hobbidude

Depth charges would add a needed demesion to the game of warship combat as it would allow a place for submarines and the useful purpose of destroyers. although pneumatic depth charges that shoots BB about 2 ins. away is really cool. what about the rule of weapons having to be environmental friendly or recoverable. i though of simply having a destroyer "tow" a swinging rod that is covered in spikes to puncture a nearby sub.

any feed back about new/more depth charges would be great as well.

darkapollo

a lot of problems.

1, many subs use a water tight compartment, puncturing it would be BAD for the guy with the sub, all of the electronics would be ruined.

2, static dive subs would be the only way to go because if they use a WTC they are still 'dry hull' thus a puncture could prove fatal.

3, dynamic dive subs have a balast tank (unless i have them switched) so it wouldnt really matter if you knocked a hole in the shell or not.

4, your boat is towing a rod with spikes on it, chances of hitting a sub? 10%, chances of getting caught on the 'sea floor' or other debris? 90%

5, what rule are you talking about? Im not going out and trying to find the 100`s of 1/4'' rounds that I shot during the day...

6, problem with subs, if they cant see you, you cant see you.

Captain Nemo12

This is an interesting subject,

I have been thinking about ways of getting subs into warship combat, several solutions:


1. Exploding torpedoes:

Would be nice to watch but making them would cause you problems (including going against club rules).

1. Safety problems

2. Problems of multiple reloads as your sub can only carry a limited number of torpedoes.

3. Problems of an explosion in your sub

4. Problems with that guy finding out how you just blew his prized warship into a million pieces!!

2. Deck gun:

This is a solution that is most likely to work. If it does however, your sub would have much less armament than a warship, I'd still bet on that battleship winning over your sub! Disregarding that fact, the ability to dive does give your sub an added bonus of defense by evading a possible attack.

3. Underwater camera link with the operator:

This is a solution to the problem of not being able to see your sub when underwater and at a distance. This would give you an avantage of getting to your enemies up close and easier targeting. Not sure if this is fair to the guy driving the warship though.

darkapollo

Capt'n I wish that I could float against U-Boats, the sleak wolf pack popping up and taking out a transport and slinking away before anyone knows what happened.
I have thought of a few different ways to make a torpedo, but none of them would be of much use after about 2'.
One way was useing a .22 blank in the end of a torp body, thus making a rather large .22 'bullet' that would be effective somewhat, underwater, however, I doubt you would want a blank firing on your precious sub underwater because of the pressures by the blank and the water acting on the hull. You may blow your self up in the process.

Big problem with cameras, they dont transmit very well from underwater. If there was a way, and I was floating against a sub armed with such a device, I would be more then happy to be attacked by it. After all during the war often all you would see was MAYBE a parascope for a second before a torpedo was in the water. Im sure that you could use the camera like that, on a parascope (I know you have seen them if I have) pop to parascope depth for a second, fire off a torpedo and disappear again. You MIGHT get noticed if you are fast enough on the aim and fire. Id say 10% chance of being seen.

My BigJ was never armed with anti sub weapons, I would be quite litterly 'the other type of ship' (you sub capt'ns call us TARGETS I believe) however if there was a way that a distroyer could be armed with a way to defend against subs....

I have just thought of a way to combat the 'unsinkability' of subs. It was often hard during WW2 to sink a sub since they were such small targets, I believe it would just be something to deal with for us warship guys. If we get distracted by on coming attack ships, then the frigets are fair game for subs to attack. Sub kills would be worth half of what a warship scores on a sink. Might not be VERY fun for the sub guys, but not being able to RECIEVE fire should make up for it. You cant get shot, but you dont score as many points.

Captain Nemo12

Darkapollo,

I agree that torpedoes would be a neat thing to have on your sub but, in order to cause damage to someone's warship without using explosions, the torpedo would have to be fired with great force in order to... say, puncture a hole in the warship's hull. In that case, electric torpedoes would not be much effective, so you'd have to use gas. Also, one thing that I noticed about gas-powered torps is that they never seem to run straight!!![&:] Unless you have a really accurate launcher that can fire torps with great force (sounds like a challenge... anyone?)I'd say you have a 50/50 chance of hitting a target.

