torpedo failure rate?

[ExMachina]

hello,

i have been away from subsims for a while but am really enjoying SH4 ( v1.5 with TMO162 )

i'm on my first mission and have thus far flubbed two convoy attacks.

the first 4-torp spread all prematurely detonated within 20 seconds of leaving the tubes.

the second convoy saw all 4-torps miss a big fat slow oil tanker (500yd 90 degree AoB shot, auto targeting turned on--i'm guessing they ran too deep?)

is this a normal failure rate?

oh well, at least i'm getting better at evading destroyers

[ExMachina]

update:

4 more torps launched, THIS time all of them were good!

what the heck? so far my spreads have been either 100% or 100% good.

is it known how SH4 determines if a torp will be a dud or not?

[Orion2012]

It's dependent on the angle the torpedo strikes the ship. Contact detonators are also less likely to fail when on a slower speed setting. Magnetic influence have a higher chance of early detonation in rough weather. Depth running error is dependent on date in the war, by late 43 deep running torpedoes should become less frequent.

[ExMachina]

1943 is a long way off from january 1942

perhaps i should refit w/ 10's?

[breadcatcher101]

Late '42, attacked a task force, 10 hits on a Ise, 9 duds. Think of how the real-life skippers must have felt.

[Falkirion]

Mid August 43' on patrol near Sulawesi (Indonesia, the island looks like an octopus) I had 3 duds on my final target I intercepted. Two were broadsides and just bounced off the hull. Last torp was fired during a surface attack and again, another dud. 100% failure rate, I was pissed off so broke off contact and disappeared into the night.

[NEON DEON]

Originally Posted by ExMachina

hello,

i have been away from subsims for a while but am really enjoying SH4 ( v1.5 with TMO162 )

i'm on my first mission and have thus far flubbed two convoy attacks.

the first 4-torp spread all prematurely detonated within 20 seconds of leaving the tubes.

the second convoy saw all 4-torps miss a big fat slow oil tanker (500yd 90 degree AoB shot, auto targeting turned on--i'm guessing they ran too deep?)

is this a normal failure rate?

oh well, at least i'm getting better at evading destroyers

Quite possible with duds enabled to get thoes results especially at long range.

On average for every 12 torpedoes fired, U S subs would sink one ship.

Mark 10s are the most reliable torpedo early war.

Mark 14s are the worst early war.

To get a 14 to work early war you have to shoot from point blank range. This will reduce the chance of the torpedo exploding early along with setting the torpedo to contact only. Then set the torpedo to run shallow. This along with the point blank range will allow the torpedo to rise up but not sink back down because of faulty depth guage on torpedo.

Contact only and hitting the target at a 90 degree angle with the torpedo set to slow speed will avoid problem number 3 with the mark 14. The weak firing pin. At high speed at 90 degrees the pin would bend. At low speed the pin wouldnt. The 14 will also work at high speed at a 45 degree angle. However it is also more than likely to fail if the angle goes too wide resulting in torpedo glancing off the target.

The Magnetic exploder sucks. dont use it.

The 14 was not a bad torpedo. It just was not tested. Had it been tested properly without bias the US might have been able to rock much earlier in the war.