Switching Exploder Types

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Admiral8Q

Very interesting Steve. That would be like real role playing days that me and my pals did over a decade ago. I would do that, but I've always liked hitting the waterline whether it's by torp or by gun.

yea, a waterling hit with torpedo set to contact seems to do the trick nearly every time, esp if it hits them under their stack.

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Also, in RL I do not believe sea state had much to do with the prematures.The magnetic detonator was considered so secret it was never tested way out in the Pacific where it was used, it was tested in an enclosed bay in the US.The earth's magnetic field is different where the detonator was actually used and this affected it.Also the torpedos often were too sensitive and detected a ships magnetic signature too early, which lead to close but premature explosions, that some skippers thought were hits but all they did were throw water geysers on the decks of their targets.

The "live" magnetic detonator was in fact tested only once against a target ship, that being a derelict submarine. In this test, the detonator failed to work the first time but did work the second time, after some adjustments were made.

Also, it was concluded that premature detonations were most often being caused by water leaking in around the magnetic generator, which caused an induction in electrical voltage. Lockwood discusses it in his autobiography.

[Rockin Robbins]

And that would explain why captains who insisted that torpedoes be torn down, dried out and optimized every time they were in a flooded torpedo tube and not fired had such greater success than those who just assumed the torpedoes were going to work as advertised.