Super tankers?

[FreddaH]

Originally Posted by GerritJ9

Tankers can actually take a tremendous amount of punishment compared to dry cargo vessels, because of their much greater subdivision- the "Ohio" (operation Pedestal Malta 1942) is a prime example. Much would depend on whether it was loaded at the time, and where you hit it. A tanker in ballast is a pretty tough customer.
When did you attack it- 1942? A large percentage of failures (prematures/duds/deep runners etc) was, unfortunately, "standard" at that time, so it is by no means unrealistic that all six were failures; the absence of any holes in the hull would tend to confirm the torpedoes exploded short.

I attacked it in March 1943, and it was headed to Japan. I suppose it might have been empty, didn't think about that.

The torpedoes I used where mark 23s. Do they also have the problem that the mark 14 has? In any case, all six would have to have exploded prematurely within half a meter of the tanker's hull, so the odds must be astronomical.

Anyway, he's dead now. Just got to go back to Midway and restock as the bastard ate up all my deck gun ammo.

/Fredda