One ship, one torpedo?

[Bubblehead1980]

Saw a thing on Military Channel a while back and have been wondering about it.I forget the U boat Commander's name but he was one of the tops and he believed in one ship, one torpedo meaning he used only one torpedo per target and it worked.This doesnt work in SH 4 esp on fleetboat side unless lucky and didnt work when i played u boat side of things, just wondering if it works in SH 5 ? German torpedos mustve had powerful warheads...

[GoldenRivet]

i routinely have to pound 3 torpedoes into any cargo ship, large or small just to slow it down

i cant imagine anyone getting one hit kills in SH5.

i think it is something i have only experienced once since release.

in SH3 i constantly managed to sink cargo ships with 2 or fewer hits. if anything SH5's warheads are too weak

[pythos]

I get one shot kills all the time. It is just it takes a VERY long time for such a hit to sink. If the hit is amid ships the ship will stop due to engine damage.

I also have some mods installed that address this problem.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

I forget the U boat Commander's name but he was one of the tops and he believed in one ship, one torpedo meaning he used only one torpedo per target and it worked.

Otto Kretschmer!

[Lonecrow]

I hit a merchant in a port docked and one hit I actually saw it break in half!! So far about 200 torpedoes and 1 has been a one shot kill.

[Sailor Steve]

It always pays to read the actual reports before believing the hype. Kretschmer did indeed sink many ships with one shot. A large number of them were smaller (2000 tons or less) but at least one large tanker exploded and broke in half. On the other hand one 6000-to freighter took two torpedoes and 88 rounds from the deck gun, plus an unspecified number of gun rounds from Prien in U-47. It varied a lot in real life, but ships of 5000 tons or more usually needed at least two torpedoes to put down.
http://uboat.net/men/kretschmer.htm

[Ducimus]

^
What sailor steve said.

[IanC]

Originally Posted by pythos

I get one shot kills all the time. It is just it takes a VERY long time for such a hit to sink. If the hit is amid ships the ship will stop due to engine damage.

I also have some mods installed that address this problem.

Yes cause I heard the stock ships don't slow down when damaged in SH5...

[Subnuts]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

http://uboat.net/men/kretschmer.htm

I'm going to take a minute to see how Kretschmer's "one ship, one torpedo" strategy worked against ships over 5,000 tons.

Danmark (10,500 tons motor tanker) - Hit by one torpedo, breaks in half, entire crew survives, after part stays afloat for 9 days.

Tiberton (5,225 ton merchant carrying iron ore) - Sinks in 30 seconds, entire crew lost.

Loch Maddy (4,996 ton merchant carrying wheat, timber, and aircraft) - Hit by one torpedo, crew abandon ships. Sunk by second torpedo five hours later, breaks in two, stern section salvaged by tug and later beached.

Humber Arm (5,750 ton merchant carrying newsprint, steel, pulp, and lumber) Ship sinks after single torpedo hit.

Auckland Star (13,212 ton merchant carrying lead, steel, hides, wheat, and refrigerated goods) - Hit by single torpedo at 0557, hit again by single torpedoes at 0633 and 0711, capsizes at 0733.

Clan Menzies (7,336 ton merchant carrying wheat, grain, dried fruit, zinc, and general cargo) - First torpedo misses, second hits and ship sinks after an hour.

Jamaica Progess (5,475 ton merchant carrying fruit) Hit by first torpedo at 0138, second at 0244. Sinks.

Jersey City (6,322 ton merchant in ballast) Sunk by single torpedo.

Alexia (8,016 ton motor tanker) Torpedoed, fails to sink, later shelled, remains afloat. Same ship later survives being torpedoed three times by U-510 in 1942.

Lucerna (6,556 ton motor tanker) Hit by single torpedo and later shelled, survives.

Strinda (10,973 ton motor tanker) Hit by single torpedo in wing bunker, crew abandons ship, ship later returns to port under own power.

