Shortround6
Major General
WW I operations were a far, far cry from WW II operations.
For instance the British didn't get depth charges at all (or anything effective) until Jan 1916. First "kill" is in March of 1916 and only three U-boats are sunk by depth charges in 1916. Scale of issue was TWO depth charges per anti-sub vessel in 1916, increasing to 4 in June 1917 anada then 6 in August 1917. In 1918 the issue went to 30-50 per ship.
The U-35 certainly put in a splendid performance and it's Captain deserves admiration ( He strictly observed prize rules). BUT the vast majority of sinkings were done by boarding parties and/or deck gun. Most successful saw 54 ships sunk but the U-35 only carried 6 torpedoes.
There was no sonar, only hydrophones.
Trying to operate like a WW I sub did in WW II would have lead to a mighty short life for the submarine.
Quite a number of these sinkings were small, wooden sailing ships with no radios. No water tight bulkheads. Get the crew off, knock a hole in the hull (open seacocks) and your done.
For instance the British didn't get depth charges at all (or anything effective) until Jan 1916. First "kill" is in March of 1916 and only three U-boats are sunk by depth charges in 1916. Scale of issue was TWO depth charges per anti-sub vessel in 1916, increasing to 4 in June 1917 anada then 6 in August 1917. In 1918 the issue went to 30-50 per ship.
The U-35 certainly put in a splendid performance and it's Captain deserves admiration ( He strictly observed prize rules). BUT the vast majority of sinkings were done by boarding parties and/or deck gun. Most successful saw 54 ships sunk but the U-35 only carried 6 torpedoes.
There was no sonar, only hydrophones.
Trying to operate like a WW I sub did in WW II would have lead to a mighty short life for the submarine.
Quite a number of these sinkings were small, wooden sailing ships with no radios. No water tight bulkheads. Get the crew off, knock a hole in the hull (open seacocks) and your done.
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