Help with Mk 37 torpedo tactics

[Outis]

Having issues being sucessful using these torpedos because of the slow speed. Can anyone elaborate on how to use these successfully?

[Chris]

I've had this problem too. I'm guessing you've been playing through the third single mission or the 60's campaign. I had no chance at hitting a Kashin with these it would just out run them. My only chance would be to go head on with it hoping i can avoid its torps and that it doesnt fire RBU's, though it probably will.

[skwabie]

Real Men use the Mk 16!
I'm not one of those, unfortunately...

[MixedupJim]

I had a destroyer keep circling round and round as two of these chased it for a few minutes, then for some reason the DD cut her engines and they finally caught up and got her.

You need to get ahead of the convoy so my usual tactic is dive deep so I don't cavitate and go flank speed till I've over taken them. Then pop up and get as many fish in a spread across the convoy path as possible.

They're slow but they have a long running time.

[maxx99]

Yeah, I had a Victor just lazily outrunning my MK 37 like it was a Sunday stroll. My next tactic will be going after only the intended mission target/s stalking them and getting in their baffles and striking from behind. Timing and luck plays a big roll in the 60's campaign. Difficult for sure. I wonder how the cold war commanders handled these US torp limitations.

[TedwinV]

So, when you're playing the 1968 campaign, you have to play it a lot more like it's WWII, when your sub couldn't go that fast and all you had were straight-running torpedoes. That means:

-Get as close as you possibly can before firing. Basically, if there's no contact that has a +10 sensor rating or higher on you, you need to get closer. Luckily in the 1960s soviet sonar was deaf; I have approached to within 1kyds of a Kashin before he finally was able to notice me. I fired immediately and he ran before he had a chance to depth charge me.

-Against subs, maneuver into their baffles and again, fire as close to them as you can get. Since the Mk 37 is a "swim out" weapon with no launch transient, you can get away with this often. If you can keep the wire, the torpedo only makes 120db (quieter than your sub!), so try to keep it from activating until the last possible second. Obvioiusly to do this, you need to keep the wire as long as possible.

-Use multiple torps to ensure a hit. This is how you catch anything that's as fast or nearly as fast as the Mk 37: fire one torp to get them running away from it, and fire another one and maneuver it so that they basically drive into it. They will have a much harder time avoiding a torp that's in front of them at close range.

-Keep a couple of Mk 16s for finishing crippled surface ships. They are straight running, so to hit a fully capable ship you'd need to be very close and fire a spread. But if you've already tagged them with a Mk 37, the Mk 16 is fast and has a much larger warhead, ensuring the kill on something that can't maneuver very well, and conserving Mk 37s for more capable target.

-You're just going to have to give up on killing everything in sight in this campaign like you may be used to in 1984. Warships that get wind of your torpedoes will be able to outrun them unless you can trick them into sailing right into them. Go for the mission objective, shoot a torp or two to keep the escorts busy, and then disappear.

-You can use any of the 3 subs for this tactic, but it's easier to get close with the Sturgeon because it's quieter. On the other hand, the Skipjack has six tubes, so you can make your salvos count more, and it goes faster so you can frantically evade better. :) Permit is unfortunately the worst of both worlds here; louder than the Sturgeon and slower than the Skipjack and only 4 tubes. However it's also worth noting that the Sturgeon and Permit can keep two torps on the wire, while Skipjack can only handle one.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[gazzmilsom]

Mk37 is an ASW torpedo. It is a poor anti ship weapon. Destroyers are hard to kill in 68. You don't have an effective weapon against them. You also never need to kill them! A mk37 will cause them to evade for over 20 minutes letting you sink your target. Mk16s are far better at sinking larger ships.

Against subs the mk37 is your only weapon. However it is only adequate at best. It is built to take on slow diesel subs. Which was what the majority of Soviet subs were in 68. If it went any faster it would lose range rapidly and its sonar wouldn't work as well. Hence it only runs at 17kts and 26kts when active.

Against diesels you can launch from a good few kyds. Though it's best to shoot from the baffles, you don't have too. You can and should get a good TMA and stay at a range were the diesel sub cannot detect you. You can wire guide in, activate at under 2kyds. Change course to avoid any set65s chucked your way and your golden.

SSNs are the problem. Ideally you get in the baffles. Try to have your weapons activate when you've outside their sonar range if you can. So cut speed and let them get away while your weapons close in. If you have two wires put your torpedoes one on the left and one on the right of the target. The AI will often not be able to out turn one without running into the other. A salvo is the only way anyway as the mk37s warhead doesn't guarantee a kill.

If the cold war had gone hot. US subs wouldn't have bothered with the mk37 if the target was an Soviet ssbn trying to break out into the Atlantic. The mk45 ASTOR and SUBROC existed for a reason