5 torpedos to sink a medium cargo

[Riccardo1975]

Morning my fellow Kaleuns.

Just hit a medium cargo heading east from Halifax on 13/4/42. Aimed shot from 600m in the fuel bunker running at 4m. AOB was 90 deg. Solid hit amidships.
It just zigzagged off, lost no speed and two hours later no sign of foundering.

Seriously tough ships.
I only needed two to sink the Ark Royal last year....

It was in an Atlantic gale so mag keel shot was a no no.

Any tips or just better to hit them forward and let them drive themselves under?

Riccardo U-501

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Riccardo1975

It was in an Atlantic gale so mag keel shot was a no no.

Any tips or just better to hit them forward and let them drive themselves under?

In rough weather, a shot directly under one of the forward cranes is very effective. By hitting there, you crack two compartments and the ship's momentum pushes it into the water.

It's been a long time since I needed more than one torpedo on a merchant of any size in rough weather. They almost always go down if you hit that sweet spot.

[Pisces]

You'd think they would be Passenger/Cargo's instead. Those are notorious to stay afloat, no matter where or how you hit them. Often suspected of carrying shipments of ping-pong-balls.

I have no other suggestions either. Aiming at the forward mast usually does the trick. Unless you have mods that changed this particular unit class.

[maillemaker]

Agree, the passenger/cargo ships seem to be the worst.

Okay, so there is no immediate feedback that a target is history?

I believe if you are within detection range of the ship you will get notification when it sinks. This may be within hydrophone range but beyond visual range. If you are within game-rendering distance of the ship (which may be beyond visual range), and you have map contacts on, you may see a grey icon appear when it sinks, but I believe there is no "She's going down!" notification.

So, what do most people do then, just put two fish into something and leave it be?

I'm using GWX3. Generally speaking, I put 2 fish in every ship I want to be sure sinks. I do this especially in bad weather where I cannot use the deck gun to finish them off, or later in the war when everyone is armed.

During convoy attacks, I'd say that about 25% of the time a single torpedo will cause the ship to explode and sink. It's both fun and sad to see a ship explode on the first hit and then see your second torpedo also plow into it. Fun for the bonus explosions, sad for the wasted torpedo.

If it takes one or two hours for it to go down and you have sailed off will you still receive credit or do you need to maintain a certain range?

See my comment above. It depends on how far away you get from it before it sinks.

What about the deck gun? Just aim for the waterline or try to start fires on deck?

Rumor has it that shooting below the water line is the best way to destroy ships by gunfire. I'm not really sure.

Final question: I am confused on to fish settings. Should I go impact or magnetic? Should I set depth to hit the hull or go with magnetic and pass underneath?

In GWX (and possibly stock, I cannot remember), magnetic torpedoes are prone to pre-detonation to simulate the historical problems with magnetic pistols. However, in game, they never malfunction inside 1000m, even early war. So you may use magnetic pistols with impunity to attack targets within 1000 meters.

If you are intentionally using magnetic pistols, you should aim about .5 meters under the target draft so that it passes closely under the target's hull.

My understanding is that if you achieve a standard impact hit with the magnetic pistol on the impact pistol is what does the detonating.

I believe I have read people say you can make high-angle impact shots with the magnetic pistol and it will detonate on impact anyway even though the impact pistol would not work at such glancing angles. I don't know if that is true or not.

I only use the magnetic pistol when purposefully shooting under targets.

I mostly use them for killing pursuing escorts with down-the-throat shots.

Steve

[UKönig]

That was a theory of mine.
Some ships seemed to be more or less "indestructible".
They are put there so as to make you waste your ammo by firing more shots than are strictly necessary. If you take the bait, then it's the same net effect as if you had dud torpedos (or other failures) enabled.
If I have to put 3-4 torps into 1 merchant, then I conclude I was being baited and I hit "alt-f4" to quit and get my weapons back, then go off looking for an easier target.
If I set 6m depth against a small/coastal merch. I can usually get 1 shot, 1 kill if aiming at the 'midships' mark. I know it's bait if that same ship can take 3 hits before sinking or blowing in half.
It also seems that if you do a lot of damage in a short space of time, 2 torpedo strikes within seconds of each other, vs 3-4 separate hits over 10-15 minutes, you are more likely to sink it quickly, than let the damage control teams try to repair and restore. That is, the longer it takes you to sink it, the more likely it will be that you will have to fire another shot. ...and another...

[Zosimus]

My two cents. First of all, I never use magnetic torpedoes. They premature too often. I use T1s 3-4m depth and set for impact.

Just recently I found out that you can zoom in on the periscope. If you're aiming for a specific spot on the ship, that zoom feature definitely helps.

I am running GWX and most ships do not go down with 1 torpedo. I follow them for 3 hours to make sure and then I surface and use the deck gun. I refuse to use a second torpedo unless I know that either A) the ship is at least 10k tons or B) it's a cruiser. Even then, on light cruisers, you normally need at least 3 torpedoes to put them down. I can't imagine how many you might need to do in a battleship.

If you're going to use a second torpedo on a ship, use it on the opposite side. Then even if you hit the same midships location, at least you're doing new damage to the ship.

Since you're probably going to have to use the deck gun anyway either make sure the weather's good enough or use the all weather deck gun mod. I've tried ramming–it's ineffective.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Zosimus

My two cents. First of all, I never use magnetic torpedoes. They premature too often. I use T1s 3-4m depth and set for impact.

