Uboat Commanders were much better than their Luftwaffe counterparts in keeping track of position at sea. Recon Planes who would radio position of Allied convoys to Wolfpacks often sent them to the wrong location. So Doenitz ordered the planes to broadcast a beacon, and the uboats would home in on it.
The uboats also had the ability to broadcast this beacon, but because they were better at keeping their positions, it was safer for them to just send the positions short signal.
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U.Kdt.Hdb B. I. 28) This possibility of using the hydrophone to help in detecting surface ships should, however, be restricted to those cases where the submarine is unavoidably compelled to stay below the surface.
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