Odd torpedo issue and subs

[John B.]

It's 1943 and the US sub war got kickstarted by the improvement in torpedos. The only thing is, I have noticed that over the course of the year, the US Mark 14 torps are still awful against any type of Japanese combat ship. I would say, rough estimate, that 50-60% of shots on AK, TK, AO type ships explode. But, against any type of combat ship (SC to BB) 10% or less will detonate. These numbers dont count misses but only where the message is "torpedo failed to detonate." I don't have exact numbers but there have been at least 30 shots at IJN combat ships (mainly escorts) in the past three months and only two have gone off.

Speaking of subs, any tips for the US would be very helpful. He has reorganized his convoys and decreased my shot rate by quite a bit. Anything I can do to reorganize or do I just keep waiting for the next upgrade?

Thanks in advance

[Quixote]

From the manual:

6.4.2.1 NOTE ON TORPEDO DUDS
In January 1943, all torpedoes with a dud rate of greater than 49 have their dud rates reduced by 20. In September 1943, all torpedoes with an adjusted dud rate greater than 20 have their dud rates lowered to 10. Allied torpedoes were notoriously inefficient in the early stages of the Pacific War, and this rule reflects their slow but steady improvement over the years.

Basically your torpedoes will get a little better at the beginning of 43, but a lot better as of September 43.

[henhute6]

I think combat ships are faster and more agile so that torbedos fail to hit them as good angles than slow merchant ships. They just bounce off wothout detonition.

[Lokasenna]

Get radar on those subs! I'm not sure how much it will help against escorted convoys, but it's got to help some, right?

Otherwise, I think keeping your detection levels low so that the sub can launch more often is also good, and operating multiple subs in the same area can eat up Ops points on the escorts, allowing you more/better shots on the juicy parts. I've noticed several times when I have more than one sub fire at a TF, the first one will only see the escorts but the later ones are more likely to see/shoot at things like AOs, TKs, BBs, and CVs.

[John B.]

Thanks everyone. I have to remember the ops point problem the subs have. There are some areas where there is not much deep water and the IJN floods those with SCs to keep my head down.