Torpedo failures - weather related.

[GJO]

Originally Posted by BigWalleye

I was hardly offended. I was just in awe of your chutzpah. And a bit bemused that your thread began as a critique of the historical accuracy of h.sie's Torpedo Failure Fix.

The 'getting up close' technique is realistic and was clearly employed in real life by the most daring commanders of the early war years. Eye witness reports from merchant seamen who had survived a torpedo attack include reports of periscope spotted and even U Boats surfacing on a parallel course at a range of 200 yards. I am currently working with two volunteers who have tales to tell - one, as a child, was a survivor of the Dutch steamship Bodegraven that was sunk by U-547 in July 1944 - the other joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 16 in 1947 and served his apprenticeship with a Chief Engineer who had been torpedoed twice and gave very graphical descriptions that have stuck firmly in his memory for the last 67 years - both men have thoroughly researched aspects of the U-Boat War by talking to former Royal Navy and merchant seaman who were involved. The term "audacious" crops up frequently when they describe the attitude of U-Boat Commanders. As an example, both quote many incidences of a U-Boat surfacing alongside a sinking ship or among survivors in lifeboats so that the U-Boat Commander could ascertain the name and home port of the ship that had been sunk - something that is not mentioned in the books by Werner and Kretschmer!