Note that this arming distance is not affected by the speed setting of your torpedoes.

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1 Torpedoes From SilentHunterIII Community Manual Range The minimum (arming) range for the torpedoes in SH3 is officially stated as 300m. However, some [subsim.com ( forum members have reported success at as little as 250m if using Magnetic instead of Impact triggering. Note that this arming distance is not affected by the speed setting of your torpedoes. Firing torpedoes Opening tube doors It is imperative that you open your torpedo tube doors before firing. The doors take approximately 3 seconds to open. If they are not open when you fire, they will automatically open, but this will cause a delay before the torpedoes are actually launched. The delay is normally enough to cause the torpedo to miss astern. There are five ways to open your torpedo tubes: Use the hotkey Q to open the selected tube door(s). Normally this will open a single selected tube, however if you have a salvo selected then all relevant tube doors will be opened. Note that if you open a tube, then change your tube selection and open the new tube, the first tube will close. From the Command Room (F2), click on the conning tower. There you can find the torpedo switches. Clicking on the switches will cause the corresponding tube to open. From the Command Room (F2), right click on your weapons officer. Look up and find another set of torpedo door switches. From the Command Room (F2), click on the conning tower. Then click on the attack periscope. Then look down to find a third set of switches. Finally from the TDC screen (F6) you can select each tube one at a time and press Q. This is different from the first method in that the tubes will not close when you select another. This last method is fastest and easiest in rough weather. Note that you must have an officer assigned to the role of Weapons Officer, otherwise you can press the switches, but nothing will happen. To be certain the tubes are indeed ready, watch for the message to appear in the message log, saying that the particular tube has been opened. There is some confusion on when a tube door will close automatically and when it won't. This has led some to think that there is a time delay. This confusion is caused because the rules for this are unnecessarily complex. So here is a list of exactly when a door will close and when not: The selected tubes door will close whenever you select a new tube with the Y key. The newly selected tube will stay open. The selected tubes door will close whenever you press the 'W' key.

The selected tubes door will close whenever you fire a torpedo. The selected tubes door will close whenever you select a different tube from a scope.

Setting Impact or Magnetic triggering Pistol types Torpedoes can be set to trigger using either the Impact or Magnetic pistol.

2 The selected tubes door will close whenever you fire a torpedo. The selected tubes door will close whenever you select a different tube from a scope. The selected tubes door will not close when you select a different tube from the TDC (F6) screen. Tube doors do not have any time limit for staying open. Setting Impact or Magnetic triggering Pistol types Torpedoes can be set to trigger using either the Impact or Magnetic pistol. Use the Pistol knob on the TDC screen (F6) to change the pistol type, highlighted in red in the picture. An Impact pistol will only trigger the torpedo if a direct hit is made on the target. A hit at a very shallow angle (glancing blow) may fail to detonate the torpedo using this pistol type so you should always attempt to hit the target at an angle of 90 or as close as practical. The Magnetic pistol relies on detecting the metal bulk of the target to detonate the torpedo. When using the magnetic pistol, you should set the depth of your torpedo to one or two meters below the keel of the vessel. See the Torpedo Depth section below. In general magnetic triggering will provide better results, especially for attacks where a close-to-90 angle is not possible. Note though, that early in the war the magnetic pistols were notoriously unreliably and in fact for a period U-Boats were directed to use Impact triggering at all times. Later in the war reliability improved. Even when a torpedo is set to use the Magnetic pistol, the Impact pistol is still active. If the torpedo directly strikes the target it will still detonate.

Finding the keel depth from the recognition manual Torpedo depth For torpedoes using their Magnetic pistol, you should generally set the running depth to one or two meters below the keel.

3 Finding the keel depth from the recognition manual Torpedo depth For torpedoes using their Magnetic pistol, you should generally set the running depth to one or two meters below the keel. This will maximize the damage and increase your chance of sinking the target with a single torpedo. Setting the torpedo running depth For impact pistols, you need to ensure that the running depth is shallow enough to physically hit the side of the hull. The keel depth (draft) can be found from the recognition manual as shown in the image. To set the depth, use the Depth dial on the TDC (F6) screen as shown. In the example, the draft of the C2 Cargo ship is 7.8m. Therefore the running depth is set to approximately 9.8 meters and the torpedo is using the Magnetic pistol. Note that in rough weather, extra care must be taken when setting the running depth. In large swells the target vessel will move up and down several meters, and setting a running depth below the keel can be risky because of this. Your standard 2m below-the-keel running depth may end up either striking the hull directly or passing harmlessly beneath the target due to the swell. In this case it is safer to set a very shallow running depth. The damage inflicted may not be as great, but the chance of actually getting a hit will be increased. An unusual situation where torpedo running depth is crucially important, is if there is a smaller ship in front of a much juicier target. In this case, you can often use a Magnetic pistol, and set a running depth deep enough that the detonator won't be triggered by the smaller ship. In this way, you can shoot straight underneath a coastal merchant etc to reach a larger cargo vessel. Magnetic Pistol Torp Running Depths You will find that weather affects the running depth of your torpedo greatly. These calculations will ONLY work with Magnetic Torpedoes

