Gross stupidity or just plain bad luck

[Jimbuna]

11 March 1943 fast convoy Halifax 228....initially 80 ships escorted by British Escort Group B-3, commanded by A.A. Tait in the destroyer Harvester plus Escapade, 2 Polish-manned destroyers, Burza and Garland, and 5 corvettes, two British and 3 French.

The convoy is attacked by U-boats of the Neuland group.

Harvester sights a U-boat on the surface (Albert Langfeld in VII U-444).

Harvester rams U-444, riding up and over, entangling the U-boat in her propeller shaft. by the time both boats break free, harvester's propellor shafts and screws are so badly damaged that she can only crawl on one engine.

Despite the plight of his own ship, Tait saves the lives of one German from U-444 and also 50 American survivors of the William M. Gorgas.

Hermann Eckhardt in the VII U-432 came across Harvester lying-to dead in the water, he fired two eels from a distance of approximately 700 yards. both hit Harvester and she sunk with the loss of 149 men, including Tait.

Earlier, Tait had summoned the Free French corvette Aconit, commanded by Jean Levasseur, to close and screen Harvester. Aconit belatedly arrived to find no Harvester, but a sea teeming with her survivors and those of the William M. Gorgas and one German clinging to rafts and wreckage.
At the same time, Aconit spotted the U-444, which Harvester had rammed, still afloat. Leaving the survivors temporarily, Levasseur raced at U-444 and rammed her so hard the U-boat split in two and sank immediately. Levasseur fished out 3 Germans.

Returning to the scene where Harvester had sunk, Aconit unexpectedly got a good sonar contact. This was Harvester's killer, U-432, still at periscope depth.
After sinking Harvester, Eckhardt had opened a bottle of champagne so the officers could celebrate, after which the officers and crew had begun to eat lunch or to sleep. When the first two salvos (ten depth charges) from Aconit fell, U-432 was deaf and blind. The hydrophone operator was washing the champagne glasses: the first watch officer had gone to bed. The close explosions caused extensive damage and drove U-432 to a record one thousand feet.

The depth to which U-432 plunged so terrified all hands that Eckhardt decided to surface in broad daylight and attempt to outrun his attacker. When U-432 popped up, Aconit was merely a half mile away. The French spotted the U-boat and instantly opened fire with the 4" gun and other weapons.
This heavy gunfire probably killed Eckhardt and many other Germans who were topside. Aconit eventually sunk U-432 and rescued twenty Germans, including the first watch officer before returning to the area where the survivors of Harvester and Gorgas were adrift and took them all aboard. The recued included 24 Germans-4 from U-444 and 20 from U-432.

[bigboywooly]

GROSS stupidity

What a moose
Didnt he think the other escorts would come to the aid of the crippled DD ?

Guess most of them learnt the hard way

[Jimbuna]

He must have been on low realism settings

[yamato9]

Unbelivable..drinking champagne in midle of this mess.
Very strange behavior/error for germans who is knowed by his heavy organisation and discipline.:hmm:

Stupidity is my answer for this.

[Brag]

When drinking champagne, keep your ears open --ancient Macedonian saying

[Jimbuna]

Never promote the hydrophone guy to chief bottlewasher :hmm:

[NiclDoe]

Or put me or Bernard in charge.:rotfl: :rotfl: Just 2 days ago i thought I had me a Tramp and it turned out to be a hampton cruiser.:rotfl: :rotfl: I am never doing hydro again.

Originally Posted by jimbuna

The close explosions caused extensive damage and drove U-432 to a record one thousand feet.

:hmm:

[TomcatMVD]

Scary...

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Julius Caesar

:hmm:

As quoted from the source

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by TomcatMVD

Scary...

.....and stooooooooooooopid

[TomcatMVD]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

.....and stooooooooooooopid

Might be, I just don't dare to say that so quickly... and openly without actually knowing what happened.
I believe the sources presented, just don't deem myself allowed to say such a thing.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by TomcatMVD

Might be, I just don't dare to say that so quickly... and openly without actually knowing what happened.
I believe the sources presented, just don't deem myself allowed to say such a thing.

The source is Hitler's U-boat War, The Hunted 1942-1945, Clay Blair, pages 256-257.

[TomcatMVD]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

The source is Hitler's U-boat War, The Hunted 1942-1945, Clay Blair, pages 256-257.

I said I trust it! Really!

[BulSoldier]

I want to buy both books (hunters and the hunted) but damn publishers, why they dont translate them in bulgarian