General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Allied Subs and friendly fire???
Posted by:
Tom Iwanski
()
Date: June 21, 2001 03:31PM
<HTML>Hi Dave,
I\'m not sure how it worked in the Atlantic, but there were often times in the Pacific when Allied and Japanese subs were prowling the same waters. In the accounts that I have read, U.S. subs had a protocol of exchanging SJ radar recognition signals with other craft for positive identification. I\'m not absolutely sure that this was always a viable option with all allied ASW aircraft, as they may not have had the necessary equipment.
Allied ASW groups also relied on reports of where friendly subs were patrolling.
As a last resort, a destroyer could establish sound contact with a sub and exchange a recognition signal via Morse. This was the case with the USS Rowell when they suspected their sound contact might be the USS Seawolf. As it turned out, the signals the sub returned were not recognized by the Rowell and she launched several hedgehog attacks. The Seawolf never returned from patrol, and it is suspected that the Rowell sunk her.
Regards,
Tom</HTML>
I\'m not sure how it worked in the Atlantic, but there were often times in the Pacific when Allied and Japanese subs were prowling the same waters. In the accounts that I have read, U.S. subs had a protocol of exchanging SJ radar recognition signals with other craft for positive identification. I\'m not absolutely sure that this was always a viable option with all allied ASW aircraft, as they may not have had the necessary equipment.
Allied ASW groups also relied on reports of where friendly subs were patrolling.
As a last resort, a destroyer could establish sound contact with a sub and exchange a recognition signal via Morse. This was the case with the USS Rowell when they suspected their sound contact might be the USS Seawolf. As it turned out, the signals the sub returned were not recognized by the Rowell and she launched several hedgehog attacks. The Seawolf never returned from patrol, and it is suspected that the Rowell sunk her.
Regards,
Tom</HTML>
