sub in the world)
It would be interesting in OP a little battle between IXC and Gato ...

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by SuperEtendard

In any of the mega mods (TMO, OP, RFB) could i be attacked with torpedoes ??? Are they like stock? (im the only sub in the world)
It would be interesting in OP a little battle between IXC and Gato ...

AFAIK, there are not torpedo armed enemy subs in mods. The basic problem is that the game handles enemy subs as surface ships; they did not contemplate sub vs. sub actions. Someone did figure out a way to get aircraft and destroyers to luanch torpedos, but there were problems getting them to behave well and hit targets. I don't think they finished their work or put them into German/Japanese subs.