GWX3.0 Gold anomaly? Small merchant took 3 torps and all AP gun ammo to sink. WTF?

[tiger_tim_34]

Has anyone else encountered these virtually unsinkable little blighters? I know that some ships stuffed their holds full of wood to help keep them afloat, but really...

Your thoughts please, kaleuns.

Running SH3Commander 3.1 and most of the GWX3.0 included mods.

[Reece]

Not wood, cork!! What type of ship exactly, any screenie?

[melnibonian]

My experience is that small ships usually sink with a single torpedo, although in some cases they tend to take a bit too long to go under. A few things you have to remember with respect to the torpedo hits are:

1. The angle at which to torpedo hits the target is important. If the angle is around 90 degrees you will manage to have the optimal explosion shock wave transfered to the target.

2. Where the target is hit is important. A hit very close to the bow usually is not too damaging as there are no vital compartments there. Hit a ship in the engine room or the fule bunker and you will do massive damage.

3. The running depth of the torpedo is vital. it's totally different to hit a target just bellow the water line in comparison with a hit deep down the hull.

[nikbear]

I bet its one of them damn Passenger/cargo buggers delivering they're usual consighment of corks and ping-pong balls again:rotfl:

[irish1958]

Originally Posted by nikbear

I bet its one of them damn Passenger/cargo buggers delivering they're usual consighment of corks and ping-pong balls again:rotfl:

What did England do with all those ping-pong balls? I know Scotland put the corks to good use.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by melnibonian

2. Where the target is hit is important. A hit very close to the bow usually is not too damaging as there are no vital compartments there. Hit a ship in the engine room or the fule bunker and you will do massive damage.

Strange as I find hitting a ship in the bow area to be quite effective. Only this morning I sent a large merchant to the bottom with a single torpedo set to impact and a running depth of 4 metres which hit in the bow area.

To answer the original question, I find smaller ships can be more resilient and as another poster commented, passenger cargo ships are hard to sink with one torpedo, you need at least two hits on these ships in my experience. As for small merchants and tramp steamers a single hit in the bow normally dispatches them. If I hit these ships around the centre I find they stay afloat a good percentage of the time and need a further torpedo to finish them off.

Nemo

[melnibonian]

Originally Posted by Captain Nemo

Strange as I find hitting a ship in the bow area to be quite effective. Only this morning I sent a large merchant to the bottom with a single torpedo set to impact and a running depth of 4 metres which hit in the bow area.

Let me guess. Did you hit it just around the first mast? This is where the fuel is located. Large Merchants do blow up with a single hit just under the first mast due to this.

[tiger_tim_34]

Oh yes, corks of course. Thanks Reece.

I don't consider small ships worth a torp, unless I'm trying to take out a destroyer screen. But many thanks for your targeting area tips.

A few nights ago I had encouraging success when shooting a medium-sized merchant near the stern, which caused an explosion after just 250 rounds. However, I've just encountered another one of these seemingly indestructible smaller cargo ships and have emptied most of my AP rounds into the side of its stern, just below the waterline, with no effect.

What am I doing wrong? Do rounds that hit the water very near the hull fail to cause damage? Should I aim for underneath the funnel? Do fires on deck cause any damage whatsover?

And does ramming cause damage? I reduced a medium-sized cargo to limping across the Channel with its bow dipping *under* water, yet it would not sink. In my frustration (and out of ammo) I rammed the side of its stern at full speed but failed to inflict any discernable damage either on the cargo ship or, weirdly, my U-Boat.

As ever, my thanks again for your thoughts. God I love this sim.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by melnibonian

Let me guess. Did you hit it just around the first mast? This is where the fuel is located. Large Merchants do blow up with a single hit just under the first mast due to this.

Yes I have had instances where the torp has hit around the first mast with spectacular fireworks display and the ship goes down immediately. A lot of the time though, I hit it in the bow area and it sails on, gradually sinking bow first until it stops and goes down.

Nemo