Is the flak gun even working?

[Oumuamua]

I encountared a aircraft that only iluminated my aircraft and seeing its harmell i manned the flak gun but they just kept shooting but the aircraft didnt get hit.

[Brygun]

Ive shot down a Sunderland so yes they work

[ELB]

Flak is op and can 1v1 destroyers.

The Ai is just terrible at aiming. Man it yourself if you want to shoot down planes.

[Oumuamua]

But does changing your AA layout change anything or is it worth it?

[Brygun]

AA layout can help.

Bear in mind Subs vs Airplanes is a dicey thing.

some of the tricks of AA warfare are:

- fast boat in a medium to hard turn with AA constant on
General evasion... plane may circle far so you can use up your AA ammo like may have happened to the OP

or

- steady boat, turn off AA, wait for plane to start attack, turn on AA, hard turn
Bait and Kill
It likely will release bombs which may or may not kill you


I have witnessed airplane bomb >bouncing< off my hull. Maybe it was a depth bomb and needed water depth. It would have been on of those "for the memoirs".

If you do dive remember to get a bit of depth. Sub "shadows" or "outline" is visible from above when shallow. I forget the historic test results, yes some folks did those in the day. 50m or 90m are good to stay in the green range.

AFAIK each plane will release all its bombs in one pass. So after that its a much weaker danger. Not sure but I dont recall the planes using guns at the sub.

It does happen that additional plane may come over.

One wonders also if nearby escorts will be on their way too.

[PhantomTag]

I've also found that it matters where you shoot the airplane. On the big 4 engine planes if you shoot the fuselage the plane will probably be fine but if you aim at the engines you will get a much greater chance of meaningful damage or even a kill.

[diji]

Originally posted by ELB:

Flak is op and can 1v1 destroyers.

The Ai is just terrible at aiming. Man it yourself if you want to shoot down planes.

I'm terrible at aiming too. Is there a trick to it? Is AP or HE better for taking on planes?

[ELB]

HE for planes and fire at those coming for your ship. Pause while reloading (pause actually slows down time to almost a stop but doesnt stop it entirely) and use free cam to check where you hit or how far youre off.

[diji]

Originally posted by ELB:

HE for planes and fire at those coming for your ship. Pause while reloading (pause actually slows down time to almost a stop but doesnt stop it entirely) and use free cam to check where you hit or how far youre off.

Oh ok, I was trying to shoot the circling ones lol

[Brygun]

Originally posted by PhantomTag:

I've also found that it matters where you shoot the airplane. On the big 4 engine planes if you shoot the fuselage the plane will probably be fine but if you aim at the engines you will get a much greater chance of meaningful damage or even a kill.

Thats a good tip. Did that automatically from all the other game expereiences I've had.

I have had the AI shoot down a plane or two. Its not often though.

And yeah... planes control the range. A circling plane is circling where it feels its safe... outside of your range.

The movie "The Cruel Sea" has a bit where the Captain complains about the dern recon plane circling their convoy because he knows its radio is giving their location, course and composition to the enemy.

[Brygun]

Real life HE was preferred against aircraft, more shrapnel being many cutting paths "bullets", being more likely to cut "soft" things like control cables, fuel lines, fuel tanks and crew.

Not sure if the game models AP as more useful against "hard" objects like the airplane's engines. Lots of kinetic energy into the engine block will crack the engine block vs HE trying to cut all the necessary little bits outside the block.

>>>

Typical AP has more hard metal and less explosive to go through hard armor while HE thin shell and more explosive makes more shrapnel. AP in smaller rounds might be solid though the "cannon" sizes might still have a detonator. Not sure where the T2 tower secondary MGs are in that, might be solid no filler AP. Sure someone could pull up the historical designs.

[Wyzard]

Originally posted by ELB:

Flak is op and can 1v1 destroyers.

The Ai is just terrible at aiming. Man it yourself if you want to shoot down planes.

is this even historical ? i am asking if a flak gun could even damage a ship

[Red_Seven_]

Originally posted by Wyzard:

Originally posted by ELB:

Flak is op and can 1v1 destroyers.

The Ai is just terrible at aiming. Man it yourself if you want to shoot down planes.

is this even historical ? i am asking if a flak gun could even damage a ship

No transport ship was made of armor-steel. The hull was basically only made to keep the water outside and withstand the expected conditions of traveling across the ocean.

So yes, something like 2cm AP rounds were absolutely capable of piercing them and causing a good amount of (mostly secondary) damage.

[Brygun]

In addtion to Red_Seven_ above:

Flak size weapons could also injure crew. Which indirectly makes the ship hardly to keep afloat. 2 cm rounds might well pierce through a superstructure wall or two then explode tossing shrapnel through another wall to injure crew.

HE explosions might start fires so rapid fire Flak HE rounds might also start a fire... and then you shoot the crew trying to put out the fire.

Firing on the bridges might also injure/kill/prevent the helmsman steering. One might also stop the radioman from transmitting by injuring them, damaging the radio set or cutting the antenna.

Not sure if that is modelled in the game.

In play with the deck gun I often put one to a few HE rounds at the bridge to simulate this.

[ELB]

Destroyers have a rather thin hull. Tribal class 16mm for example. Flak 30 could penetrate up to 20mm on very close range. Even tho almost no information is found but it some sources claim they had minor succest against tanks.

So technically it could make some holes and kill those manning the turrets.

In reality it would jam half the time and overheat before any significant damage is done.
Neither of those mechanics is in the game tho.

In game ships often stop firering guns or at least pause if you score a direct hit on them. In case of a destroyer chasing you its all about who gets the lucky first strike.