Anybody know how the captains of uboats in ww2 kept from sneaking up on and torpedoing thier own merchant ships that were german raiders disguised as merchant ships? I dont think they radioed them to ask? and i assume the ships were made to look as much like neutral or allied ships as possible to get close to merchant ships then open up with old ww1 deck guns. How did the uboat captains tell the difference? Or did they blow up a few of thier own ? They must have had some telltale on the ships the captains could observe. anybody know? thanks.
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i don't know, but check out hitler's u boat war. my friend just gave me the book and i think it's new but looks excellent. haven't read it yet.
one question, why did you ask this in the firearms forum? this post will be moved by a moderator -
Oceans divided up into quite accurate tactical charts with special codes for each area and sub area, u boats warned off areas and shipping at stated times/dates, unfortunatley as you stated i have read of at least one instance of german raider or blokade runner being attacked and sunk by u boat.Originally posted by pitts duncan View Post
As enigma was broken, the signals advising uboats of friendlies were read
and the raider or blockade runner or even sub supply ship were normally
" accidentally" bumped into by allied naval forces and captured or sent to the bottom.
I doubt that thier was a telltale as the raiders were a bunch of chamlelions
and often changed thier appearances when leaving an area for another when things became a little warm. False upperworks, funnels and the like.
Hope this helps , and yes this post will probably end up getting moved
Regards
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