General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Post war tin fish.
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: October 19, 2001 03:15PM
<HTML>Thanks for the support, Ken.
Jim: I know your concern.
I am not saying that the US did not borrow from the Germans, but I do think we need to watch out for thinking that just because the Germans thought of/tried something that the US later used, then it must be 'German derived'. We need to show clear copying of specific technologies and specific weapons.
Parallel development of new ideas is common in evolutionary advancement of technologies, and most US firms/govt organizations are loath to copy anything foreign.
The post-war US 'anti-convoy' torpedoes were clearly FAT technology inspired. As were wartime US electric torpedoes. Wire guided torpedoes? I don't know.
Sure, the Germans dabbled with them during the war. But was the concept of wire guiding such an 'out of the box' stroke of geniius that no one else would reasonably think if it? Or is it an obvious, evolutionary step that the US, as well as a number of others, was probably already thinking about. Did US torpedo researchers gather after the war and say 'golly, they were guiding a torpedo with a wire! Wow! What an idea!" OR did they say 'Look at how the Germans were trying out wire guiding torpedoes, too'.
Without proof of specific transfers, we are left with speculation, speculation that reflects more of our wishes and opinions more than historical facts.
If anyone can come up with any specific technologies, with references (I already mentioned the FAT anti-convoy technology), I would be very interested to hear about it!</HTML>
Jim: I know your concern.
I am not saying that the US did not borrow from the Germans, but I do think we need to watch out for thinking that just because the Germans thought of/tried something that the US later used, then it must be 'German derived'. We need to show clear copying of specific technologies and specific weapons.
Parallel development of new ideas is common in evolutionary advancement of technologies, and most US firms/govt organizations are loath to copy anything foreign.
The post-war US 'anti-convoy' torpedoes were clearly FAT technology inspired. As were wartime US electric torpedoes. Wire guided torpedoes? I don't know.
Sure, the Germans dabbled with them during the war. But was the concept of wire guiding such an 'out of the box' stroke of geniius that no one else would reasonably think if it? Or is it an obvious, evolutionary step that the US, as well as a number of others, was probably already thinking about. Did US torpedo researchers gather after the war and say 'golly, they were guiding a torpedo with a wire! Wow! What an idea!" OR did they say 'Look at how the Germans were trying out wire guiding torpedoes, too'.
Without proof of specific transfers, we are left with speculation, speculation that reflects more of our wishes and opinions more than historical facts.
If anyone can come up with any specific technologies, with references (I already mentioned the FAT anti-convoy technology), I would be very interested to hear about it!</HTML>
