Royal Navy zigzag tracks in WW2

[Linton]

I am reading a book called "HMS Thule Intercepts" by Cmdr A.Mars.In it he mentions a number of zigzag tracks that he used.Unfortunately he does not give any details.Does anybody have any ideas?

[micky1up]

well warships zig zag to avoid being hit by a torpedo there is no set pattern its still widely used today as a avoidance technique

[Linton]

There obviously was a pattern as the book refers to various alphabetical patterns being used.

[micky1up]

all i can say is im not a skimmer im a submariner i know that warships zig zag to avoid torpedo's in ww2 and they still do it today if they have a set pattern then it can be predicted thats a submariners dream knowing the large amount of rules and regulation the R.N has i wouldnt be surprised if its laid down in a set pattern but to really throw off the subs u need to be totally unpredictable

[Linton]

I got this from a book written by a submariner in the 1950s recallng his wartime exploits.The book is called HMS Thule Intercepts and was written by LtCmdr A Mars.the two he mentions are called Alpha and Zulu.Thule was a wartime diesel t-boat

[elanaiba]

There were definetly several standard zig zag patterns in Real life - unlike the random patterns that we see in SH3.

I've been trying to obtain this info myself, and some good fellows on uboat.net have pointed me in the right direction: The National Archives. Here are the docs that you should be looking for (perhaps there are more?)

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=-2354705&CATLN=7

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=5054565&CATLN=6

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=484272&CATLN=6

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=484284&CATLN=6

As far as I can see, one can get the files scanned or copied by the archives, but this costs money ... too much for my finances. On the other hand, by visiting the archives (and ordering this in advance) you can get them for free.

Hope this helps.

Dan

[Dan D]

Hello Dan D imitrescu, namesake,


:up:

[elanaiba]

Oh, great, my cover has been blown (again) :P

Hi Dan!