DC's at different depths.

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by XonE:32

Where's LukeFF when ya need him? While reading it I thought ..."this sounds like the type o' book the RFB team had at hand when making their mod, I bet he's got a copy." I was all over the forums yesterday just lookin' at different stuff and I think I even saw him reference it in another post somewhere.

Yep, I have this book and his earlier one on naval radar. Both books are goldmines of information, and I've no doubt his other books are just as well-written.

But I was more surprised at how useless they (DC's) were overall unless they were so close. But at the same time one really well placed shot would ruin your day down below. Whether it was a dramtic hull breach which I get the sense was probably pretty rare, or creating minor damage that would lead to an oil slick which would be just as bad. Nothing like telling your enemy exactly where you are. Add advanced ASW on top o that and you can see how and why the DC's got more dangerous as the war went on.

The big idea behind a depth charge isn't so much to blow a hole in the side of the submarine (though the result is no doubt effective) but rather to shake the submarine apart, which in turn springs leaks, causes fires, knocks the crew around, etc. The weapons that really did a lot of damage in-close to submarines were the hedgehogs and, of course, homing torpedoes.