1944 - Sneaky RL destroyer tactic

johnm · 01-22-07, 08:26 AM

Just been reading a book by Anthony Trew about convoying to Russia in 1944.

Book is novel but he commanded destroyers in WWII so I would expect tactics are based on reality.

Convoy assembled in Loch Ewe and as they left they detected a U-boat.

Two destroyers tracked it and setup a 'creeping' attack.

Ship A hunts, Ship B attacks. As follows:

Destroyer A tracks the U-boat, pinging like mad, coming up behind it.

Then Destroyer B comes over and slips in front of Destroyer A (not pinging at any time). Captain of A controls the attack, slows ship A to make U-boat think its slipping away, while ship B runs over the U-boat guided by Ship A's sonar.

When captain of A thinks B is far enough in front of U-boat for DCs to drop right, he orders the DC attack.

result: Destroyers 1 U-boat 0.

Nasty.

Hope GWX developers don't model that!

01-22-07, 08:26 AM	#1
johnm Navy Dude Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: North of England Posts: 173 Downloads: 68 Uploads: 0	1944 - Sneaky RL destroyer tactic Just been reading a book by Anthony Trew about convoying to Russia in 1944. Book is novel but he commanded destroyers in WWII so I would expect tactics are based on reality. Convoy assembled in Loch Ewe and as they left they detected a U-boat. Two destroyers tracked it and setup a 'creeping' attack. Ship A hunts, Ship B attacks. As follows: Destroyer A tracks the U-boat, pinging like mad, coming up behind it. Then Destroyer B comes over and slips in front of Destroyer A (not pinging at any time). Captain of A controls the attack, slows ship A to make U-boat think its slipping away, while ship B runs over the U-boat guided by Ship A's sonar. When captain of A thinks B is far enough in front of U-boat for DCs to drop right, he orders the DC attack. result: Destroyers 1 U-boat 0. Nasty. Hope GWX developers don't model that!