Crushing fishing boats: historical?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by starkwolf

So, in SH3 you can crush fishingboats of enemy nations. Rather cruel, waste of time and an unnecessary risk considering they would probably try to report your position if they go down, and certainly would if they got away. That said, Hitler had a fondness for fear tactics, often sacrificing practicality to try and make the war as scary for his enemies as he could. Not to mention I could somehow imagine Hitler rationalizing it as a starvation tactic.

That got me wondering, did Uboats ever actually attack fishing vessels? If so, were they ordered to or did they do it on their own volition? While it seems wildly impractical to me, it doesn't seem far fetched that someone as bent on terror as Hitler was might consider such a thing.

It all depended on the commander. Some of them evaded fishing boats; others sank them.

I've read accounts from both World Wars and it was fairly common to sail away from them .... too little tonnage to be worthwhile, plus the danger of them radioing for destroyers. Also, some trawlers worked in combination with submerged enemy subs. Or had guns big enough to breach the pressure hull; I have seen plans for fishing boats of the time with 3" guns....more than enough to sink a sub.

[XenonSurf]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

It all depended on the commander. Some of them evaded fishing boats; others sank them.

I've read accounts from both World Wars and it was fairly common to sail away from them .... too little tonnage to be worthwhile, plus the danger of them radioing for destroyers. Also, some trawlers worked in combination with submerged enemy subs. Or had guns big enough to breach the pressure hull; I have seen plans for fishing boats of the time with 3" guns....more than enough to sink a sub.

Interesting. Weren't these called Q-boats? Disguised 'inoffensive' boats?