Battleship Attacks - Impact or Magnetic?

[scrapser]

I ran across a pair of Nelsons steaming at high speed. I saved right after identifying them and have tried several tactics to sink both. I'm in a VIIB right now so I only have 4 torpedoes to get things started.

Since I know they will slow down after the first impact, I only fire the first torpedo, then wait till they slow down to shoot the rest. So far, keel shots seem to get pushed deeper as they approach the hull and pass right under the ships. Impacts cause them to list but they keep steaming at 7 knots. Sometimes the lead escort starts zigzagging just before they get in range and eventually the ships slow to 16 knots to avoid a collision. If I've already fired my torpedo at the lead Nelson, this throws off the aim.

I'm trying to hit the soft spots or at least cripple them until I can get more reloads to finish them off.

Anyone have any suggestions?

scrapser

[the_rydster]

I'd go for a keel shot, it should be no problem unless the sea is rough. 1 spread of 2 torps on each battleship. If it were just the one battleship I would probably fire 2 and see if they hit the target then fire my other 2.

In reality batteships were fairly well protected against impact detonation on the side by the armor belt and multiple compartments and bulkheads, so keel shots are the way to go.

[Farside]

Originally Posted by scrapser

I'm trying to hit the soft spots or at least cripple them until I can get more reloads to finish them off.

Anyone have any suggestions?

scrapser

either try to get on a 90 degree bearing to it and hit the ammo bunkers... use a magnetic torp (running deep) while at 180 degrees to take out the props or just fire a salvo under it

[U-104]

the manual says a battleship can be sunk with one hit using a magnetic torpedo.

[Pants]

changing it to magnetic or impact should'nt make a difference as the warhead is still the same

[Pablo]

Hi!

Assuming you are in relatively smooth seas, I suggest:

• 1. use a salvo of two torpedoes with the spread angle of one or two degrees.
  2. Use using magnetic fuses with torpedo depth set to one or two meters below the draft of the ship as shown in the recognition manual.

That way you have a chancee of at least one hit causing heavy damage if the other torpedo explodes or duds out on you.

Even though the explosive power is the same, in real life the explosion of a magnetically-fused torpedo beneath a ship's hull could break the ship's keel, causing it to sink. The explosion basically created a big air bubble underneath the ship, and the ship's keel would break under the stress of trying to hold up a massive ship without the benefit of water supporting it from beneath.

Pablo

[Wolf52]

In my opinion (and from many observations) keel shots against battleships are useless. It takes many more shots under the keel to sink them than a couple shots to the side running at a few meters total depth. Go for the fuel bunkers, i get great results doing that (with revenges). For nelsons both the fuel and ammo bunkers are easy to take out because they dont have the extra armor on the sides like the revenge. I can routinely sink a nelson with one shot.

[Dowly]

I`ve yet to see a battleship, but when I do, I`ll propably try a impact shot just below the bow turrets. The ammo bunker is there, if I remember right....

[Deep-Six]

I too, have yet to see a BB, but when I do.... lights out.

The largest warship i have seen so far is a Fiji CL. And she is on the bottom of Loch ewe.

And of speaking of which, i just may pay another visit to said Loch.

[scrapser]

Here's what I did...

It's 3 AM, seas are 4 m/s, no fog, ships look medium grey against a star filled black sky. The two Nelson's and six escorts are approaching (speed 21 knots) from my starboard side in single file with one escort in the lead. I'm set up so when the convoy crosses my bow, they would be 1000 meters away.

First, I discovered what I think is a bug with the Nelson keel depth. The ID manual says 10.7, so if I set depth to 11.7 it runs too deep. I ended up setting the depth to 11 which seems to be just right. I'm using TII's.

I waited for the second Nelson to reach 2900 meters and fired one torpedo at the bridge. For some reason, the torpedo ends up passing just aft of this point (which is a good thing). I did this because I know the ships will slow down and veer to port when they begin evasive tactics.

On cue, the explosion gives everyone a reality check and the lead Nelson starts turning to port and slows to 10 knots. The timing places it about 20 degrees to starboard and closes to around 930 meters. I fire #2 at the high turret and #3 just aft of the smoke stack (keel shots). I wait until the torpedoes are halfway to target before firing #4 (also a keel shot) at the second Nelson's turret (it has started to take on water and squats low at the stern from the first torpedo hit).

Torpedoes 2 and 3 find their mark and within a minute or so the lead Nelson's sunk. The second torpedo hits and the remaining Nelson slows to 1 knot. Now for the big surprise. Because the first torpedo was fired from maximum range, the escorts...every one of them...head about 1500 meters to starboard of my position to start searching for me. I just sit still with my scope up watching them while my crew hurries with reloading tube #1.

As soon as it's ready, I fire an impact hit at the turret again. This finishes it off and it rolls over and sinks. I set speed for 2 knots and dive to 50 meters (heading SE). The escorts give up the search, form up, and steam off in their original direction. I barely had to use my batteries.

72000 tons with 5 torpedoes.

I think the escorts must have more trouble estimating your attack position when you fire at long range.

scrapser

[Type941]

Keel shots are useless imo as well. I go for ammo bunkers 99% all the time. Works may be 70% of the time to a 1 hit kill. Which is not too bad I think.

[qvcatullus]

Regarding the fact that your TII's hit just aft of the aim point --

The electric torps don't travel at quite 30 knots; it's a tiny bit under. Either that or the steam torps set to slow go a bit over. Anyhow, when you switch to an electric torpedo on the TDC, due to what must be a bug the solution is calculated for the slightly faster steam torp. You have to click the speed dial in the TDC once to reset the solution to the electric's speed, even though they only have one speed. This makes the computer rethink the speed, and electrics will hit on target. If you then use another electric, the solution will be good, but if you switch back to a steam, you need to click the speed indicator again to get it back into that mode.

I find it quite irritating when the electrics I'm firing at escorts in a calm sea pass quite calmly right behind the enemy ship despite a perfectly good firing solution, just because I forgot to reset my torp speed from 30 knots to, errr, 30 knots.

[hakkikt]

Thanks qvcatullus, I have suspected something was not right with the torp speeds. Your explanation feels correct.

[scrapser]

Originally Posted by Type941

Keel shots are useless imo as well. I go for ammo bunkers 99% all the time. Works may be 70% of the time to a 1 hit kill. Which is not too bad I think.

That may be true but later in the war you will want to use keel shots when things get dicey and you can't always have a good angle to shoot from. In addition, Passenger Liners don't have ammo bunkers but some of them will be hauling ammo instead of soldiers (I found this out with a rude awakening in my last campaign...the ship blew up and took me with it even though I was nearly 500 meters away...submerged!).

A keel shot to the nose of a Passenger Liner steaming at 15 knots will sink it every time. When running at slow speeds, I like to put one under its backend (right where the upper deck housing terminates). This always starts a fire and the ship goes down by the stern.

scrapser