[TEC] Small-arms

[tater]

Luke can likely answer, but it's sort of moot anyway unless SH5 changes how deck crew are addressed damage wise (on subs or ships).

[bigboywooly]

Early war the prize rules were observed where possible and some ships were indeed seized though most were sunk once the crew had left

and also brought in the Estonian S.S. "Hanonia", 2543 tons, as prize.

Successes: U 41 brought in 2 Finnish ships from the North Sea as prize. No sinkings.

U 30 entered port.
She sank:
S.S. "Blairlogic" 4,425 tons
S.S. "Fanad Head " 5,274 tons
Stopping "Fanad Head" nearly proved fatal for the boat. While the prize party was examining the ship, a/c appeared and the C.O. was faced with the problem of either taking unrestricted action or losing the prize party. He chose the first alternative and finally achieved all he wanted by skill and daring.
This case shows how very difficult it is for U-boats to have to act according to prize law, especially with a/c. They make themselves vulnerable and lose their strength, which lies in being able to surprise and to dive.

http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDUKTB30248.htm

Aircover,arming of merchants etc made the prize rules unusable pretty soon - near the end of November\start Dec 39 - and War Order No 154 effectively ended the practice

Do not rescue any men; do not take them along; and do not take care of any boats of the ship. Weather conditions and proximity of land are of no consequence. Concern yourself only with the safety of your own boat and with efforts to achieve additional successes as soon as possible. We must be hard in this war. The enemy started the war iin order to destroy us, and thus nothing else matters

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/05-09-46.asp

Though the Athenia incident put paid to it almost straight away

[gimpy117]

I would suppose they planned to have an MG-34 mounted. good for shooting at small craft and what not. its possible that it just wasn't really worth it in game because the MG-34 was really there to suppress boarding parties and gunning lifeboats. but since there are no boarding parties...and gunning survivors is taboo...its not in game

[Adam84]

Originally Posted by perisher

After giving it some thought, I think it's for a "Crimson Tide" scenario. The XO, tired of the Skipper ignoring his complaints about the crew peeing in his coffee, enlists the help of the Soup Guy to take over the boat.

Seriously though, how many small arms did a Type VII carry? I guess a pistol per officer, maybe 4 rifles, a couple of MP38s and an MG34? "Crimson Tide" suggests that US boats carry enough weapons to arm an infantry battalion. Personal experience in the RN (1972-1984) says a "Ton" Class Minesweeper, with a compliment of 34, carried 4 rifles, 2 SMGs and 4 pistols. The wartime British movie, "We Dive At Dawn", suggests that a wartime boat had plenty of rifles and a couple of Lewis Guns.

You just reminded me of that great scene from Red October, "It's the goddam cook!" *que dramatic, distinctly red, sweaty shootout on nuclear sub*