General Discussions  
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII. 
Radar and snorkels
Posted by: SuperKraut ()
Date: December 20, 2000 09:09AM

<HTML>The issue is not if a certain radar can pick up a certain snorkel design under ideal conditions, but what are the statistical odds that this can be accomplished under various conditions. If the water is perfectly flat or the snorkel is sticking out of the water too far it will be detected by late WWII radar. Digital signal processing made the detection of a snorkel almost a certainty under most conditions. The effectiveness of analog radar varied a lot depending on the conditions. It was a statistics game. Your example with the pilings is a good demonstration of this. Pilings are about the same diameter as a snorkel head, but they stick out of the water a lot further and are hence easy to detect. Pretty much the same applies to the analog vs. digital sonar issue.

Comparing the Soviet submarines of the 1950s with the possibilities the Germans had is also not quite valid. The Soviet submarines were relatively loud and easy to pick up on sonar. The Soviets never captured the German sonar factories and R+D facilities which were in the west. They just copied the XXI sonar they captured and failed to improve it. If the teardrop boat project had started in the 1930s, there would have been a full blown race between better sonar and quieter U-boats.

The comparison with the Cold War spying is also not quite valid since the price for discovery was a lot higher than potentially losing the submarine. Further, the submarine commander could not shoot back. The options and calculated risks applied in a hot war are quite different.

Regards,
SuperKraut</HTML>

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Subject Written By Posted
type xxi phil 12/17/2000 12:41PM
RE: type xxi David W 12/18/2000 06:36AM
RE: type xxi Dietzsch 12/18/2000 09:12AM
RE: type xxi Rainer Bruns 12/18/2000 01:35PM
RE: type xxi Nannia 12/18/2000 02:37PM
RE: type xxi Takeo 12/18/2000 03:16PM
fallout? Tom Iwanski 12/18/2000 03:39PM
RE: type xxi kurt 12/18/2000 05:43PM
RE: type xxi Rainer Bruns 12/18/2000 03:40PM
RE: type xxi Steve Cooper 12/18/2000 04:54PM
RE: garbage? Antonio Veiga 12/18/2000 08:16PM
RE: garbage? Rick Mann 12/19/2000 07:58PM
RE: gaijin kurt 12/19/2000 11:47PM
XXI and the 300 U-boats SuperKraut 12/18/2000 09:41PM
Scary thought J-E 12/19/2000 01:27PM
RE: type xxi kurt 12/18/2000 05:41PM
RE: type xxi MCE 12/18/2000 06:00PM
RE: type xxi kurt 12/18/2000 05:55PM
You have missed the point SuperKraut 12/18/2000 09:30PM
invisible snorkels at the XXI Kurt 12/18/2000 11:23PM
XXI capabilities SuperKraut 12/19/2000 08:27PM
RE: invisible snorkels at the XXI Craig McLean 12/20/2000 03:19AM
Underwater speed and range SuperKraut 12/20/2000 09:39AM
Snorkels and The Bismarck Add On Fin Bonset 12/20/2000 01:07PM
Bismarck Fleet Add On Fin Bonset 12/20/2000 01:09PM
RE: Bismarck Fleet Add On Fin Bonset 12/20/2000 01:10PM
RE: type xxi Steve Cooper 12/19/2000 06:20PM
RE: type xxi Stewart 12/19/2000 07:29PM
Blair SuperKraut 12/19/2000 08:49PM
RE: Blair kurt 12/19/2000 11:40PM
RE: I meant 1950\'s kurt 12/19/2000 11:48PM
RE: Blair Jim, 12/20/2000 01:35AM
RE: mystery radar kurt 12/20/2000 10:10PM
Radar and snorkels SuperKraut 12/20/2000 09:09AM
Wilhelm Bauer Type XXI Rick Mann 12/20/2000 05:06PM
RE: Wilhelm Bauer Type XXI SuperKraut 12/21/2000 10:08AM
RE: Wilhelm Bauer Type XXI Rick Mann 12/25/2000 05:01PM
RE: Wilhelm Bauer Type XXI SuperKraut 12/28/2000 12:41AM


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