One thing I'd like to ask about warship combat is: how big is the lake/pond that you guys sail in? The warships that I saw on the websites were fairly big, so I guess you'd need quite a wide berth for those things right?

darkapollo

If I were closer and my J were done, I would gladly let her be the target of a few torps to see if this 'sport' cant expand even more. As for pond sizes, I would guess that anything over 20' around would be ideal. My ship being one of the largest in 1/144 is 6'2'' I dont see it being much fun in a little 10' pond. Depths vary as well.

I did see that thread on here a while back with the Alpha? launching some NICE resin torps.

I shoot 1/4bb, and I have a few barrels that are too small for the ammo (mainly 1/4'' aluminum tube that the shot sits on) Im sure that there would be a way to make a decent torp out of those parts, then you have a cheap ammo source. Maybe soldering the 1/4'' bb to the top of the tube and using the same gas method that the sub with resin torps did.

hobbidude

all of uyou guys are straying away from the point to completely answer all your questions, here's your list:
1. subs can use a watertight compartment to seal electronics, but the sub must be able to be sunk
2. static and dynamic diving would bother be allowed although i think you would want ballast tanks. if your staic dive sub was hit it wouldn't be able to really surface. dynamic dive however would have more of a chance as they would just keep filling ballast until supplies run out. part of the point though is that you as a sub shouldn't be hit.
3. with really boats depth charges they are dropped behind the ship anyway. ever though of having the rod retractable
4. the reason that you don't have to get those 100 rounds that you shot is because they are made of steel instead of lead which is poisonous to birds, etc.
5. About the problem with subs, if they cant see you, you can't see you is exactly the point. you have to be able to see where your sub is anyway. with that all you have is the periscope rule in that you are considered sunk if your periscope is below the water. also you could have a reflect tape or bright paint on the top of the periscope or evryone to see.
6. you don't need exploding torpedoes beacuse first of all it isn't allowed. also all you need to have it do is poke a whole in a ship's hull. if you worry about getting the torpedo stuck in the hulls just round the point and have a spring so that once it punctures a hole, the string push it back out. that might even give you a second hole.
7. deck guns should be allowed even with small amounts of ammo but i think you would be using the torpedoes more often.
8.the solution to torpedo power isn't an electric motor. what you want to use is compressed air. that way it is easier to fire, recoverable after stopping, and give a powerful burts are a certain length.

for anymore Q and A real free to post.

ps i am still wondering about a destroyer attack agarinsts subs as well as depth charge ideas.

Captain Nemo12

Couple of comments:

Certainly. To better the protection, you can use metal WTCs, as long as you run the antenna to the outside. If the sub is to be sunk, a reliable failsafe or recovery system must be also installed (e.g. failsafe-activated servo to blow out ballast).

I think you are completely missing out on the idea of dynamic diving. Those subs don't really "keep on filling ballast" to dive, they are simply set up so they are positively buoyant. To dive, you simply apply speed and inclined diving-planes to push the sub underwater. Plus, with a dynamic diver, you would need to be constantly moving in order to be underwater. So, forget about the chance of getting any stable torpedo shots. Moreover, being positively bouyant, a slight shot to the WTC might render surfacing impossible. With a static diver, if you have a compressed-air back-up system, you'd still be able to surface.

Not really sure what you meant by that...

Being eco-friendly is good!!!

If your periscope is underwater then you are considered to be sunk... hmmm, what if you are diving with the periscope underwater? Would your sub be considered sunk too? The tape and paint do help, polarized sunglasses also help in providing better sight into deeper waters when the sun is around.

In that case, you can adopt the mechanism from a pen, just like when you press and the spring in the pen unleashes the ink tube.

I think you would be using the deck-gun rounds more often, as your torpedo loads are limited.

If a better launcher can be built, gas-power would definitely be the way to go.