Can destroyers deplete their depth charge ammo?

frigokar · 10-25-14, 04:01 PM

Can destroyers deplete their depth charge ammo? in GWX

Zosimus · 10-25-14, 06:10 PM

Yes, although I believe in GWX they have more depth charges than they had in real life.

HW3 · 10-26-14, 08:57 AM

Yes they do but, they will keep making passes over you as long as they still have contact with you.

Kielhauler1961 · 10-26-14, 09:14 AM

I was recently depth-charged by a V&W class DD on the outbreak of war during my first encounter with a southbound outgoing convoy.

I have a clicker-counter and after three hours of bombardment it showed 73 explosions. There may have been a few more I missed.

The DD then made three or four more dummy runs without dropping anything more harmful than bad language before steaming off back to the convoy. I gave him time to disappear and then chased after the convoy.

Several hours later I was once more ahead of the same convoy and after my first attack the DD came at me again (he was the sole escort). No DC's were dropped in two runs so I guess he was out. I proceeded to sink him and then massacred the convoy.

The early war DD's will have fewer than the mid and later war ones and those converted to LR escorts will have a good supply, although a lot depends on whether the AI deems the DD has been in action earlier.

I haven't found any hard and fast evidence of the maximum load-out of each class of DD but a total of 70-80 for an early-war V&W seems about right to me.

frigokar · 10-26-14, 10:39 AM

Got caught by two destroyers with radar during foggy weather...still early in war mid 1941...so that got me thinking about late war hunter killer groups and my chances of surviving their attacks.Now that i know they can expend their ammo there is hope

Admiral Halsey · 10-26-14, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frigokar

Got caught by two destroyers with radar during foggy weather...still early in war mid 1941...so that got me thinking about late war hunter killer groups and my chances of surviving their attacks.Now that i know they can expend their ammo there is hope

Want to know the easiest way to be the late war hunter killer groups? Get the Type XXI.

Kielhauler1961 · 10-27-14, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

Want to know the easiest way to be the late war hunter killer groups? Get the Type XXI.

That's one way of doing it, I suppose, but if you prefer to suffer the historical way (as some of us do) just say something unkind about the Nazi regime and get posted to the Eastern Front - better chance of survival there...

Sailor Steve · 10-27-14, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zosimus

Yes, although I believe in GWX they have more depth charges than they had in real life.

Maybe, but according to Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1922-1946 most pre-war destroyers started the war with 125 depth-charges.

Zosimus · 10-27-14, 08:24 AM

Make up your mind.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...22&postcount=4

Dread Knot · 10-27-14, 09:10 AM

I've always thought it would be a nice touch if there was a random chance that when you encounter ASW escorts they would have less than the full compliment of depth charges onboard. There were times when a U-Boat got off lightly, not because the escorts weren't trying, but because they had already expended some or most of their ASW ordinance in recent brushes with U-Boats.

Zosimus · 10-27-14, 09:37 AM

That would be nice. It would also be more realistic if destroyers that were far from their destination wanted to save some depth charges just in case they were attacked again before they reached port.

Sailor Steve · 10-27-14, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zosimus

Make up your mind.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...22&postcount=4

I've learned a bit in the last seven years. I also didn't have the WW2 Conway's at that time. I also spoke of corvettes and sloops. And I spoke from memory.

Today I pulled my copy of Conway's of the shelf and looked. You, on the other hand, said "I believe..." Do you now have better knowledge?

But now that the sun has come up and I have light to read by, I'll bite.

'A' & 'B' classes: Early on likely had none. When converted for escort duty in 1940 carried 125.

'C' & 'D' classes: As above, later still fitted with Hedgehog.

'E' & 'F' classes: As above.

'G', 'H' & 'I' classes: As above, except most 'I' class ships became minelayers.

'Tribal' class: As built carried 30 DCs, later increased to 46.

'J', 'K' & 'N' classes: As 'G', 'H' & 'I'. Remember that these were all pre-war ships and were not originally meant for ASW work. The last of these classes were finished in 1939 and 1940, and carried 125 DCs from the outset.

'L' & 'M' classes: 110 DCs in 4"-gunned ships, and 45 in 4.7"-gunned ships.

Later classes were finished in 1941 and later, and usually carried either 70 or 130 DCs, depending on intended use.

Hunt class escorts typically carried 60 DCs

Pre-war sloops only carried 15 DCs, but this was upgraded to 30, 40 and finally 60.

'Flower' class corvettes started off with 40 DCs, later increased to 72.

Most ships built during the war carried 72 for corvettes, with 150 or more on destroyers.

Zosimus · 10-27-14, 01:42 PM

Well, I don't have time for a point-by-point rebuttal to every topic you've raised, so I'll just start with the A&B since it was near the top and it's also near the top of the data files on GWX (alphabetical, you know).

