Was it really a ping?

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by xarel

Hello all,

might be off topic, but I couldn't find a better place, so I might as well post it here (feel free to move me wherever it suits):

The question I have for years now is:

Did the ASDIC/Sonar "Ping" really sounded like the "Ping" we all know?

I stumbled upon Buchheims description many years ago:
"Plötzlich wird eine Handvoll Kieselsteine von außen gegen das Boot geworfen", translation: "Suddenly a handful of small stones is thrown on the boat from outside".
I always wondered how that sound translates to the Ping I heard in the movie and in all subsims I played, but I explained to myself that the Ping-sound is difficult to describe and that was his attempt to achieve it. After all, what do I know how it sounds if stones are thrown against a steel hull, and you are standing inside of it? I'd assume it would sound different, but he was there...

Now I stumbled upon the german Wikipedia explanation of Sonar, and in the discussion section someone asked the same question as above. The answer he got was: No it didn't sound like that, since the frequency used was 12K to 30K and wouldn't result in a sound like that (however, the sonar operator on the destroyer would hear the ping sound through his headphones). The people in the boat would register something like a snap, crack or click (german: "knacken"), which fits much better to Buchheims description.

Can someone confirm/disconfirm this?

If it wasn't a ping sound- how did it sound? I guess an example sound file isn't available.

What confuses me is that every movie and every sim I know of has the "ping"- are they really all wrong?

Best regards, xarel

http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-1.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-2.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-3.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-4.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-5.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-ping.wmv

Good luck!