Gyroangle Insight

[Nukesub]

Does anyone have a rule of thumb for firing within certain Gyro angles?

Just from the torpedo and convoy attack tutorials I think a safe bet is +/- 5 degrees from 000. Anything in that tolerance

Anyone a fan of huge hook shots?

[desirableroasted]

Originally Posted by Nukesub

Does anyone have a rule of thumb for firing within certain Gyro angles?

Just from the torpedo and convoy attack tutorials I think a safe bet is +/- 5 degrees from 000. Anything in that tolerance

Anyone a fan of huge hook shots?

Back in my nerdy days with SH3, I set up a single mission to test just this over and over. If you use magnetics, and if you otherwise have good conditions, like a slow moving, large target that's not too far (because you are introducing uncertainty into the shot), you can get a good detonation at angles of 50-60 more often than you'd think.

But as soon as you increase target speed, reduce its length, increase its distance, try for impact, etc, your chances really fall off to nothing. Far better just to set up a better approach.

When I play now, I don't get too worried if I am within -20/+20, if the target is fairly close and slow. For example, in a convoy, where I might make my "priority" shot an impact at 0 and my "greed" shot right after with a magnetic at -17. (Shooting magnetic gives you a fair bit of wiggle room with gyroangle).

Anything more than -20/+20 would launch my better angel to say "hang on... break off and set up a better shot."

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by desirableroasted

Anything more than -20/+20 would launch my better angel to say "hang on... break off and set up a better shot."

HEY! 'Gefallen Engels' think that way too! (1st U-666 emblem)

[TorpX]

I think the idea that track angles had to be 90 degrees, or nearly so, and gyro angles zero, or close to it, is something of an old wives tale.

Here is a pertinent quote from Roscoe's US Submarine Operations Of WWII. [I realize this is not the same as KM experience, but geometry is geometry.]

Throughout the war the percentage of hits was more or less constant for track angles between 60 and 120 and ranges between 1,000 and 3,000 yards. Within this region the scored hits averaged 36%.

The percentage of hits was independent of the gyro angle for values of the gyro angle between zero and 40.

[banryu79]

Originally Posted by TorpX

I think the idea that track angles had to be 90 degrees, or nearly so, and gyro angles zero, or close to it, is something of an old wives tale.

Here is a pertinent quote from Roscoe's US Submarine Operations Of WWII. [I realize this is not the same as KM experience, but geometry is geometry.]

I suspect that was the case not because of trigonometry issue of the target solution, but for the specific problems with the impact pistol of the American torpedo.

The German uboat had their peculiar problem too with the impact pistol but their case called for a perpendicular impact angle between torpedo and target for the pistol to function properly while the American torpedo impact pistol would have its pins bent at such an angle.

[maillemaker]

I shoot at 0 gyro simply because after years of playing I still cannot accurately figure out range or AoB by eye.

Last night I was making an approach on a large convoy at the mouth of the bay west of Gibraltar. They were coming due east and just as I got into visual range the dang thing made a radical change of course to almost due north. December 1941.

I did not want to do an end around so I made a long range shot. I nailed a heavy merchant and a large tanker from probably 6000 meters using T1 torpedoes on medium speed. One hit on the merchant and 2 hits on the tanker. One miss. Both sank.

Steve

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by banryu79

I suspect that was the case not because of trigonometry issue of the target solution, but for the specific problems with the impact pistol of the American torpedo.

You (and others) are confusing the gyro angle and the torpedo track angle. The TTa might be important with regards to the torpedo exploder reliability (or lack thereof), but the gyro angle would not.
No doubt the exploder issues lowered the overall percentages, though.

Take a glance at Aktungbby's diagram.

The gyro angle shown is, let's call it 40 degrees. The Torpedo Track angle is about 100 deg. You can easily have a large gyro and a near "perfect", 90 deg. TTa, or a zero gyro angle and a poor TTa.

In SH (3 or 4, it doesn't matter), people tend to favor 'canned' approaches because they think their hit probabilities are better, and because the game allows this. In real-life, unpredictable target zigs often forced skippers to use larger gyro angles, or pass up the opportunity.

[desirableroasted]

Well said, TorpX. Thank you.

[banryu79]

Originally Posted by TorpX

You (and others) are confusing the gyro angle and the torpedo track angle. The TTa might be important with regards to the torpedo exploder reliability (or lack thereof), but the gyro angle would not.
No doubt the exploder issues lowered the overall percentages, though.

Take a glance at Aktungbby's diagram.

The gyro angle shown is, let's call it 40 degrees. The Torpedo Track angle is about 100 deg. You can easily have a large gyro and a near "perfect", 90 deg. TTa, or a zero gyro angle and a poor TTa.

In SH (3 or 4, it doesn't matter), people tend to favor 'canned' approaches because they think their hit probabilities are better, and because the game allows this. In real-life, unpredictable target zigs often forced skippers to use larger gyro angles, or pass up the opportunity.

Thank you for the explanation, sir!

Obviuosly I was wrong, I have make confusion about concepts because I didn't take enough time to read and understand properly the diagram that Aktungbby has posted.

Now I fully understand that quote from Roscoe's US Submarine Operations you cited, and it make sense to me too. Yes, after all geometry is geometry, thank you again.