Convoy decision

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Gustav Schiebert

The London Naval Treaty signed before the war, by Germany and Britain, meant that subs could not attack shipping while submerged. They had to surface, stop the vessel, inspect its cargo, then move the crew to a 'place of safety' before sinking it (known as Prize Regulations). Putting them in lifeboats did NOT count as a 'place of safety'.

During the First World War the u-boats were ordered to approach merchants on the surface, inspect their papers and let them go if truly neutral, but if they were enemy to allow the crew to abandon ship then sink them with scuttling charges or the deck gun. The British answer to this was the Q-Ship, which not only had guns hidden in crates or otherwise disguised, but even had small crews trained to man the boats and pretend to abandon ship while the gun crews made ready. Then, when the u-boats were ordered to use torpedoes in underwater attacks, the Brits started crying "Foul".

However, in order to recieve this pretty robust legal protection they had to be civilian ships. And if they carried ANY guns or ANY military personnel (as most did) OR communicated with the navy AT ALL (as practically every ship did after the outbreak of war, they lost their protection.

Also true. The whole point was to strangle an island nation by preventing supplies from getting through. The only question was whether to attack submerged, increasing the chances of success, attack on the surface, which sooner or later was certain death, or not attack at all.

[scudder]

Well, since we've wandered off into the woods somewhere (no offense taken, btw) I suppose I'll throw my hat into the ring as well.

We like to think that war has rules, and that those rules can be enforced. We like to think that, even in times of war, there is such a thing as right and wrong. Take the absurdity of the Prize Rules, as just one example. It's been pointed out already that both sides "broke the rules" in one way or another, and before long virtually every ship headed for England was a "valid target" because the reality was that every ship headed for England HAD to carry supplies/munitions/troops/whatever in order to keep the country afloat. The rules sounded nice on paper, but as soon as war broke out they were worthless. Reality just doesn't work that way.

The only thing common to every human armed conflict is death. Death of military men and women, which is often seen as acceptable on some level, and the death of civilians, which is generally considered barbaric and sub-human.

War is essentially an effort to carve out an exception to one of the fundamental civil principles of any developed nation: the prohibition of murder.

In that light no nation is innocent, no one wins or loses, and there are no "good" and "bad" sides. WWII is difficult, I think, because history and humanity have so clearly come down against what Hitler attempted to do. It's easy to see the allies as good and the Nazis as evil. Mind you, I'm not for one second suggesting that we're too hard on Nazi Germany, but the bipolar good/evil scenario is far too oversimplified. Das Boot, Saving Private Ryan, and any good documentary on WWII will show you that.

I've come to believe that if thinking about the reality of war (be it the specifics of the battle of the Atlantic, or war in general) doesn't make you squirm in your seat a little for want of a "cleaner set of rules" then you're not really paying attention.

As for the game, I play because a submarine is the ultimate strategy simulation, and is the polar opposite of the first person shooters that saturate the gaming market. I find the Pacific theater "boring" for reasons I can't put my finger on, so that leaves German U-Boats as the ideal sub sim. As a game mechanic, it's also convenient that things got more difficult for U-Boat captains as the war went on, allowing the player to gain and use skills in the game while maintaining a natural sense of historical accuracy.

[vanjast]

It's was war, by any means - sport.

Another POV from WW2 airwar - "Most pilots who died in WW2 often never saw their attacker" .... and this was in the big open sky.

Unfortunately in wartime people are often put into extreme situations where it is either 'you or me', and you'll do anything to survive - This is a natural animal instinct.

[SNAKE1937]

My ??? is what is the renown for a B Ship and all of the other Merch. ships.

I had all that written down some time ago but can not find it.

SO__ where can we find the "Renown" score for the ship we sink??


Thanks