a 1941 gun duel between a merchant and U-boat

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The problem is that the 4.7"/45 could depress 10 degrees, which means that for it not to hit the U-boat is going to have to be right alongside. Most of the different DAMS guns were similar in elevation.

I think they just got surprised, the same as HMAS Sydney.

Yes, I didn't know that the gun could depress 10°.

However, just saying they were surprised doesn't really explain the matter. 130 rds. of 8.8 cm shells cannot be fired off that quickly. Possibly they knocked out the rear gun first off, then methodically worked over the ship from the rear?