Under .\SilentHunterIII\data\Sea\NDD_A&B\ you will find a file marked: NDD_A&B, which you can open with a simple Notepad editor. You will find this key information:

[Equipment 14]
NodeName=W01
LinkName=DCRack
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19451231

[Equipment 15]
NodeName=W02
LinkName=DCRack
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19451231

[Equipment 16]
NodeName=W03
LinkName=NULL
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19410301

-------------------------
So as you can see, from January 1, 1938, under GWX A&B Destroyers come with three separate Depth Charge Racks and they are ready to rock & roll as soon as the war starts.

To see complete details on the destroyers, I need a special program, which I'm downloading now. It'll be ready in 44 minutes, assuming my computer isn't lying to me.

GWX may be closer to historical reality, and certainly harder than stock SH3, but it's not really truly historically accurate. As others have noted, the real danger to U-boats were rarely destroyers. Airplanes on the other hand...

10-25-14, 04:01 PM	#1
frigokar Sailor man Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 45 Downloads: 66 Uploads: 0	Can destroyers deplete their depth charge ammo? Can destroyers deplete their depth charge ammo? in GWX

10-26-14, 08:57 AM	#3
HW3 Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Gresham Oregon Posts: 6,574 Downloads: 458 Uploads: 0	Yes they do but, they will keep making passes over you as long as they still have contact with you. __________________ "Some ships are designed to sink...others require our assistance." Nathan Zelk

10-25-14, 06:10 PM	#2
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Yes, although I believe in GWX they have more depth charges than they had in real life.

10-26-14, 09:14 AM	#4
Kielhauler1961 中国水兵 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: East of the Firth of Forth Posts: 273 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	I was recently depth-charged by a V&W class DD on the outbreak of war during my first encounter with a southbound outgoing convoy. I have a clicker-counter and after three hours of bombardment it showed 73 explosions. There may have been a few more I missed. The DD then made three or four more dummy runs without dropping anything more harmful than bad language before steaming off back to the convoy. I gave him time to disappear and then chased after the convoy. Several hours later I was once more ahead of the same convoy and after my first attack the DD came at me again (he was the sole escort). No DC's were dropped in two runs so I guess he was out. I proceeded to sink him and then massacred the convoy. The early war DD's will have fewer than the mid and later war ones and those converted to LR escorts will have a good supply, although a lot depends on whether the AI deems the DD has been in action earlier. I haven't found any hard and fast evidence of the maximum load-out of each class of DD but a total of 70-80 for an early-war V&W seems about right to me.

10-26-14, 10:39 AM	#5
frigokar Sailor man Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 45 Downloads: 66 Uploads: 0	Got caught by two destroyers with radar during foggy weather...still early in war mid 1941...so that got me thinking about late war hunter killer groups and my chances of surviving their attacks.Now that i know they can expend their ammo there is hope

10-27-14, 08:24 AM	#9
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Make up your mind. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...22&postcount=4

10-27-14, 09:10 AM	#10
Dread Knot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,288 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	I've always thought it would be a nice touch if there was a random chance that when you encounter ASW escorts they would have less than the full compliment of depth charges onboard. There were times when a U-Boat got off lightly, not because the escorts weren't trying, but because they had already expended some or most of their ASW ordinance in recent brushes with U-Boats.

10-27-14, 09:37 AM	#11
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	That would be nice. It would also be more realistic if destroyers that were far from their destination wanted to save some depth charges just in case they were attacked again before they reached port.

10-27-14, 01:42 PM	#13
Zosimus XO Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Chorrillos, Lima, Peru Posts: 401 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Well, I don't have time for a point-by-point rebuttal to every topic you've raised, so I'll just start with the A&B since it was near the top and it's also near the top of the data files on GWX (alphabetical, you know). Under .\SilentHunterIII\data\Sea\NDD_A&B\ you will find a file marked: NDD_A&B, which you can open with a simple Notepad editor. You will find this key information: [Equipment 14] NodeName=W01 LinkName=DCRack StartDate=19380101 EndDate=19451231 [Equipment 15] NodeName=W02 LinkName=DCRack StartDate=19380101 EndDate=19451231 [Equipment 16] NodeName=W03 LinkName=NULL StartDate=19380101 EndDate=19410301 ------------------------- So as you can see, from January 1, 1938, under GWX A&B Destroyers come with three separate Depth Charge Racks and they are ready to rock & roll as soon as the war starts. To see complete details on the destroyers, I need a special program, which I'm downloading now. It'll be ready in 44 minutes, assuming my computer isn't lying to me. GWX may be closer to historical reality, and certainly harder than stock SH3, but it's not really truly historically accurate. As others have noted, the real danger to U-boats were rarely destroyers. Airplanes on the other hand...