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Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kaleu. Jochen Mohr
bah. they didnt drop DC's near merchie's in RL 
if a U-boat got in a convoy then the escorts couldnt do znything except sail above them. they didnt fire for fear they would hit one of the merchie's |
BULL COOKIES!!! 
If you think for one moment that an escort group commodore would just sit on the outside of the convoy and simply observe while a U-boat merrily sinks all his charges...
Your are dead wrong!!!
<...and that's a fact Jack> |
BULL COOKIES!!!....INDEED!!!
This is from the proverbial horses mouth (my 84 year old father....a veteran of WWII merchant navy....and still around to tell me of his dismay at my choice of side in this subsim)
An escort commanders absolute priority on gaining a positive detection of a sub was.....DESTROY AT WHATEVER COST AND MEANS AT YOUR DISPOSAL.
What my father witnessed in the way of seamen being run down by boats (merchant and warship) whilst trying to stay afloat in lifejackets in pursuit of a contact I would not like to recount on this forum, purely out of respect for the families of those brave souls. (the British seamen)
Can someone jog my memory but wasn't there a B&W war movie (The Cruel Sea or In which We Serve) perhaps...I'm not 100% certain but I think the escort commander was played by Jack Hawkins....and it clearly depicted depth charging an area where British seamen were floating in the water, then running them down, all in the cause of prosecuting a sub contact ?
IIRC there was an outcry by the public because up to then it was never wideaspread knowledge.
Or how about this (forgive the OT rant).....Murmansk convoys equipped with CAM ships whose sole fighter had only a small fuel tank to make it lighter and therefore easier to catapult off a very short gantry. Life expectancy in the water 2 mins max. Escorts orders... NOT TO STOP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES...therefore it has been known for the pilot to ditch beyond the horizon saving morale sapping experiences for those who might witness it.
I feel quite fortunate....not only have I read the books but I also have my father around to further educate me.......LEST WE FORGET
As so aptly put before me "....and that's a fact Jack"