Elmbank (5,156 ton merchant carrying general cargo) Hit by single torpedo at 0447, falls behind convoy, U-99 commences shelling at 0600, fires 88 shells, U-47 shells her at 1500, setting her on fire, U-99 eventually sinks her with another torpedo.

Invershannon (9,154 ton motor tanker) Hit at 0312, sunk by coup de grâce eight hours later.

Thalia (5,875 ton merchant carrying steel, lead, and zinc) Sinks in 40 seconds after being hit by single torpedo in the bow.

Casanare (5,376 ton merchant carrying bananas) Sinks after one torpedo.

Laurentic (18,724 ton armed merchant cruiser) Sinks after being hit by four torpedoes between 2250 and 0453.

Patroclus (11,314 ton armed merchant cruiser) Sinks after being hit by five torpedoes between 0002 and 0525.

Forfar (16,402 ton armed merchant cruiser) Sinks after being hit by five torpedoes between 0546 and 0657.

Conch (8,376 ton motor tanker) Hit four times between 0525 and 0932 by two U-boats, the abandoned ship sunk the next day by U-99.

Farmsum (5,237 ton merchant) First two torpedoes hit the stern and cause little apparent damage, third hits amidships, ship sinks in three minutes.

Terje Viken (20,638 ton whale factory ship) Hit by two torpedoes at 0505. Crew abandons ship after third hit, ship capsizes some 14 hours later.

Beduin (8,136 ton motor tanker) Hit by one torpedo aft of pump room, later breaks in half. Both halves remain afloat, the forepart shelled and sunk by a British trawler, the after part taken in tow but sinks two days later.

Ferm (6,593 ton motor tanker) Hit by single torpedo, crew abandons ship. Taken in tow, but sinks the next day.

Stupid Noob.

[Ducimus]

I have to say, im dumbfounded by the comments that ships are taking too long to sink, or using too many torpedo's.

Call me old school if you want, but i thought getting away from 1 hit wonders all the time was the general goal. In SH3 and SH4, people busted their asses to get ships to sink more realistically, and/or require more torpedo's to put down. (IE elimnation of 1 hit wonder torpedos).And from the sounds of things, SH5 is modeling ship damage much better out of the box then the previous two games. So i don't quite understand the complaints.

Truthfully, every time i see someone use or want more powerful torpedo's, a frown comes to my face, and im reminded of when i was a newbie playing SH3 before all the supermods. I sat there trying my damndest to hit ships in their critical location to get the big boom and be the utmost efficient with my torpedos. Yeah, i sat there reloading the game until i got the hit i wanted with autoTDC enabled, using the rec manual to target critical compartments (stock game allowed you to do that. Nobody probably remembers this). Total and complete noobville. More powerful torpedo's indeed.

[GoldenRivet]

yes you are right... for realism sake there would be less one hit wonders.

however here is the problem.

You hit a ship and it steams along at 12 knots under escort... your not catching the damned thing.

and when it sails off into the sunset - even if it sinks 3 hours later outside of visual range

YOU DONT GET CREDIT

factos of life but its a bummer.

If you torpedo a ship and its bow digs 25 feet down into the ocean and it is laden with sea water... the bastard ought to slow down i would think.

but thats just me thinking again - frequently gets me into trouble.



i use the same tactic with SH5 as i did with previous editions. Send a spread of two fish at anything over 5,000 grt.

this strategy does not seem to do me much good in SH5.

[Ducimus]

If mechanics from SH3 and SH4 still hold true, hit it in the keel damage zone. It'll sink every time.

[GoldenRivet]

on another note: I hit a ship in convoy and it stopped.

the entire GD convoy escorts and all proceeded to spend the next 24 hours circling the stricken merchant

Whiskey


Tango


Foxtrot

[IanC]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

on another note: I hit a ship in convoy and it stopped.

the entire GD convoy escorts and all proceeded to spend the next 24 hours circling the stricken merchant

Whiskey


Tango


Foxtrot

maybe the King of England was onboard?

[GoldenRivet]

well his jolly ass is at the bottom of the north atlantic.

but that was some strange behavior if ever i have seen it in the SH series