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Post by captain swoop on Mar 17, 2008 18:30:57 GMT -4
Indeed, the RN and the USN employed the same tactics.
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Post by tedward on Mar 18, 2008 13:13:42 GMT -4
With reference to the flag and deception in other navies. HMS Campbeltown off the top of my head.
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Al Johnston
"Cheer up!" they said, "It could be worse!" So I did, and it was.
Posts: 1,453
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Post by Al Johnston on Mar 18, 2008 13:20:38 GMT -4
I think Q-ships were first used by the Royal Navy as an anti-submarine measure in WWI: torpedoes being expensive and not always reliable, U-Boats would often attempt to sink a lone target by gunfire from the surface, which left them vulnerable to that kind of ambush tactic.
IIRC the Q-ships' holds would be filled with balsa wood to give some flotation if the hull should be holed.
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Post by captain swoop on Mar 18, 2008 17:25:39 GMT -4
Submarines would surface and sink a lone merchant ship by gunfire as a matter of choice as they only have a limited load of torpedos. In fact in the early part of the war a U-Boat woulod surface and give a crew chance to get off in a boat before sinking.
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Al Johnston
"Cheer up!" they said, "It could be worse!" So I did, and it was.
Posts: 1,453
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Post by Al Johnston on Mar 18, 2008 17:56:19 GMT -4
One of the down sides of the Q-ship campaign was that in response the U-boats became more ruthless toward lone merchantmen; shooting (or even torpedoing) first on a 'better safe than sorry' basis.
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