Otto Kretschmer rules, pay attention to 3, 10 and 11
1.Efficient lookouts are of prime importance
2. It is essential not simply to spot the target, but to spot it in good time
3. Lone ships should be attacked on the surface with gunfire in order to save expensive torpedoes
4. Survivors should be assisted where possible
5. Convoys should only be attacked in daylight if it is not feasible to wait for nightfall
6. Attack at night from the dark side of the convoy, so that the target is silhouetted and the submarine is in shadow
7. When there is little or no moonlight, attack from the windward side (to avoid a visible white bow-wave when motoring into the wind)
8. Fire one torpedo per target not fanned salvoes
9. Fire at close range
10. Once the attack is launched, do not submerge except in circumstances of dire necessity. Remember that on the surface it is easier for you to spot the enemy than for the enemy to spot you
11. Dive only for two hours before dawn each day, to rest the crew, sweep with the sound detection equipment, etc.; otherwise, remain on the surface
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Kendricks (2239)
3 years ago
You have taken these rules by Kretschmer completely out of context.
3. Lone ships as in unarmed merchant vessels! Not ships of war designed to hunt down and destroy u-boats. ONE hit from pretty much any sort naval artillery would severely damage or destroy the u-boat.
10. He is referring to his experience of attacking convoys early in the war on the surface and at night before RADAR was a thing. His idea was to stay surfaced because then the escorts ASDIC would be useless.
They could only find u-boats visually which obviously is difficult at night.
The movie plays in 42 or 43? Radar was common now and convoys very well protected as seen in the movie.
Fighting convoys on the surface was not possible at all anymore, no matter if day or night.
11. Nothing to do with combat at all and pretty obvious. U-boats were designed to travel on the surface and only dive to remain concealed while stalking/attacking prey.
A u-boat surfacing to duke it out with any armed vessel of any kind is a joke and insult to history.
U-boats forced to surface with depth charges did so because they were already beaten. This happened a lot.
In every case I ever heard of, the boat was abandoned.
They did not go ready the deck gun and start shelling fucking destroyers and to think that only shows zero subject matter knowledge.
The depiction of the German u-boats, their crews and tactics were absurd.
The "phone calls" to taunt the escorts were perhaps the most outlandish nonsense I have seen since Fury (2014) fighting a whole damn SS battalion.
The movie could have been a historical masterpiece as it did a lot of things well, but it decided to portray the Germans like monsters from some absurd fairy-tale to entertain the average mouthbreathing American who only cares about explosions, a waving star spangled banner and some corny lines and characters instead of historical accuracy.
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