In Reply to: LOL, I see.... and how about that Stuka Pilot? posted by Victor Khomenko on April 28, 2000 at 07:17:42:
...Erich Hartman who had over 350 aerial victories in just the last 3 years of the war on the Russian Front? Gads, these people were prolific killers.The hedgehog was, by the way, an insidious allied invention that really helped wipe out the U Boats (along with long range air patrol, escort carriers for the convoys and radar). Unlike depth charges it was a weapon system which fired off 15 or 20 contact charges, each much smaller than a depth charge, in a circular pattern. The problem with depth charges was the you had to get lucky and put one close to the sub to destroy it. The hedgehog improved the odds by putting a circular pattern of charges (a circle perhaps 100 - 200 fet in diameter as I recall) which simply sank until they hit something. This meant you could greatly improve the odds of actually hitting the sub. And the charges only exploded if they contacted something, otrherwise they simply sank to the bottom - so if an explosion occured you knew you had hit the sub. Successful U Boat sinkings increased dramitcally after its introduction...
joe
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Follow Ups
- Or the fighter pilot... - Joe S 09:14:10 04/28/00 (0)