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Originally Posted by The Mad Asshatter
Did convoys actually scatter or zigzag when a ship was sunk? I would have thought that the best response would be to push on and send an escort out to scare away the sub.
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Scattering a convoy would be suicidal. The very reason the ships made the trip across the Atlantic in convoys was to counter the U-boat menace. If they would scatter after a sinking they would be easy prey for the U boats cause there would be no more escort protection for them.
Not only that: they would've been located as well.......imagine a pack of Seewolves
picking off single merchants one by one....
A good example of what could happen if a convoy was ordered to scatter is the tale of convoy PQ17. (it was ordered to scatter not because of a U-boat threat, but because the Admiralty thought that capital German ships were making their way to the convoy)
Anyway just search for PQ 17 on the internet and you will find out all you need to know.....it was a disaster.