In earlier posts, I've looked at TL6 bombs and TL7 missiles. And
now it is time for torpedoes.
All torpedo hits are below the waterline, but they can be contact
or non-contact hits. Assume that contact hits hit the side armor,
while non-contact hits hit the underside.
* A contact hit would be modern light ASW torpedoes with a shaped
charge warhead, or earlier models with a contact fuse (W132 has
serious malfunction chances for WWII magnetic fuses).
According to VE190, the DR of vehicle armor is squared against
outside explosions, even if they were in contact with the hull.
The side and underside DR will be at least 100, and could go as
high as 300 to 700.
With a typical damage of 6d*1,183 for a full-size torpedo from
a sub or destroyer (for a TL6 533mm modest HE warhead) quite a
lot of ships should be immune.
* An explosion of this size has a range increment of 8 yards in
the air, or 24 yards underwater (again VE190). If the torp is
that close, nothing will be lost by the lack of contact, and
W132 even gives a 50% bonus to damage after DR for this kind
of attack.
* A big TL7 torpedo, like the famous Soviet Type 65, would do
extra damage because of TL7 explosives, but mostly it has a
longer range and better guidance.
* Technically, even underwater explosions seem to count as flame
attacks. That means the cycle of fire and secondary explosions
will start :-)
So it seems torpedos are roughly as effective as bombs, except
that bombs are more likely to penetrate and explode within the
vehicle.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On a completely different issue, how do you take off from an
aircraft carrier?
* Stall speed has always been a minor part of the performance
rules, so I don't have all that much faith in those numbers,
but stall speed for carrier aircraft seems to be in the 60
to 90 mph range. gAccel would be around 10.
* The W149 formula is a restricted case for the more general
rules on VXii30.
* What these rules seem to be missing is the speed of the
aircraft carrier. Even in a calm, the ship can create a
headwind by moving at top speed (or something close to
it), and if there is wind the carrier can turn into the
wind. It would be foolish to depend on winds, but 30 mph
from the carrier should always be possible.
Taking the carrier deck as frame of reference, this cuts
all stall speed by 30 mph, which leaves 30 to 60 mph.
* The formula from W149 gives a catapult-assisted takeoff
run of 50 to 320 yards (for the low and high case), and
a landing run of 0 yards.
* I found a source for the TBM Avenger which gave a takeoff
run 960' (320 yards) on a calm sea and 430' (145 yards)
at 25 kts. Does that mean wind plus carrier speed, or
just carrier speed?
Something does not work. Either the stall speed is wrong or
the rules ... Even if the 90 mph stall speed figure at the
high end (for large torpedo bombers etc.) was too high,
aircraft should be able to take off on less than half the
length of the flight deck, something like 120 yards.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Finally, submarine aircraft carriers have a nice pulp action
appeal. Is there a way to justify them? WWII carrier warfare
follows a pattern:
0) Forces A and B steam around, either towards a target like
an island or simply looking for each other.
1) Both sides send out scouting subs and planes (either from
the carriers or larger, land-based aircraft) and prepare
their fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes. Some fighters
will be airborne or ready for launch to defend the fleet.
2) When scouts from force A detect the ships of force B, the
raid is launched towards that contact. Force B will move
during that time, of course.
3) It is unlikely that force B remains totally oblivious, if
only because they detect the scouts from force A. So they
will launch their own raid, somewhat later, and go after
the carriers of force A.
Luck or skill could allow one force to hit the other with
fueled and armed planes on deck, but you can't count on
that.
3a) If the raids meet each other on the way, the commanders will
have to decide if they want to detach their escort fighters to
blunt the enemy attack, or retain them to go after the enemy
defense forces.
4) If a raid finds the enemy carriers, it has to fight its way
past defensive fighters and AA to attack with bombs and
torpedoes.
n) Repeat until one force sinks, one force manages to break
contact, or both forces are too exhausted to continue.
If it was possible to submerge a carrier on the approach, or
while the raiders are away, that would be a major edge in this
cat-and-mouse game.
* Historically, there were subs with aircraft, but they carried
only a few seaplanes along the lines of catapult-launched
observation planes from a cruiser.
* VE ignores the problem of sealing large doors in a sub. The
rules for hangars (or dry docks/space docks) don't really
cover pressure. Would it be possible to turn the lifts into
locks?
* How much of a flight deck do you really need, for full-size
carrier planes?
* Prior to the introduction of angled flight decks, the deck
had to be prepared for landing (rear clear, planes parked
in front) or takeoff (front clear, planes in rear). Would
the timing issues preclude submarine operations? How long
to get a few dozen planes onto the deck?
_______________________________________________
GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]>
http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
