2 Questions.. Returning to base and Torpedoes

[K-61]

Except, the the impact pistol will not fire if the torpedo runs under the ship and the magnetic pistol fails. My personal preference tends more toward impact pistols than magnetics. If I miss the target I still have the chance of hitting a ship in one of the adjacent columns. Sometimes, though, this has worked against me, as a cheap, closer target takes an eel meant for a more distant and fatter ship. C'est le guerre!

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by K-61

Except, the the impact pistol will not fire if the torpedo runs under the ship and the magnetic pistol fails. I still have the chance of hitting a ship in one of the adjacent columns. Sometimes, though, this has worked against me, as a cheap, closer target takes an eel meant for a more distant and fatter ship.

No, but it's a little bonus that magnetics are armed for impact, too. I've had a (fairly) few gratifying explosions in choppy seas where the torp happened to hit, rather than go under, the target. We take what we can get, right?

They put the cheap targets outside. It helps to make your own list of frequently encountered merchants, rather than relying on the Target Book. Who can keep in their head that a medium cargo runs at 9/2 while a large merchant runs at 8/9, and who has time to fiddle through the book.

[Weiss Pinguin]

Originally Posted by K-61

Sometimes, though, this has worked against me, as a cheap, closer target takes an eel meant for a more distant and fatter ship. C'est le guerre!

Another advantage to under-keel shots - you can 'skip' torpedoes underneath a ship to hit the target behind it. Provided the closer ship has a shallower draft.

[K-61]

Originally Posted by Weiss Pinguin

Another advantage to under-keel shots - you can 'skip' torpedoes underneath a ship to hit the target behind it. Provided the closer ship has a shallower draft.

I have used that method. After going through the hassles of getting close to a convoy I have no intention of giving myself away by attacking the small fry on the perimeter. One thing this game forces us to do is think in three dimensions. It's way better than any point and shoot console game. I had one of my brother's friends telling me the other day about some console game and how "realistic" it is. I nearly died of a laughter fit after he told me that "after a minute and a half submerged you have to come up for air."

I don't play games, I play simulations. Games are for kiddies.

[Weiss Pinguin]

Eh, SHIII is a thinking game and great for laidback play, but IMO nothing beats an FPS for stress release (as far as games go that is)

I think he was just refering to the fact that you had to come up for air. I know I myself played both battlestations and found them quite entertaining since they were semi-realistic as far as most things.

And secondly, no matter what way you look at it. your playing a game

if you want real, join the Navy, become a CO and get your own sub ! :P

Originally Posted by K-61

I have used that method. After going through the hassles of getting close to a convoy I have no intention of giving myself away by attacking the small fry on the perimeter. One thing this game forces us to do is think in three dimensions. It's way better than any point and shoot console game. I had one of my brother's friends telling me the other day about some console game and how "realistic" it is. I nearly died of a laughter fit after he told me that "after a minute and a half submerged you have to come up for air."

I don't play games, I play simulations. Games are for kiddies.

[Tessa]

Magnetic shots at 90 degrees are still effective, generally the best angle is 45 degrees or less depending on the boat. A large boat like a tanker/warship or very large passenger ship (like the Queen Mary) the key is surface area that the torpedo can cover. In a 90 degree shot if you're depth is too low good chance it'll keep going, on a 45 degree it goes across more of the keel and has a longer period to make contact and detonate as the ship goes up and down from the water conditions. Impact setting may be more reliable (depending on the year) though magnetic hits can take down almost anything with a single eel. Biggest ship so far to go down from 1 magnetic hit was the Nelson (35,000 tons) with a shot directly under the middle turret. Once the fuses get fixed they give you the biggest bang for your buck.

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Tessa

Once the fuses get fixed they give you the biggest bang for your buck.

The fuses aren't even broken... and the electrics "keep depth" perfectly fine, no matter what the game instructions say.

So, in stock, you can use magnetic pistols and electric drives from day one.

In GWX, I believe you need to factor the pistol problem back in until mid 1940, though they are still far more reliable than not in my experience. Depth keeping is not an issue in stock or GWX.

[fastfed]

This sucks

I wish I never knew I could just hit ESC.. I was so tempted last night.. OVER AND OVER again, I had no ambition to get back to base, I was almost out of fuel, I kept getting radar contacts, all I wanted to do was hit ESC.

I didn't, but Its really ruining this game for me now I don't know why they wouldnt award you more renown to get back to port, vs just hitting ESC all the way out in sea..

THIS BLOWS

[Tessa]

Originally Posted by desirableroasted

The fuses aren't even broken... and the electrics "keep depth" perfectly fine, no matter what the game instructions say.

So, in stock, you can use magnetic pistols and electric drives from day one.

In GWX, I believe you need to factor the pistol problem back in until mid 1940, though they are still far more reliable than not in my experience. Depth keeping is not an issue in stock or GWX.

Unless you're playing with no duds, the torpedo fuses are severly screwed up; they may keep their depth but were prone to premature detonation or not detonating at all.

"In the days immediately following Norway (Narvik Operation), Donitz collected and meticuosly analyzed tge torpedo firiing data. The skippers had carried out a total of thirty eight attacks: four against battleships, fourteen against cruisers, ten against destroyers, and ten against troop transports. Discounting marginal attacks from long range at high speed targets in poor light or other unfovorable conditions, Donitz concluded that had the torpedo's not failed (yes ALL 38 of the aforementioned struck the targets and failed to detonate), "certain hits" (and probably sinkings or severe damage) would have occured in one of the attacks on the battleships, seven of the cruisers, and five on the transports. In summary, he calculated that about twenty warships and transports had escaped almost certain destruction because of torpedo failures.

Donitz used this damming data to mobilize internal politcal pressure against the torpedo bureaucrats, and he won over Admiral Raeder and the OKM. With the return of good weather to the Baltic , the "Torpedo Dictator" Dr. Cornelius, had been carrying out intensive tests of the impact pistol. The results presented about May1 were "staggerring" and "criminal". Cornelius reported a high rate of failure owing to a poor, overly complex, and clumsy design."

--Clay Blair, Hitler's U-Boat War V.1, pp 156-160

It wasn't until the capture of a ship full of British torpedos where upon inspection the pistol were declared to be fully sound and copied. Afterwards reliable pistol torpedoes were then available.

All this is straight out of history, the book goes even into more detail about how miserable the torpedoes were and how long it was until they were properly fixed, something that is well mirrored in GWX if you're using the Dud torpedoes for realism. Had the torpedoes worked perfectly fine the Narvik operation would have been an outstanding success for the Kriegsmarine which would've sunk several hundred thousand tons worth of shipping, at least 1 capital ship and many mid sized war-ships. If you're getting more than good success rates in GWX with duds on you're a very lucky man.