General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: Is this true?
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: December 12, 2005 08:11PM
Vince:
I believe I read this account it in Lowell Thomas's book "Raider's of the Deep". It has a number of colorful stories of WWI German U-boat exploits: A U-boat, pounding away with gunfire at near point blank range to sink a crippled British ship, hit some ammo that blew a heavy truck being shipped on deck up through the air and landing on the U-boat, sinking it. So, yes, this is a true story, but from WWI, not WWII.
Now, have I independently confirmed this? No. But it is not implausible. In WWI gunfire was a common way of dispatching merchant ships. Close range on a cripple - only a couple hundred yards or so - would be unusual but not unheard of for that era. And a heavy truck landing on a U-boat could swamp it, or crack open a pressure hull. Remember that WWI boats were a lot thinner skinned than the WWII boats, often with diving ratings of only a 50 to 75 meters.
I'll see if I can dig up the exact reference - I'm recalling this from memory.
Regards,
Kurt
I believe I read this account it in Lowell Thomas's book "Raider's of the Deep". It has a number of colorful stories of WWI German U-boat exploits: A U-boat, pounding away with gunfire at near point blank range to sink a crippled British ship, hit some ammo that blew a heavy truck being shipped on deck up through the air and landing on the U-boat, sinking it. So, yes, this is a true story, but from WWI, not WWII.
Now, have I independently confirmed this? No. But it is not implausible. In WWI gunfire was a common way of dispatching merchant ships. Close range on a cripple - only a couple hundred yards or so - would be unusual but not unheard of for that era. And a heavy truck landing on a U-boat could swamp it, or crack open a pressure hull. Remember that WWI boats were a lot thinner skinned than the WWII boats, often with diving ratings of only a 50 to 75 meters.
I'll see if I can dig up the exact reference - I'm recalling this from memory.
Regards,
Kurt
Subject | Written By | Posted |
---|---|---|
Is this true? | Vince | 12/11/2005 01:02AM |
Re: Is this true? | Fregatte | 12/11/2005 10:03AM |
Re: Is this true? | Vince | 12/11/2005 10:15PM |
Re: Is this true? | Fregatte | 12/12/2005 08:35AM |
Re: Is this true? | herbert gratz | 12/12/2005 01:45PM |
Re: Is this true? | Rainer Kolbicz | 12/12/2005 05:27PM |
Re: Is this true? | Hubertus | 12/12/2005 02:06PM |
Re: I doubt it | KJK | 12/11/2005 03:14PM |
Re: Is this true? | kurt | 12/12/2005 08:11PM |
Re: Is this true? | ROBERT M. | 12/13/2005 03:27AM |
Robert M. | MPC | 12/17/2005 07:52PM |
Re: Robert M. | J.T. McDaniel | 12/18/2005 02:01AM |
Re: Robert M. | ROBERT M. | 12/18/2005 06:53AM |
Re: Is this true? | ROBERT M. | 12/25/2005 02:58AM |
Re: Is this true? | Michael Lowrey | 12/12/2005 10:24PM |
Re: Is this true? | kurt | 12/13/2005 03:32AM |
Re: Is this true? | parmstrong | 12/13/2005 08:23PM |
Re: Is this true? | HughB | 03/17/2015 06:24PM |
Re: Is this true? | Vince | 12/13/2005 01:20AM |
Re: Is this true? | Michael Lowrey | 12/13/2005 01:43AM |
Re: Is this true? | herbert gratz | 12/13/2005 10:23AM |
Re: Is this true? | Michael Lowrey | 12/13/2005 03:04PM |
Re: Is this true? | TF | 03/26/2015 08:12PM |