What strategies did convoys use to help the Allies combat German submarine warfare?
1 Answer
I would say the "flock of sheep" idea of having a lot of defenceless ships protected by few powerful and fast escort ships (the dogs).
Explanation:
In a typical scenario at the start of the war you would have a lot of merchant ships sailing alone in a Uboot infested ocean. They were like lambs in a forest full of predators...they couldn't protect themselves AND they couldn't receive help from anyone on time.
The Allies simply couldn't protect any ship!
So the idea was to collect ALL the merchant ships in a group surrounding them with the few but very effective escort ships armed with sonar and depth charges.
Uboot were then forced to attack submerged (when they were slower using battery operated electric engines) and once they lost the first shot or having sunk few ships they couldn’t attack again due to the relative speeds of the convoy and Uboot.
It is true that these convoys offered a big target but....what if you could steer them away from the danger as well?!!
With the interception and decryption of secret and coded messages from the German command to its subs, the Allies were even able to change course of the convoys to avoid danger zones (Uboot "wolf packs" hunting areas)!!!
