NAVY QUESTION

[Cadetat6]

I was just whatching " Victory at Sea" Episodes. They said the convoys would Zig-Zag because of the German Sub's. Can a large ship do that and keep from being sunk?

 

cadetat6

[Walt's Daughter]

Nothing is full proof, but zigzagging entire convoys made it more difficult for subs to plot and follow their direction. Of course travelling on a straight course increases the odds of getting shot and or sunk.

 

This also applies to larger vessels sailing on their own. Here is an account of a the USS Indianapolis and their captain going up for court-martial for failing to zig-zag and stay out of harms way.

 

USS Indianapolis

[j3rdinf]

The zig zag course made it difficult for the U boats. Their speed under water was not

usually anywhere near the speed of a surface ship. A lot of luck entered into it for them. I went over to ETO on either the Queen Mary or Elizabeth, forget which. We had

no convoy or support due to their speed. Zig zaging made it much more difficult to

get a bearing on a surface ship, whose speed matched or was greater than a submerged sub.. Along with that, ship radar was in the "infancy" for subs. Usually they

used just plain vision and had to be at the right place at the right time. All life has some risk to it.