Attacking in bad weather?

[K1ngmaker]

Is there anyway to attack effectively in really crappy weather? I find by the time I can get a visual my torpedos are too close to detonate.

Also. WHO THE HELL thought it was good to give Torpedos a 600 meter(yard?) minimum range on torps? Why not 200? It's not like a 500 yard detonation is going to hurt me.

[K1ngmaker]

Is there anyway to attack effectively in really crappy weather? I find by the time I can get a visual my torpedos are too close to detonate.

Also. WHO THE HELL thought it was good to give Torpedos a 600 meter(yard?) minimum range on torps? Why not 200? It's not like a 500 yard detonation is going to hurt me.

[GoldenEagle8]

um, you need 300m till it will detonate.

[Bootsmann0815]

The minimum arming distance for torpedos is exactly 300 m travveling distance - not 600.

The only really reliable way to attack in heavy fog and zero visibility is at low realism setting:

- Map updates ON
- Automatic Targeting System ON
- NO mod installed/enabled that removes a ship's side identification(friendly/neutral enemy)

In that case you don't need to see the enemy ship to attack.
Procedure:
1. Submerge and estimate position and course of target ship by hydrophone.
2. Approach future course of target ship to about 250-300m (not much closer, or you can't re-establish arming distance quickly enough, nor much further away or the periscope trick won't work)
3. Raise periscope and point straight ahead (0 Degrees for bow shot or 180 Degrees for stern shot)
4. Go to Navigation map view and wait until the hydrophone bearing line changes to the ship icon (if it doesn't, you are too far away). Check that the icon is red (enemy).
5. Go to periscope view and turn it towards the target until you see the targeting triangle, then lock the ship in the periscope view (you won't see the ship, but as soon as the triangle is there you can establish the lock).
6. IMPORTANT: Order "All back flank" (bow shot) or "All ahead flank" (stern shot) to re-establish the torpedo arming distance. Ensure, by looking at the notepad, that the distance at the moment of firing reads between 325m and 400m, and that the lock is still engaged.
7. Open the recognition manual at the appropriate page (check notepad for target ship's type) and click on one of the damage zones (shown when the ship is within 15 degrees of ideal firing line - note that the angles change rapidly at such close distance). Open tubes and fire.
Works like a charm. Avoid magnetic pistol / keel shots in heavy weather (danger of premature detonation). If possible use T1 (G7a) torpedos at max speed setting, contact pistol.

As I normally play manual targeting nowadays I don't bother to attack in zero visibility - the window of opportunity is just too small to conduct all the necessary measurements and procedures.

[K1ngmaker]

Oh that's interesting, for some reason I thought I saw torps just bouncing off the side of ships and sitting there before detonating at ranges >300m

Is there any other explanation? or did I mis-read the range?

[Bootsmann0815]

If a torp bounces off a ship after having travelled more that 300m, there are 2 possible reasons:
1. I's a dud (won't detonate because of mechanical failure of the detonating mechanism).
2. It hit the hull at an unfavourable angle, perhaps on one of the curved sections of the ship's underside, and thus the impact detonator is not triggered. Both are accurately modelled, historically realistic problems.

The first problem can be turned off (almost - you may still get the odd one) in the realism settings - the second one can't.

[DarkOmen13]

I managed to attack a convoy early in the war at night during the worst storm i ever saw. I was on the surface right inside a convoy.
I hit a c2 and a t3 tanker but as i was'nt doing any visible damage i decided to leave before the escort found me.

It can be done if you're good enough, you need to be fast with the targeting and constantly looking around in case you ram something.

It's not easy or safe, but it can be done.
Early in the war anyway.
That's at 91% realism as well.

D.

[mnordby]

It's worth noting in this thread that if you're firing at short range, the tendancy for torps set for mag detonation in rough seas to pre-explode doesn't apply. The reason must be that they can't explode before they've gone 300m, and once they've reached that range they're at the target. Also, being that close their angle of dive to their set depth is acute, so they quickly get down to depth and are less purturbed by waves.

[Grrbob25]

one time in crappy weather over near canada, I attacked a convoy (the weather was like high rain, high fog, and 15 metere per second winds) and I sunk 3 T3's and 4 C3's, but never got the tonnes because I got killed by a DD because I was using TC on 1024 and not paying attention http://forums.ubi.com/images/smilies/35.gif