2 replies to this topic

[W. Clark]

I was perusing Richard Worth's comments on the Oi and Kitakami torpedo cruiser conversions and noticed they supposedly only had the fire control to target one target at a time. That got me wondering about destroyers with multiple launchers targeting more than one target at a time. I had always thought that each mount had its own firing solution and each mount could therefore target a different target if desired. But if a torpedo cruiser lacked that kind of fire control it seems likely that destroyers would also be similarly limited. So, what's the answer? Can a ship target multiple ships for simultaneous torpedo attack or is it limited to one target at a time?

[Cpt M]

I was perusing Richard Worth's comments on the Oi and Kitakami torpedo cruiser conversions and noticed they supposedly only had the fire control to target one target at a time. That got me wondering about destroyers with multiple launchers targeting more than one target at a time. I had always thought that each mount had its own firing solution and each mount could therefore target a different target if desired. But if a torpedo cruiser lacked that kind of fire control it seems likely that destroyers would also be similarly limited. So, what's the answer? Can a ship target multiple ships for simultaneous torpedo attack or is it limited to one target at a time?

The ships of the period did not have capacity to launch simultaneous attacks on different targets from different mounts. The firing solution would be developed by the torpedo sight (usually mounted on the bridge) and relayed to the mounts. While you could fire single mounts (and even some portion of a single mount) at one time, doctrine dictated one target at a time (in game terms, that would mean you could fire Mount 1 at one target this turn and Mount 2 at a different target next turn. But you can't do both in the same turn). Given the very low probability of hitting (even at close range), there really wasn't any benefit to launching attacks in 'penny packets' (even the Japanese, with their superior equipment and doctrine could only achieve hit rates in the very low single digits during the Solomons campaign).

[W. Clark]

That confirms what I thought was likely. I completely agree about the low hit probability as the Japanese only got 4 to 6 hits at Savo in what was probably the best target opportunity (unaware ships steaming straight ahead at 12 knots) that they ever had during WWII. Thank you for your reply.