4 If its calm (0-3m/s winds) set your torpedo to run 0.5 meters under the keel depth. I found that this depth is perfect for this weather. If its overcast and slightly windy (4-8m/s winds) set your torp to run 1 meter under the keel of the target ship. If there are heavy winds (9+m/s winds) torp firing can be quite difficult at this time, if the target ship hits a wave, its keel depth will radically rise or fall accordingly. When making these attacks I am usually directly in front or behind my target (better accuracy and hit rate, I ve found) Impact Pistol Torp Running Depth The main thing about this is make sure you're at a right angle to your target (no less than 60degrees and no more than 120degrees [if you are less or more that 60/120 use a magnetic torp and follow the above instructions accordingly]) once lined up put in the data (or have the weapons officer do it automatically) set the torp to impact AT NO MORE THAN ABOUT 6 METRES UNDER THE WATER LINE also, dependant on the keel size of the ship, adjust accordingly Reloading torpedoes Your torpedoes will reload as long as you have the auto-reload option enabled on your Weapons Management screen (shortcut key "I"). However be aware of the following: Torpedoes will not be reloaded if you are in Silent Running mode Torpedoes will not be reloaded if you do not have enough crew in the relevant torpedo compartment. There is no warning about this, so you should check to make sure that the torpedoes are actually loading! To check if the reload process is underway, hover your mouse over the torpedo tubes (again, on the Weapons Management screen). You should see a countdown, based on when the torpedo will be loaded and ready to fire. If all torpedoes are showing as Queued for loading, then you are probably in Silent Running mode. If you see a message warning you that there are not enough crew in the torpedo compartment, then go to Crew Management (F7) and add some crew members to the compartment. Torpedo loading speed depends on the number of people in the compartment, as well as their skill and fatigue levels. Having Torpedo qualified crew-members in the compartment will speed loading considerably. This is worth remembering when drifting in a convoy waiting for your fish to reload! The estimating time for a torpedo to be reloaded (with full crew is about 10 min). There is a reported bug. When more than one tube is waiting to be reloaded, simply dragging the awaiting torpedo (es) to a vacant place will reload it (them) instantly. This doesn't happen with the currently loading torp. Loading external torpedoes Most U-boats come with an inventory of external torpedoes. These torpedoes are initially stored under the U- boat's upper deck but not within the U-boat's hull. As such, they can only be loaded below deck, into the bow/stern torpedo compartment, when the U-boat is surfaced and NOT in Silent Running. In addition, loading external torpedoes will not take place if you are rigged for silent running, if there is no available reserve torpedo space below deck or if there is insufficient crew in the torpedo room. If you dive below surface while external torpedoes are loading, SH3 will cancel the loading process and you will have to start again from scratch.

5 To load external torpedoes, display the WEAPONS MANAGEMENT screen, click on an external torpedo and drag it to a vacant reserve space. Bow and stern external torpedoes can only be loaded to their respective torpedo compartments below; i.e. you cannot move an external torpedo from the rear compartment into your front torpedo tubes. Note that when moving, the torpedo will still be shown in its previous external location, but you can hover your mouse over it to check that it actually moving. The more efficient the torpedo room crew (indicated by the efficiency meter's green bar under the torpedo room compartment heading on the CREW AND DAMAGE MANAGEMENT screen), the faster external torpedoes will load. To determine how much time remains for an external torpedo to be loaded, display the WEAPONS MANAGEMENT screen and click on the slightly grayed out external torpedo currently being loaded. As loading progresses, you will also notice the torpedo slowly being blacked out with a progress bar. The estimated time for an external torpedo to be moved from outside to the inside is about 1h. Torpedo Types Torpedo summary Model Availability Propulsion Speed/kts Range/m Notes TI Before 1939 Steam 44 (fast) 5000 (fast) Leaves a visible trail of bubbles TII Before 1939 Electric TIII May 1941 Electric TI FaT I May 1941 Steam 44 (fast) 5000 (fast) Ladder pattern, visible trail of bubbles TIII FaT II Sept 1942 Electric Ladder pattern Steam Torpedos The steam powered torpedoes leave a visible trail of bubbles on the surface which may be detected. However, at short range (< 800m) or in poor visibility they're unlikely to be detected in time for evasive maneuvers. The TI may be set a three different running speeds with the faster speeds reducing range. In most cases the fast setting is preferred since it increases the probability of a hit. TI speeds Speed setting Speed/kts Range/m Slow Medium Fast Experience suggests that these torpedoes are reliable. Very rough seas may cause a magnetic pistol to detonate prematurely, particularly if the running depth is shallow (i.e., closer to the wave surface where the torpedo is more likely to be disturbed by wave action).

Electric Torpedoes Electric torpedoes are preferred for daylight attacks since they do not leave a trail of bubbles. The TII runs at a fixed speed of 30 kts with a maximum range of 3000 m.

6 Electric Torpedoes Electric torpedoes are preferred for daylight attacks since they do not leave a trail of bubbles. The TII runs at a fixed speed of 30 kts with a maximum range of 3000 m. The TIII is an improvement on the TII with a greater range of 5000 m. The TII suffers from the same magnetic pistol problem in heavy seas as the TI. FlÃchenabsuchender Torpedos (FaT) An example TI FaT I ladder pattern The flãchenabsuchender (area-searching) torpedoes are regular torpedoes with a more advanced guidance system. Should the torpedo miss the target it will proceed to make a series of turns and straight runs in a ladder pattern. There are two type of FaT: The TI based FaT I and the TIII based FaT II. To use a FaT: 1. Set up the usual torpedo parameters on the TDC screen (running depth, pistol type etc.). 2. Click the small button labeled 'FaT' above the torpedo indicator light. 3. Set the Straight run length -- how long the torpedo will travel in a straight line before entering the ladder pattern. 4. Set the 2nd gyro angle -- the orientation of the pattern (either 90 starboard or 90 port). 5. Set the leg -- the length of each leg of the ladder (either 800 m or 1800 m). 6. Click the 'FaT' button again to switch back to the other torpedo settings. Hints for effective use: Use against convoys.

7 Fire from abeam (i.e., perpendicular to the course of the target) since the 2nd gyroangle can only be a right angle. Aim to hit the target during the initial straight run.

NavyFIELD. - Submarine Manual -

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