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raymond6751 · 03-14-07, 02:29 PM

My Dad was in destroyers in the war. The best tactic used when multiple escorts were available was to have one stop and listen while the others pinged or circled. The circling ones were at a distance and the sub could hear those.

The listener would tell the others when the sub was heard.

Not all escorts, especially early war, had sonar. Hydrophones were the most widely used device until about 1941 mainly due to the need to pull a ship off duty to install, test, and train. They just didn't have enough escorts to release many to port.

Very early Canadian convoys often had only one or two ships with DC on board too. The others were dummy escorts, without even guns. They would harass the subs to keep them down while the convoy got away.

The movies don't show the reality of the situation faced by the Allies early in the war.

03-14-07, 02:29 PM	#157
raymond6751 Admirable Mike Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,338 Downloads: 421 Uploads: 0	Actually... My Dad was in destroyers in the war. The best tactic used when multiple escorts were available was to have one stop and listen while the others pinged or circled. The circling ones were at a distance and the sub could hear those. The listener would tell the others when the sub was heard. Not all escorts, especially early war, had sonar. Hydrophones were the most widely used device until about 1941 mainly due to the need to pull a ship off duty to install, test, and train. They just didn't have enough escorts to release many to port. Very early Canadian convoys often had only one or two ships with DC on board too. The others were dummy escorts, without even guns. They would harass the subs to keep them down while the convoy got away. The movies don't show the reality of the situation faced by the Allies early in the war.