a 1941 gun duel between a merchant and U-boat

[irish1958]

Originally Posted by MantiBrutalis

The U-boat may be an unsteady platform to shoot from, but on a very dark night it is also a tiny black target in a huge black ocean. If the captain of a U-boat thinks he can do enough damage and panic before the men can man the guns, a surprise attack could be deadly.

Many U-boat captains did finish off wounded ships even if their guns were still functioning - merchants sailors usually escaped the damaged vessel (or were too inaccurate to hit). The odds of hitting something that small, moving, and under constant fire was very low. One shot could destroy a U-boat, but it was very unlikely to hit one. Still, only the bravest risked it.

I may be wrong, but I recall that someone (?Jimbuna) once stated that the merchant gun crews were in fact Royal Navy crews and not merchant sailors.