What does the TDC set?

[Waervyn]

After watching the excellent tutorials by Stoainm, I managed to track myself a target. Woooo!

Small question though. If we put in the speed of target, bearing, AoB etc...what exactly it left for the TDC to program into the torpedo?
Is it just the angle at which it will fly towards the target?

Also, why would you ever fire a slow torpedo instead of a fast one? Is that in case the target is too close for the torpedo to 'turn' in time?

Sorry for the naive questions! I've been reading up a bit on wiki about TDC's, but the specific answer I couldn't find.

Thanks again!

Hey! And welcome to Subsim!!

Learn to get familiar and love your TDC!! It takes all of the math out of a solution, well almost all of it.

At the bottom there should be two dials you cant adjust, if your TDC is not in manual mode (It shouldn't be after you enter your Speed, AOB, and stuff) (OR If you use the Watch Officer Window to set it, either way it works) then the dials at the bottom should turn as you turn your scope, this is called your Gyro Angle. The one on the left is degrees the one on the right is increments of degrees, basically you want those dials to have both of their dial arrows pointing upward, indicating a Gyro Angle of 0. This means that when your scope is there, whatever crosses the crosshairs of your periscope, will be hit right where those crosshairs are aiming. Hope that clears things up!

Any more questions, feel free to ask!!

[Waervyn]

Thanks!

So the only thing the TDC has to calculate is the angle at which to fire your torpedo's, or alternatively, the 'gyro angle' in order to shoot straight at 90 degrees and still hit your target right?

Sorry for being really 'semantic'...I have this stupid thing that if I don't understand a thing 100% I have the feeling I understand it 0%, even though I might understand it 95% (if that makes sense...drove my teachers MAD years ago! )

Yes kind of. Basically the TDC sets a lead angle for your scope. So if your solution is set to be straight ahead of you, the gyro angle is to the left (or right side depending on which way your target is moving) of your 0 heading, and when it crosses that line you fire. When the target reaches that spot on your scope, it means if you fire the torpedo then, based on what you set in speed for your torpedo, and the ship, they will meet in the exact same spot. That help?

[Lanzfeld]

Slow torpedo has longer range.

Something like fast=4500 meters, slow=12500 meters.

Not sure if modeled in SH-5.

Steam torpedos only.

[Laconic]

I also tend to think that slower torpedoes have a higher chance of detonation. That's not confirmed by anything other than anecdotal evidence on my part, but I seem to have fewer duds when I fire slow speed torpedoes.

[bowfin]

In previous silent hunter games the slower the torpedo the less chance the detonator would fail on impact. Don't know if it works this way in SH5

[finchOU]

Slow vs fast torpedoes in my experience.

There are only two situations where I've used torpedoes on the slow setting:

1. First being a longer range shot into a convoy from the 90 degree position. If i'm running low on torpedoes (say after several attacks on a convoy) and I'm looking to use up my last torpedoes before departing for port, I'll use the slow setting because it gives a longer range and it allows run away from my firing spot on the surface before my torpedo hits or is seen/heard....this allows me to avoid detection in most cases while stilling having a somewhat effective attack assuming I hit my target.

2. Submerged torpedo attack on a line of ships in a convoy. Assuming I'm trying to line up for a 90 degree (or as close as I can) shot on a bunch of ships...say three or four ships with one maybe very close to my rear. Also assuming I'm on a direct 90 degree angle to all my targets.....all ships will cross my 090 point at the same time...the farthest ships will appear to look like they will cross first...but they will all cross at the same time. Because of this, trying to fire on the multiple ships with the same gyro setting becomes problematic when trying to time the shots to hit at the same time. Choosing a different gyro angle or slower speed for the first two shots...allows for earlier shots on farther ships without having to worry about hitting a closer ships accidentally or having a closer ship spot your torpedoes wake which were aimed at farther ships (but still happens about 1/3 of the time anyway). The only problem is you need to figure out the math so that you can time you shots to hit around the same time.