Just recently I found out that you can zoom in on the periscope. If you're aiming for a specific spot on the ship, that zoom feature definitely helps.

I am running GWX and most ships do not go down with 1 torpedo. I follow them for 3 hours to make sure and then I surface and use the deck gun. I refuse to use a second torpedo unless I know that either A) the ship is at least 10k tons or B) it's a cruiser. Even then, on light cruisers, you normally need at least 3 torpedoes to put them down. I can't imagine how many you might need to do in a battleship.

If you're going to use a second torpedo on a ship, use it on the opposite side. Then even if you hit the same midships location, at least you're doing new damage to the ship.

Since you're probably going to have to use the deck gun anyway either make sure the weather's good enough or use the all weather deck gun mod. I've tried ramming–it's ineffective.

Silent Otto Kretschmer: "one ship one 'eel' " and who can argue with 'the man"! Since the U-boot is not a true submarine but rather a temporarily submersible torpedo boat until the XXIII's are developed, waiting and finishing off cripples with the deck gun is the way to go. Know the draft depths of each merchant type and use impact only-Magnetic never works for me either. Properly rationed, the deck gun ammo and eels should be gone simultaneously by the patrol's end and the tonnage count is amazing. Anything under 3000 tons is strictly cannon fodder- Kanonenfutter- those 'eels' are expensive! Too bad about the ramming.

[UKönig]

I will admit, I do not use realistic torpedos. Reload times, yes, duds, no. I didn't come all this way to sink something only to be betrayed by my own equipment. It's a game that I am trying to have fun at, I don't like getting cheated by bad fish. If I fire and miss, or I get a premie I will accept that in due course. If I hit and the angle was bad and it results in a "knock" and not a "blast", I will accept that too. I just like to be able to trust my torpedoes. I get the odd 'deep-runner' but by and large the depth gear can hold my settings.
I settle for running the torpedo under the target and break its back/keel. I save two for each potential target, one, and one to be sure. I rarely use 3 or 4 on one ship. If I am forced to use 5 torpedos on one ship that I can normally sink in 1-2 hits, I get suspicious...
In any case, you can sink an aircraft carrier or a battleship with one well placed shot under the keel. Even so large a ship cannot survive against that kind of structural damage. If you set your torpedoes to 2-3 meters against a battleship, then you should be sending them against the armor belt. Set them to run under and that same armor belt is now useless. Ships can also degauss to lower their magnetic profiles. Originally intended for use against coastal mines but also worked against magnetic pistols, so the impact fuse was often still used.
It looks like you're going with the 'punch a hole in the side and let nature do the work', while I am trying to break the keel. I will vary shots as the situation changes, that's one of the things that is fun about this game, there are so many different ways to play it.

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Zosimus

I am running GWX and most ships do not go down with 1 torpedo.

Hit right, they will and do.

Originally Posted by Zosimus

I follow them for 3 hours to make sure and then I surface and use the deck gun. I refuse to use a second torpedo unless I know that either A) the ship is at least 10k tons or B) it's a cruiser. Even then, on light cruisers, you normally need at least 3 torpedoes to put them down. I can't imagine how many you might need to do in a battleship.

Two normally works for a battleship if you are lined up right. You can go up to Norway in April 1940 and practice over and over and over and over again if you want to learn how.

Originally Posted by Zosimus

If you're going to use a second torpedo on a ship, use it on the opposite side. Then even if you hit the same midships location, at least you're doing new damage to the ship.

No, just hit it in a different compartment. This is detailed in the GWX manual and has been discussed here at length for years.

Originally Posted by Zosimus

Since you're probably going to have to use the deck gun anyway either make sure the weather's good enough or use the all weather deck gun mod. I've tried ramming–it's ineffective.

The all-weather mod is an arcarde and unrealistic mod -- fine if you want to play that way, of course, as are all mods.

The deck gun is a "nice to have" early in the war. Saves using a torpedo on some low life, or finishes someone off. But making tactical decisions based on whether you can use the gun is just... odd.

No offense... seriously. But you are feeling yourself forward into the game, and talking about it, which I respect. But a lot of what you are putting out as truth, rather than questions, is just wrong -- and, worse -- has been put out 1000 times before. Even by me when I first discovered the game.

Trust me when I say every bit of what you question or encounter has been covered at length. Use the search function and you will, for example, find 50-60 pages on approach theories, intercepts, convoy attack strategies, pros and cons of mag/impact, etc etc.

Not trying to shut you down, but this game is so thoroughly analyzed that one could write a 500-page manual on how to play it correctly.

[Cobalt09]

Originally Posted by Pisces

You'd think they would be Passenger/Cargo's instead. Those are notorious to stay afloat, no matter where or how you hit them. Often suspected of carrying shipments of ping-pong-balls.

I have no other suggestions either. Aiming at the forward mast usually does the trick. Unless you have mods that changed this particular unit class.

I can attest to the invincible Passenger/Cargo's. I hit one amidships with a torpedo and subsequently surfaced and began shooting it with the deck gun. After expending a considerable amount of ammunition, the ship broke in two just fore of the pilothouse from an explosion, and I received the "She's going down!" message. I steamed away at 10 knots and watched the ship with the free camera. I gave up after watching the ship for three in-game hours and seeing it not drop an inch lower in the water. Tough little buggers...