DID UBOAT's knew depth under keel?
 

Hello I have a question. I was watching hell under the sea its a show on national geograchic about uboats. So episode was about operation drumbeat manly the U-boat U-123. U-123 was chased by norvegian ship trying to ram him. But U-123 could'nt dive because he din't knew the depth under keel? because of poor naval maps. But could'nt uboat just send a ping under the keel and measure it?
I am confused because in sh 3 you can check depth.
Anyone please tell me

Quote:
"German U-boats were equipped with a device called an "Atlas Echolot".This functioned just like the old "flasher" fish-finders and gave the U-124's captain the accurate depth of water."

http://www.sidco.org/papooseA.html

I don't know why couldn't U-123's captain use the device, maybe it was broken???

As far as I could tell by reading some historical documents, they had a problem with diesel in the last minutes before the collision, they managed to repair the engine, refer to the appropriate deeper water and hide, shoot a previously flares on the bridge of the ship

Thank you for replies. Maybe the show made mistake.

i was always under the impression that nearby warships would detect me when I send a ping downwards? :hmmm:

I read "Operation Drumbeat" , if I recall correctly without opening book...

Hardegan was in shallow waters off the southern coast of Long Island when the incident with the Norwegian merchant vessel happened. He mentioned that they were so close to shore, that they could smell the evergreen trees (Fire Island?).

The Norwegian vessel heading east from NYC, caught U-123 off guard and it did not have enough time to properly (safely) dive without hitting bottom. I think Hardegan was uncertain of the clearance above the conning tower if he dove. On the surface, u-boote is faster and more maneuverable than it's submerged. Besides, U-123 would have possibly been steam rolled if Hardegan decided to dive at that shallow depth.

In the book, there was no mention of the "Atlas Echolot" on board U-123 being damaged.

That is a real possibility when using any active (rather than passive) electronics. Take care when using echolocat or your sonar range finder, when enemy warships are about..