Issue with the O'Kane method. Also: savegames

[max-peck]

Originally Posted by dergrunty

It was the Torpedo Depth. Either I am very unlucky or it's normal that they all run too deep. I alway set the depth to a few feet above the targets draft but never got a hit (I thought the were passing in front of the target but after checking the attack map again they were all more or less dead on).
As soon as I set the depth to about 5 feet I got hits, with the method I tried first and with the actual Dick O'Kane RockinRobins described

Good stuff - well done for catching that
There were many skippers on early war patrols that did not realise that was what was happening, as far as they were concerned they just kept missing

And of course as far as the Bureau of Ordnance was concerned there was absolutely nothing wrong with the torpedoes - they kept to the Department line that it was the skippers fault for entering incorrect data into the TDC

And that was not the only problem with the Mark 14 torpedo - there were a number of faults
When they would fix one of them, it would then make the next fault apparent

Makes for some sobering reading
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/s...u-of-ordnance/
http://www.historynet.com/us-torpedo...rld-war-ii.htm

A few things to bear in mind

If you have Duds turned on in the options screen you can expect the following until about the middle of 1943

1 - They will run 10-12 feet deeper than set

2 - Magnetic exploders may well either fail entirely, or explode prematurely. Prematures more likely the rougher the sea state

3 - The contact exploder may fail. Failures are more likely with using the fast torpedo speed, and also with impact angles close to 90 degrees
Eg a 45 degree angle is much more likely to result in an explosion, pretty much the opposite of how the skippers had been taught to attack in peacetime exercises

4 - This one is a real doozy Very occasionally either the gyro or rudder will get stuck on full lock(I cannot remember now which one was the source of the problem). The torpedo will now circle back and attempt to sink you
Never mind - the exploders are so lousy it probably won't go off
There is at least one (possibly two) recorded instances during the Pacific Submarine War of a submarine being sunk by its own torpedo (The names of the boats escape me now)
Plus who knows. Lots of boats just failed to report in. We do not know if any of them experienced the same situation.

Another important thing to bear in mind
If you have duds turned off in the options, you should not experience problems 2, 3 and 4
However - your torpedoes will still run 10-12 feet deeper than set until mid '43
Disclaimer - I am going by memory now, but I am sure I have tested this in the past and found it to be the case
If anyone has found evidence to the contrary - please post - I will happily be proved wrong

The equivalent would be sending a rifleman into battle with a rifle that will only reliably shoot straight 3 times out of 10.
6 times the shot will not hit anything, no matter where they aim it
And one time out of 10 the bullet will shoot backwards straight out of the breech and attempt to hit the user in the face
In my opinion the failures of BuORD were negligent, bordering on criminal
Even worse was the refusal to accept there may be a problem, and the blaming of skippers for the problems
And that it took a whole 18 Months to fix all the problems undoubtedly (IMO) lengthened the Pacific War
But that is just my 2 cents

A few final things

If you stick with it you may find this game the most immersive life consuming game you have ever played
The feeling of picking off a fat merchant from a convoy, sneaking away whilst being pinged and depth charged for hours, then surfacing, doing an end around and attacking another ship from the same convoy the next night - well - there is nothing like it
Real cat and mouse stuff
I tell you - I must have over 100 games on Steam, plus many more non Steam games
But SH4 is the one I keep coming back to
Like an old comfort blanket

Plus SH4 is a game I can comfortably play whilst drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette

You are lucky that you found SUBSIM
Sure there may not be many of us around these days still playing SH4 - but those of us still here absolutely love this game
And you should always find a friendly face to answer any questions you may have

And last but not least

A hearty welcome aboard dergrunty

Good hunting