Help - what's wrong with my deck gun?

[Myszkin]

Hi,

My SH4 first: v1.4, ROW+RFB+RSRD

Sub: S class
Well, I cannot sink any ship with the deck gun! Today I tried to sink small merchant (ca 1800 BRT), so I manned the gun and I fired into it... all my ammunition! Accuracy: 90-95%. Result: target's speed decreased from 12-15 kn to 5-6 and that was all!

Sub: P class
Two hours later (in real time ), another patrol, another sub: we've met medium old tanker - and the same result - some smoke, decreased speed, lost mast, but I fired out all ammo...

Any idea?
Thx.

PS: torps are ok: they do their job.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Check out this thread, there is some info in there that may help
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=129306


RDP

[-Pv-]

WATERLINE.
-Pv-

[FIREWALL]

RUN IT OVER :rotfl:

[AVGWarhawk]

Your gun is just fine, it has just lost it's nuts. Currently the gun has been castrated. Currently this is being studied. The cannon was much more effective then what we have now. But to what extent? RFB is looking into this and will come up with a solution to cannon. Please read below on the cannon and how useful/usless it was. It really was a last resort weapon. A weapon of defense.



World War II U.S. Submarine

Armament and Firepower

U.S. Navy Weapons and Armament 1941-1945


The Deck Guns

© Valor at Sea.com

Initially, deck guns were considered by many to be an extraneous and dangerous piece of hardware for submarines at the beginning of the war. Principally, the reasoning was that a submarine is basically a poor platform for a deck gun. Owing to the fact that the vast majority of the sub fleet's war patrols within 500 miles of Japanese bases were conducted submerged, the value of the deck gun was severely questioned. Additionally, it was reasoned that a submarine in a head to head gun battle with an enemy in possession of equal (or greater) firepower was at serious risk. Any enemy hits on the submarine which could impede or prevent her ability to submerge was justification enough to avoid a surface gun action. That's not to say that submariners didn't take advantage of some welcomed target practice when the opportunity arose. US Submarines that were scouting the Japanese Empire waters frequently came upon sampans, which were often suspected of being naval lookouts or anti-submarine pickets. By April of 1942, submarine skippers decided to start thinning out the sampan fleet and a periscope contact often resulted in the order of "Battle Surface". The results of a piboat going up against a lightly armed, floating bundle of wood one would think could be easily determined, however sinking these pesky little vessels was not a simple as first thought. Theodore Roscoe, in his book US SUBMARINE OPERATIONS IN WW II, states: "They could be riddled with .30 and .50 caliber machine gun bullets and holed several times by 3 or 5 inch shells and remain afloat like a box of Swiss cheese". More often than not, a submarine's deck gun was of greater value for overall morale than it was for combat effectiveness. A submerged boat that was damaged by an enemy surface vessel could, as a last ditch effort to survive, surface and engage in a gun battle, although with the odds generally stacked heavily against it. The deck gun was the ultimate weapon of last resort and it has been suggested that the 3, 4 or 5 inch guns (used for both anti-aircraft and surface actions and typically located abaft of the the conning tower), was therefore justified.

[Baywing]

Originally Posted by Myszkin

Hi,

My SH4 first: v1.4, ROW+RFB+RSRD

Sub: S class
Well, I cannot sink any ship with the deck gun! Today I tried to sink small merchant (ca 1800 BRT), so I manned the gun and I fired into it... all my ammunition! Accuracy: 90-95%. Result: target's speed decreased from 12-15 kn to 5-6 and that was all!

Sub: P class
Two hours later (in real time ), another patrol, another sub: we've met medium old tanker - and the same result - some smoke, decreased speed, lost mast, but I fired out all ammo...

Any idea?
Thx.

PS: torps are ok: they do their job.

Hmmm, I took out a merchant last night (war patrol, Singapore) with the deck gun. Used a few AP rounds, swithed to HE and maybe 10 more. Got it just in time, the last escort was starting to close in and I was out of torps, having used up most of them trying to kill the escorts. The sampans take about a dozen good hits. If you get close enough, aim for the waterline. I'm playing stock 1.4.

[swdw]

Beery modified the deck guns so you COULDN'T sink a medium or larger freighter with only the deck gun. You needed to put at least one torpedo in them first. He then modified the smaller ships so the deck gun could sink them.

AVG's post explains the attitude towards the gun, but there are accounts of boats surafcing later in the war and sinking armed subchasers and minesweepers with the deck gun to consreve torpedoes for the few merchant vessels left.

One of the thing about these types of mods is that it usually takes some adjusting to get the correct balance.

As AVG said, we're looking into this and will more than likely modify the gun strength to a certain extent, but don't expect it to be capable of what the stock version can do.

[AVGWarhawk]

The cannon and it's effectiveness in game has always been under the microscope for ages. There is still a bicker or two in the SH3 forums about it. It has found it's way to SH4. Although I would make them a bit stronger, I certainly would not make the super cannons as it is in stock. In the spirit of realism concerning RFB, the cannon needs to be considered a seconday weapon and mainly for defensive purposes. How can that be done? Castrate it as it is now.

[DavyJonesFootlocker]

The deckkie gun is not that effective except to alert the enemy- "Hey! I'm over here, na, na, na-na-nah!" or to attract that pretty nurse on shore- "Hey, Nurse Betty look where they gave me the tetenus shot!"

I use it mostly after my last torps didn't do it in. NSM makes it even harder to sink them.