Torpedo settings...Real life?

[cj95]

Hi all.

Enjoying my return to the game after a long absence.

Got a History question: How exactly did crews plug the various fire control solutions/torpedo settings into the torpedoes?

Is there some sort of knob, or dial on the outside that the torpedo room fiddled with?

What about fish already loaded in the tubes? Did the tube have to be open to make settings?

Was there some sort of dial in the room itself that somehow interacted with the sealed up fish?

Just wondering?



On another note, what did torpedo men do all day when not in combat? A daily hernia -inducing exercise of running fish in and out of the tubes over and over? Take the whole thing apart, and then put everything back together hoping you didn't forget a screw?
What if you spotted a ship and your deck is covered in torpedo parts from the one you just took apart?

[RConch]

Research the TDC and get back to us.

Crews would never take apart a torpedo on the surface on the deck.

All work on them was in the cramped forward or rear torpedo rooms.

Constant maintenance kept them busy.

[cj95]

>>>Research the TDC and get back to us.


I Know what a TDC is....I meant how was the data from the Computer transferred to the Torpedo itself? Was there a physical linkage? Manual input from torpedo room crews? Something else?


>>>Crews would never take apart a torpedo on the surface on the deck.

Ummm...yeah...I never mentioned bringing a torpedo topside.
I presume the floor of the torpedo room is still called a deck?

The question remains.

[RConch]

Yes, you know what the TDC is-you saw it in the game. If you research it instead of someone else doing it, at least it works for me, you can learn better.

It is all explained.

[Sniper297]

Problem with doing in depth research when you just want a simple answer to a simple question is you need a key word to start, and if you don't know the basics you wouldn't know what the key word is. "SPINDLE". The torpedoes had a gyro compass and depth control gadget inside which were set by a mechanical spindle inside the torpedo tube, linked to the TDC so the settings were automatically updated. The firing mechanism automatically withdrew the spindle from the torpedo at the moment of firing.

https://maritime.org/doc/fleetsub/tubes/chap7.htm

As for passing time, I was on aircraft carriers rather than submarines, but I imagine it was the same - playing cards or other games, reading, cleaning, swapping lies, or just sitting around being bored between flight ops. Anyone who's ever been in any branch of the military can tell you there's either too much time and not enough to do, or too much to do and not enough time, nothing in between. Standing watches and staying alert with hour after hour of nothing happening was the most tedious part, even though it was the most important.

[Rhodes]

Doing Josephine Baker impersonations!




Torpedo fire control system on German U-Boats

http://tvre.org/en/torpedo-fire-cont...german-u-boats

[BigWalleye]

And there was nothing called a "TDC " on a German submarine. There was a Torpedo Vorhaltrechner, a TVR, which performed similar fire control calculations. But the TVR was not just a TDC in German.The TVR lacked the US TDC's Position Keeper capability, but did have a lead angle calculator - a useful capability which the TDC lacked. There were other design differences as well. Both TDC and TVR had the capability to set torpedo run parameters while the torpedo was in the tube, although the mechanics were somewhat different. For more information search for TVR, not TDC.

[cj95]

Originally Posted by Rconch

Yes, you know what the TDC is-you saw it in the game. If you research it instead of someone else doing it, at least it works for me, you can learn better.

It is all explained.

Wow. You sir are a mean person.

If you don't want to answer....fine...don't answer.

But to actually go out of your way...not once...but twice....in order to highlight the fact that not only are you not going to answer a simple question ,but enforce the opinion that nobody else should do so either because I should "find out on my own."

That sir is the very definition of a mean person who is ugly and small on the inside.






For the others: I thank you greatly. I was not aware of the tvre website or the maritime article. Very informative and insightful. I now have a better picture in my head of what my pixel sailors are doing when not dancing in drag.

CaptBones: I had not considered the effect of saltwater every time I open the tube doors. Excellent point.