General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
reverse hedgehog
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: August 03, 2001 12:27PM
<HTML>I\'ve wondered about this, too.
Why not release a cascade of small, bouyant contact mines from the sub when being held under by an escort? The mines would bob up to the surface and arm themselves. Any escort trying a depth charge run would run the risk of hitting one. The thin skinned escorts could easily be damaged by even a small warhead. This might force the escorts to stay away, wary of making a run right over a sub, and give it a chance to get away.
Of course, the warheads would be very small, and they would perfectly mark the spot where the sub is located when they bobbed to the surface. Then hedgehogs or depth charge throwers could be used on the sub from a safe distance. Perhaps not such a good idea, after all.
Both Germany and the US deployed acoustic homing torpedoes as anti-escort devices on subs during WWII, to little effect. The German models apparently did not work well and were easily spoofed. The US models came into use so late in the war they saw very limited use.
Probably stealth and quiet, trying to sneak away, was the way to go.</HTML>
Why not release a cascade of small, bouyant contact mines from the sub when being held under by an escort? The mines would bob up to the surface and arm themselves. Any escort trying a depth charge run would run the risk of hitting one. The thin skinned escorts could easily be damaged by even a small warhead. This might force the escorts to stay away, wary of making a run right over a sub, and give it a chance to get away.
Of course, the warheads would be very small, and they would perfectly mark the spot where the sub is located when they bobbed to the surface. Then hedgehogs or depth charge throwers could be used on the sub from a safe distance. Perhaps not such a good idea, after all.
Both Germany and the US deployed acoustic homing torpedoes as anti-escort devices on subs during WWII, to little effect. The German models apparently did not work well and were easily spoofed. The US models came into use so late in the war they saw very limited use.
Probably stealth and quiet, trying to sneak away, was the way to go.</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Anti-escort device
|
Tom Iwanski | 08/02/2001 03:18PM |
|
RE: Anti-escort device
|
Antonio Veiga | 08/02/2001 06:43PM |
|
RE: Anti-escort device
|
walter M | 08/02/2001 07:57PM |
|
reverse hedgehog
|
kurt | 08/03/2001 12:27PM |
|
Ursel
|
SuperKraut | 08/14/2001 10:38AM |
|
RE: Anti-escort device
|
Steve Cooper | 08/03/2001 01:47PM |