Torpedo damage?

[IcyWaters]

I was wondering why it takes more than 1 torpedo to sink a ship? ie, won't a big gaping hole at the side of a ship below the waterline == bye bye ship?

I can understand firing more than 1 torp to guarantee a hit or make the ship sink faster, but if you got mad torp skills, can you kill a medium-sized ship with one torp? Or maybe a warship with two?

[Dogfish40]

Ahoy Icy,
There are various reasons for one torpedo not sinking a Medium sized merchant, both game reasons and historical/physical ones.

Anyway, there's a mod (as always) that you can load up that deals with sinking ships with one fish. It comes with two strength values so you can choose that as well.
It is called "One ship, One torpedo V1.00" and it can be found in the mods forum or the downloads section.
I use this from time to time and it works great. The cool thing is, it's not overblown. That is there is still a chance with the large ships that you'll still have to sink it with two.
One more thing, sometimes you can put a fish into a merchant and it doesn't sink right away. I've hung out for a time and the ship does sink, it just takes 15 bloody minutes.
Good Luck and Good Hunting (Gute Jagd) Herr Kaleun
D40

[IcyWaters]

Thank you for that info sir!

However, I wonder what is historically accurate? Did old sub captains really fire off two or more torps at a time? Do you really need more than one torp to sink a ship?

I apologize if these are basic questions and I appreciate any info.

[Sailor Steve]

The Americans commonly fired a three-torpedo spread at each ship, because they had six tubes forward and could do it twice before reloading. The Germans varied from captain to captain, some firing full four-torpedo spreads, some firing two at a time, and some prefering to risk missing by only firing one.

As for how many it takes to sink a ship, you should read the story of USS Whale:

Fired three torpedoes. Three hits. One hit aft of his stack, the second blew wreckage up through forward hold and the third
hit aft. Target started turning toward us. Swung hard right and set up for a stern shot.

Fired single stern shot at range of 600 yards. Hit aft. This was a good hit, stopping the target cold. The target was sinking by the stern, taking considerable port list. Took pictures, firmly convinced this was the graveyard of another Japanese ship. Many of the crew had an opportunity to view the sinking ship through the periscope.

Having worked up to windward to observe target better, was astonished to find the fire under control and the list corrected. Water was being pumped over the side through portable hoses. Fired another torpedo from the stern tube, but this missed. Target was dead in the water, shooting wildly with deck guns.

Crew and passengers abandoned ship, although gun crew remained at posts. Target settled about ten feet overall and then maintained its depth. Closed and fired sixth torpedo from bow tubes. This hit aft of superstructure depth.

Target still floating. Fired seventh torpedo from bow tubes. This hit with terrific concussion, but did not change trim or draft appreciably.
Fired eighth torpedo from stern tubes. This was heard to hit, but very little concussion was felt.

Getting dark. Target sinking slowly on an even keel, but still looks salvageable. There was no sign of life aboard, although it was believed gun crews had not yet abandoned ship. Wishing to dispose of it before arrival of planes or rescue ships, fired ninth torpedo. This hit right under stack and the explosion ripped away both sides of vessel about ten feet
below the main deck.

Target now settled more rapidly, the main deck being a few feet from wash condition at last observation. This vessel had absorbed seven and possibly eight torpedo hits. The cargo must have been of such nature as to prevent her from sinking more rapidly. Target was identified as the Heiyou Maru, 9,815 tons.

On retiring we found ourselves in the midst of eight boats full of survivors, approximately fifty men to each boat. These men were dressed in both white and blue uniforms. One boat was passed close aboard, and survivors made ready to hit the periscope with their oars.

[GT182]

Simulated water-tight doors will keep it afloat longer.

Actually small Tramp Steamers are prone to sink with one torpedo. Larger ships will need 2 or more. To me the 1 Torpedo mod is a bit of a cheat. That's just my opinion tho.

[IcyWaters]

I am sure that is an extreme example though, Sailor Steve!

[Dogfish40]

Originally Posted by GT182

Simulated water-tight doors will keep it afloat longer.

Actually small Tramp Steamers are prone to sink with one torpedo. Larger ships will need 2 or more. To me the 1 Torpedo mod is a bit of a cheat. That's just my opinion tho.

Yeah, I go back and forth on it. I know for instance that one torpedo could sink a huge ship, it all depended on the factors. The Lusitania for instance is an obvious example. The Pacific fleet boats did the same thing as Steve mentioned. This was also because, dang it, they didn't run into as many ships as we do in this game. They ran into a lot more patrols no doubt and had to run for their lives alot more. In this sim though, we run into all kinds of merchants and convoys. So we have to use a lot more fishies. I use this mod from time to time, but, as I mentioned below, if I put one torpedo into the middle of a good sized merchant (without the mod) and hung around long enough, that ship is probably going to sink from the secondary explosions and all. It may take awhile but most of the time they are going down, if I stay around to watch.
Good Hunting