torpedo damage

[jgf]

I can sink a heavily armored battleship with four torpedoes. Why does it take six torpedoes to sink a comparatively lightly constructed and completely unarmored passenger ship? I would think four torpedoes would practically blow it apart.

It may take one, two, or three torpedoes to sink a C3 cargo ship. One may slow it a knot or so; a second may sink it but more likely will slow it further and probably start fires; the third will sink it (though if the situation permits I prefer using the deck gun). BUT (and this happens so consistently I'm convinced the game is cheating) if I fire a salvo of two or three torpedoes, the first will sink the ship and the other(s) are wasted (they are fired about ten seconds apart so it's not a case of two hitting near simultaneously).

[bstanko6]

There are ships like the C class cargo that are extremely tough. Been that way since the game was made. There are mods that fix it.

[jgf]

I don't mind a ship being tough to sink ...if it is consistent. It is the fact that firing one torpedo never sinks that ship so must use a second or third ...BUT... fire a salvo and the first hit always sinks it. So, for a C3 I always fire just one torpedo, wait til it hits, then fire another.

And I'm still perplexed that a passenger ship can absorb more damage than a battleship.

[Kaptlt.Endrass]

Originally Posted by jgf

I don't mind a ship being tough to sink ...if it is consistent. It is the fact that firing one torpedo never sinks that ship so must use a second or third ...BUT... fire a salvo and the first hit always sinks it. So, for a C3 I always fire just one torpedo, wait til it hits, then fire another.

And I'm still perplexed that a passenger ship can absorb more damage than a battleship.

While battleships are more heavily armoured than a passenger ship, one must also think how heavily armed they are. Gunpowder, blasting caps, ammunition, and lots and lots of fuel (or coal). They also tend to be much more compact in design...a 25.000-tonne passenger ship will always be much larger than a 25.000-tonne battleship due to the extra armour and turrets (The BL 15-inch Mark 1 twin turrets that armed most English battleships and battlecruisers by itself weighed over 3.000 tonnes, and each shell it fired weighed just under 2.000). Thus, you are more likely to hit critical compartments on a battleship than a passenger ship.

In addition, think of the overall size and compartment structure. A passenger ship has a great deal of small compartments, aside from spaces like the engine room and promenade, the latter which I don't think you'll ever hit with a torpedo. On the other hand, a battleship tends to have a larger amount of large spaces (i.e, crew quarters are clumped together in one large compartment.) Flooding on a passenger ship can be more easily contained and countered than on a battleship.

Finally, though this is just a speculation, and depends on whether or not it is at all modeled in the game. The Royal Navy had, for the majority of the 200 years prior to WWII, had won every war before it started simply by the reputation and size of it's fleet. As a result, there was poor gunnery training amongst sailors, which was further exacerbated by the fact that officers preferred to keep their ships clean in order to be given command of a large ship, such as the York or the King George V...as firing a naval gun tends to make the ship dirty, they almost never practiced gunnery.

Due to the poor crew training, the Admiralty, at the outbreak of the Battle of the Atlantic, decided that because the shells weren't landing anywhere near the target, steps should be taken to increase the fire rate (throw enough **** at the wall, some of it will stick) of the guns on naval vessels. A fine idea in theory, but then they enacted it; hatches to the powder magazines and ammunition stores were left open, powder and ammo was lined up along the passageways, etc. This is what caused the spectacular eruption of the Hood. On the Bismarck's fifth salvo, a shell penetrated the rear deck near an ammunition magazine. Typically, not too critical...except the passageways were lined with things that don't take kindly to being shot at. The powder ignited, went straight down the line through the open hatch and into the ammo stores, which ignited and broke the ship's back.

In any case, if that is modelled, that may be another reason that battleships are easier to sink.