Model Boat Mayhem

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length.
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Submarine Hooks  (Read 3356 times)

The long Build

  • Guest
Submarine Hooks
« on: April 05, 2010, 10:54:11 am »

The other night there was a film I think called "Below", this showed a search ship tracking a ww2 sub and was towing large hooks designed to cause damage to any subs below the surface, by ripping bits off.

Was there anything ever like that or is this just Holywood licence.. ?
Logged

jules64

  • Guest
Re: Submarine Hooks
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2010, 12:44:15 pm »

I saw a very interesting program on the History channel (Ithink) called Submarine Mission Impossible. This was about the Australian AE2 submarine running through the Dardanelle straights in WW1. This sub was hunted by ships towing grappling lines, if they caught the sub then they would drop explosives down the line to try and destroy her. This and mines that were laid in the water appeared to be the only form of attack on a sub in this era.

Best wishes
Jules64
Logged

dodgy geezer

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,948
  • Location: London
Re: Submarine Hooks
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2010, 03:06:19 pm »

If you believe the Wackypedia the depth charge was invented in 1916.

Presumably before that a sub was more or less invulnerable once it was under ramming depth - about 30 feet of water? Towing weighted hooks seems to  be quite a good idea under these circumstances - that or harpooners....

I presume that a net would be as dangerous to the surface ship as the sub, though I suspect that this was also tried, as would be a giant copy of anything else from an angler's basket...
Logged

Jimmy James

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 987
  • Location: Kings Lynn Norfolk
Re: Submarine Hooks
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2010, 07:45:47 pm »

I believe the RN tried strings of grappling hooks, towed wire mesh nets, Some with explosives attached that could be fired electrically (An RN submarine got tangled in a fishing net and was forced to surface just before the war "1913"and several boats were damaged by the large strings of drift nets used pre war in the North Sea) so at the time it seemed like a good idea as the Primitive Hydrophones in use at this time weren't a lot of good.
Freebooter O0
Logged
Retired  Ships Officer/ Master.
Experience: 50+ years at sea under Sail, Steam & Motor
Kings Lynn
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 

Page created in 0.097 seconds with 22 queries.