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Re: Comments
Posted by: JAYRSEE ()
Date: November 28, 2001 07:27PM

Dear SK,
In reading some of your input to various sections of this site, I'm impressed to the point where I will venture a question with respect to an experience my ship went through in the summer of '44, subsequent to the Normandy Invasion.

Around the middle of the middle watch of a moonless night, we were one of a group of Canadian Frigates (Hunter/Killers) doing A/S sweeps at the southwest end of the English Channel, closer to the French coast. Our RADAR operator reported a distant surface contact of a small object, too remote to identify. As time passed we closed the contact at a comparatively rapid rate but RADAR repeated an inability to define it.

The O/W eventually rang Action Stations, but before we had closed up, prepared to engage, the object had closed our position. I stepped out of my Huff Duff shack, located immediately below and abaft the bridge, on the port side, to see what was going on. The unidentified object "putt putted" its way down our port side as clean as a whistle, and was that close to the side of our ship that I could virtually have spit on the Schnorkel. The after oerlikons got off a few rounds at the thing, but we lost contact with the sub as it carried on into our wake. Our Old Man was fir to be tied, but he didn't throw the O/W over the side for not ringing action stations sooner.

It appeared at the time that had we not been on exact opposite courses that we would have collided with some portion of the Schnorkel apparatus or the periscope housing. Our ship drew 14'4" at the bow and we were on an even keel, on a steady course.

Another Canadian ship had encountered a similar such a situation off the Irish coast and inflicted considerable damage on the sub, and some to the surface vessel itself.

I wondered at the time why the hydrophone operator on the sub had failed to detect the presence of our approaching vessel. Is it possible that the reverbrations of the engine exhaust through the schnorkel had caused a dead spot 'dead ahead' or maybe the guy had dozed off.

Would you care to comment or speculate as to how we managed to avoid some form of collision?

Yours Aye,

J.R.C.

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Subject Written By Posted
How did U-Boats spot planes? Keith Wilkinson 09/11/2001 11:10AM
RE: How did U-Boats spot planes? oliver 09/11/2001 03:47PM
RE: How did U-Boats spot planes? Ken Dunn 09/11/2001 06:02PM
FuMO Keith Wilkinson 09/11/2001 08:52PM
RE: FuMO Ken Dunn 09/11/2001 09:46PM
U-boats and radar kurt 09/12/2001 08:57PM
RE: U-boats and radar Keith Wilkinson 09/14/2001 06:23PM
Comments SuperKraut 09/15/2001 11:10AM
RE: Comments kurt 09/17/2001 05:31PM
Re: Comments JAYRSEE 11/28/2001 07:27PM
Re: Comments radar gmansw7 05/20/2016 09:43AM
Re: Comments gmansw7 05/20/2016 09:45AM
RE: U-boats and radar James stewart 09/17/2001 11:10AM
The HF war at sea SuperKraut 09/15/2001 10:56AM
Type VllC Keith Wilkinson 09/17/2001 06:35PM
RE: Type VllC kurt 09/19/2001 02:10AM
SWAMPS Keith Wilkinson 09/19/2001 06:52PM
RE: SWAMPS kurt 09/19/2001 07:51PM
RE: SWAMPS walter M 09/21/2001 08:53AM


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