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Vulnerability during schnorkeling?
Posted by: Tom Iwanski ()
Date: February 05, 2001 01:39PM

Hello all,

I enjoy this forum very much. Thanks to all of you who contribute.

With the advent of 3cm radar, the mast of a schnorkel could be detected by an aircraft or surface ship so equipped. It would seem that a u-boat would be particularly vulnerable while schnorkeling if discovered by the enemy. After all, the depth and course would be relativley static and a u-boat would seem like an easy kill, at least for an aircraft. (a side question here: could aircraft adjust the depth settings on D/Cs in flight?) In addition, surveilance would be limited to the sky periscope.

My questions are as follows: Was the German Navy aware of such radar developments and if so, were there any provisions to equip a schnorkel mast with radar detection gear? If not that, was there any knowledge or implementation of non-reflective components? (One hint I saw of this technique was in an underwater photo of U-260 where the caption denotes the schnorkel\'s \"anti radar covering\" [www.uboat.net]). Also, did running the diesels submerged lessen the effectiveness of the the u-boat\'s hydrophones? (I ask this since limited \"listening\" ability would also make a u-boat more vulnerable, as well as reduce its offensive capabilties, while schnorkeling)

I was wondering about these technical issues when considering the effect of a large deployment of type XXIs and the allied response to such a threat.

Tom

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Subject Written By Posted
Vulnerability during schnorkeling? Tom Iwanski 02/05/2001 01:39PM
RE: Vulnerability during schnorkeling? James Stewart 02/05/2001 09:14PM
RE: Vulnerability during schnorkeling? Steve Cooper 02/06/2001 03:07AM
Snorkeling and XXI SuperKraut 02/06/2001 08:49AM
RE: T schnorkels kurt 02/07/2001 10:22PM
T-valve snorkel SuperKraut 02/08/2001 01:29PM
RE: T-valve snorkel Bulldog 02/08/2001 10:48PM
Foresight SuperKraut 02/09/2001 08:16AM
Winning with mediocre weapons Bulldog 02/09/2001 09:40PM
High tech weapons SuperKraut 02/10/2001 09:07AM
RE: High tech weapons Bulldog 02/10/2001 08:56PM
RE: High tech weapons SuperKraut 02/11/2001 01:34AM
RE: High tech weapons Tom Iwanski 02/11/2001 03:19AM
RE: High tech weapons SuperKraut 02/11/2001 12:53PM
RE: High tech weapons Bulldog (which one?) 02/11/2001 09:50PM
Bulldog on Frasier Rick Mann 02/12/2001 03:49PM
RE: Bulldog on Frasier Bulldog 02/12/2001 09:17PM
RE: High tech weapons SuperKraut 02/12/2001 04:21PM
RE: High tech weapons Bulldog 02/12/2001 11:20PM
RE: T-valve snorkel kurt 02/10/2001 07:11PM
RE: T-valve snorkel Tom Iwanski 02/10/2001 09:25PM
RE: T-valve snorkel Anders Wingren 02/10/2001 10:40PM
RE: Snorkeling and XXI Tom Iwanski 02/10/2001 09:15PM
Snorkel history SuperKraut 02/11/2001 01:50PM
RE: Snorkel history Tom Iwanski 02/11/2001 04:32PM
RE: Snorkeling and XXI Don Dirst 02/06/2001 10:34PM


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