U-boats and Airplanes

[Sailor Steve]

As most folks know by now, I've been reading The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Naval Battles. It has many eyewitness accounts, from ancient Greece and Rome to the 1982 Falklands war. I started this as a separate topic because of this rather long account of what really happened when a u-boat met a Sunderland. This is by Flight-Lieutenant Douglas Gall, piloting Sunderland 'R', of 201 Squadron, RAF. May 31, 1943:

It came as a tremendous surprise to us when the submarine was sighted visually in the distance and we headed straight towards it, making our best speed, which was something in the region of 150 knots-downhill! We were going downhill, as we wanted to get to our depth charge height of 50 feet as quickly as possible. I'm afraid I didn't even think about refinements such as coming out of the sun. I just wanted to get there before he dived, because that's what he was going to do-any second.

We all expected him to dive and when he did not I asked my navigator to check whether we were near one of the "free lanes" for our own submarines. I was pretty sure we were not, but I had to be absolutely certain.

As we approached, I still had this haunting fear that it might be one of ours, and when he began to flash at us, I had the navigator check the Recognition Letter of the Day. I don't recall what it was, but it was certainly not an "H" or "S", which was what he was flashing.

It was my Scottish rear gunner who eventually put my mind at rest by calling on the intercom, "He's no flashin', skipper, he's firin'!"

We were fortunate that day to have the squadron gunnery officer as a "guest" crew member, PO Martin. Luckily, too, he was manning the front turret at the time, using the "pea-shooter", as we called the one forward firing Browning. And he used it to great effect, as witnessed by the dead bodies I saw in the conning tower as we passed over.

We dropped our stick of four depth charges from about 50 feet above the water. The dropping in these days was done visually by the pilot and I must admit that I missed by yards! But it was to be my lucky day, for the U-boat captain decided to turn at the last minute. I was amazed at the speed with which he turned through 90 degress, but delighted to see that he made the turn the "wrong way", right into the middle of the stick.

As we turned, we saw a shimmering explosion over the surface of the sea, the bous came out of the water to a vertical position and then slid slowly down. There was much jubilation and cheering on board "R" of 201, but even in the excitement then, I couldn't help feelin, as I have felt so often since, the poor devils!

The U-boat was U-440; Douglas Gall recieved the Distinguished Flying Cross for this action.
http://www.uboat.net/boats/u440.htm

[Swooth]

Wow that sounds like an interesting book, how "mammoth" is it and how much did it cost, if you don't mind me asking?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Swooth

Wow that sounds like an interesting book, how "mammoth" is it and how much did it cost, if you don't mind me asking?

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Naval Battles, by Richard Russell Lawrence; 638 pages (very fine print) published by Constable & Robinson ltd, UK, 2003. US publishing by Carroll & Graf. US version $12.95.

Be warned, though: Lawrence's writing isn't very good; the only good parts are the actual eyewitness accounts. I just finished the British attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto, by one of the Swordfish pilots, Charles Lamb, along with Fuchida's account of the attack on Pearl Harbor.