Definitive torpedo depth/exploder status in 1.2

[nomad_delta]

I've read through dozens of threads concerning this topic in the forums, some of which were posted before 1.2 was released and some after, and haven't been able to come up with any definite or final answers -- thus the new thread. So here's what I'd like to establish with some kind of certainty, as of patch 1.2. Also note that while I'd love to discuss what was true in reality and historically, for the purposes of this thread I'm primarily concerned with what is currently true in-game and as of patch 1.2:

1. Does changing the exploder setting to Contact or Contact/Influence do anything at all?

a. If it does make a difference, does it work correctly? (I've read in several threads that the setting may actually be reversed in 1.2; that is, when you set it to Contact it actually does Magnetic and vice-versa)

b. If the Contact/Influence setting does anything at all, does it ever work properly in game, and is it ever beneficial to actually use it?


2. What measurement/unit is the torpedo depth dial displayed in (feet? meters?) and does the unit/measurement change when the game is set to Imperial or Metric or does it always use one or the other?

3. Is a ship's "draft" the distance that it extends below the waterline, and is that (in theory) what I should be using to determine my torpedo's depth settings?

a. Is there a consistent part of all ships draft that is best to hit?, such as: "as low as possible without going under" or "dead center of the ship's draft" or does it vary with each ship? If it varies, where can I find this information for each ship type?

b. Where can I find accurate ship draft measurements for all ships that actually work in the game? I've noted that the measurements listed in the printed manual don't match the measurements presented in the in-game ship ID manual, and I have serious doubts about whether either of those accurately reflect what's actually modelled in the game, much less actual historical values. I'd be happy with any available method of solving this, such as a mod that corrects either (1) the ship models to make the drafts match the measurements in the in-game ID manual or (2) a mod that corrects the in-game ID manual to match the actual ship model drafts, or some combination thereof. I did find a mod that was supposed to correct the Jap ship model sizes, but it seemed to only related to the use of the stadimeter and not to draft lengths.

In the end what I'm really after here is to have my torpedos more reliably make contact with the "optimal damage spot" on the ships I'm firing at, but more importantly I'd like to understand how the system really works -- whether it's working as intended or not. At this point I think it's equally likely that I'm either just doing something wrong, or that there are one or more bugs still in the torpedo system that are confusing me.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts/ideas. Maybe when I get home I'll try to run some controlled testing to get some actual hard data to work with.

Cheers!

nomad_delta