Torpedo Depth in Relation to Draft

Greetings all...

Here lately I've been actually planning my attacks rather than just "shoot and scoot". I'm looking up the ship in the handbook and see that it's draft is say, 9.5m. Should I be setting the running depth of my eels to that or should I round it up to like 10m?

In the past I've mostly been going for impact detonations so I've been leaving all my depth settings at the default, 5m.

If I'm using magnetic and impact detonation how far beneath the ship should it be if I want to hear the Earth shattering KABOOM!?

[Osmium Steele]

For magnetics, I set the depth at 1m below the target's draft.

For impacts, I usually set depth at 1/2 the target's draft.

If the running depth is too deep, high sea states can cause the fish to miss under the hull.

I'm not sure how closely it is modelled in SHIII, but historically, high sea states could wreak havoc on torpedos set too deep or shallow.

Iirc, someone here once had a fish leap out of a wave and hit the target's superstructure.

Now THAT's something to get a screen capture of!!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

I'm not sure how closely it is modelled in SHIII, but historically, high sea states could wreak havoc on torpedos set too deep or shallow.

Too shallow and they could broach, or break the surface, and go crazy.

Too deep and they would simply miss.

I was in some shallow water not long ago and had an eel hit the hull and fall away as a dud; but then detonated when it hit the sea floor (5-10m below.

[Missing Name]

Shooting too shallow at an enemy sub may cause the torpedo to go OVER your target in heavy seas. That's quite frustrating...

[Jimbuna]

Impact setting...3/5 metres depending on how deep the draught is.

[BigRich]

If the sea is smooth then setting my torpedoes for around 1m under keel depth is usually okay. If it's heavy seas then I usually stick to contacts, unless my firing angle is too great when I will use magnetics but will set them 1m lower again as I have had a lot of torpedoes bounce off the underside of the ship in heavy seas.
I get the impression that a magnetic hit causes more damage than a contact one, but the longer distance you shoot it over, increases the chance of it prematuring. I once fired four magnetics at a Revenge battleship in heavy seas at long range, three of them prematured and the fourth ran under her without exploding!

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by NoGoodLandLubber

Greetings all...

Here lately I've been actually planning my attacks rather than just "shoot and scoot". I'm looking up the ship in the handbook and see that it's draft is say, 9.5m. Should I be setting the running depth of my eels to that or should I round it up to like 10m?

In the past I've mostly been going for impact detonations so I've been leaving all my depth settings at the default, 5m.

If I'm using magnetic and impact detonation how far beneath the ship should it be if I want to hear the Earth shattering KABOOM!?

Impact shots work best "straight on" against a flat surface. Horizontally, that means a 70 to 110 AOB is nice. Vertically, you want to hit the hull where it is perpendicular to the surface of the water, or only just beginning to curve to the keel.

For most merchants under, say, 4K tons, you probably want 2-3 m depth. Bigger merchants can take a deeper depth, with 3-5 being the sweet spot. There are a few exceptions -- the little Passenger/Cargo has a really deep draft, for example. Also, where you hit is important -- under a forward crane seems to work best in rough seas, while under the rear crane or the engines work best in calm water.

With warships, check your ID manual closely for how the hull curves. Even big ones allow only shallow impact shots.

Magnetic shots work best when they pass as closely under the hull as possible. 1 meter under seems to be the conventional wisdom, but in perfectly calm seas, I go with a half meter. In rough seas, stay with 1 meter, but accept you will have misses due to the ship's pitching -- the torp may hit and bounce, or pass too far below. Adding to your depth does NOT change the success rate, so don't try to game it.

As for the AOB for magnetics, we are having a bit of discussion about that these days, with some studies saying AOB doesn't much matter. Conventional wisdom says the longer the torpedo is under the hull, the better.

[Hondo314]

1 meter under keel is a good rule of thumb to balance risk of bouncing off curved part of hull while being close enough to do damage. I think you can go up to 2 m below keel in rough weather and still do damage. It will be up to you to decide on impact vs. magnetic in a storm.