Destructive Question

[Whisper01]

Destructive, as in how "destructive" is the 14" shell that just slammed into my battleship?

In Naval Surface Combat I can watch the action and see the text version of what is happening during the battle sequence. I can not the durability of a ship shown as a number. But, how destructive - how much numerical damage is being done - is that 5" shell or that 14" shell or lord forbid, that 18.1" shell? How much numerical damage is being done regardless of the critical hit if it penetrates the armor?

When a a surface battle (or air attack battle on ships or even submarine attack upon ships) is complete and I note that this destroyer took four 5" shells into it how much damage (as a rule of thumb?) has been done?
On that same thread... how much damage is being done with a "critical hit" on average?
If its not possible to have a rule of thumb then how in the world does one have any reference to how much damage is being done? IE. if a set of destroyers depth charges a sub and it takes 5 hits inboard allong with armor penetrations each time is that sub VERY damaged, SOMEWHAT damages, SLIGHTLY damged? After a while and several surface combats you really have no idea whether the enemy surface fleet will sortie again because you really have no idea how damaged it really is even though you know its prime Battleship took 12 500# bomb hits?

On a further note when a sub attacks a passing fleet and takes a strike at a particular ship then how many torpedoes are fired? Normally the combat results count one torpedo hit which is odd as a sub (American at least) could fire 4 from the front easy and would do so if the target was worthy. While some or most might miss I never see double torpedo hits or triple torpedo hits or quadruple, etc... why is this?

[GreasyLake]

I see double and triple hits a lot, mostly on my IJN AP and AK. Not as much on combat ships, must be they are crewed better and maneuver more easily to avoid multiple hits. Although you will loose a BB to one torpedo if it sets off a magazine (remember that one Vettim?). Maybe the subs are not captained by leaders with high ratings, most launch 3-6 torps at a time.

I see most of this watching the text on combat animations. Maybe some of your game settings are not the same and you are not seeing all the remarks as they happen.

[pasternakski]

ORIGINAL: Whisper01
Destructive, as in how "destructive"

This is the mystery of our faith. You don't know. The "hit" may even have been a complete "miss."

If it's got flames and smoke coming out of it, it's probably pretty damaged. Other than that, you can't rely on the graphics in this game for hard information at all.

Your combat reports aren't much better.

[engineer]

There are some data bases that you can call up from inside the game that give ship data, plane data, and device data.  The device data includes details on the effect of weapons (from a Lewis gun right up to 18.1 inch rifles for the Yamato).  This includes max range, armor penetrations, etc.  This is on the left side of the tool bar at the top of the screen.  There is a randomization factor applied besides the critical hits so don't count on every hit being exactly what the data base says.
 
Four five inch hits on a destroyer are likely to seriously damage it - yard time to repair.  A large destroyer should be in little danger of sinking, but a small destroyer, especially with major fire damage or a critical hit, might be in danger of foundering if she is far from base.
 
"Critical hits" will typically create bonus damage.  There is a about a 5% (??) chance that any given hit that penetrates the armor will translate into a critical hit.  Once a critical hit occurs you might get extra systems, flotation or fire damage, a reduction in maneuverability or fire accuracy, or, rarely, a magazine explosion (think of the Hood).  Carriers can also get avgas or ordnance magazine explosions.  Critical hits have a sliding scale of damage from instantly sinking the target to perhaps an extra 10% to 15% of damage with the lower effects being more common.
 
Ships described as "Heavy Damage" have over 50% systems damage.  They won't be coming back looking for fight. 
 
Sub Damage:  The image that comes to my mind is that the near misses that result in damage are typically flashing lights and those hissing leaks from any number of sub movies that the crew can repair in short order.  Penetration hits result at least a partially flooded compartment that results in systems and flotation damage.  Most subs would be fatally wounded with five penetration hits. 
 
Penetration and bouncing bombs:  Most battleships will shrug off a dozen 500 lb'rs.  In surface combat look for the dense black smoke animation from damage.  That equals heavy damage.  Lighter smoke will typically indicate something over 10% damage.  Armor penetration is necessary to really hurt a ship.  A 500 lb'r hitting a battleship will only cause a point or so systems damage, might knock-out a secondary weapon, or spark a small fire.  Cherish your torpedo bombers.  I recall someone here on the forum commented that bombs let in air while torpedoes let in water.  You can figure out which is more dangerous for a ship. 
 
Torpedoes:  You can check the sub and see how many torpedoes were expended.  A sub will typically fire a full salvo at a high value target but may not fire more than two torpedos at an AK.  The hit percentage is a function of the target's speed, size, maneuverability, the sub's experience and the commander's ability.  Early in the game single hits are distressingly rare, but as the boats gain experience or come upon a crippled target, then multiple hits are more common.  Against merchants, the subs may also surface and score hits with their deck guns.  Also the game has the USN magnetic detonator flaw in it.  Named US subs are equipped with an insufficiently tested torpedo where the detonators caused the fish to run deep and miss their targets.  Other Allied subs and the older "S"-boats have contact detonators with a much lower dud rate.  The magnetic detonator flaw was fixed eventually.  The game reduces the dud rate in two stages so by 1943 things are fixed.