It depends on the year. The US had broken japanese codes and were reading radio messages the whole war. The japanese were a chatty bunch and would send contact reports every day.
For example in early 1943, the US navy set up a department just to decode merchant radio traffic. Japanese convoys were supposed to follow strict timetables and to be at a certain position at noon of every day. This info was relayed to the subs and it got to the point were skippers would complain if the convoys were late for their noon rendezvous.
so yes, the large amount of contact reports does reflect real life.
|