p38-lightning OP t1_iwfb9k2 wrote
Reply to comment by ratt_man in TIL that the civilian sailors of the U.S. Merchant Marine had a higher casualty rate during World War II than any branch of the armed forces. by p38-lightning
Good point - and I read that the German U-boats lost about 70% of their crews.
ratt_man t1_iwfd5qq wrote
Yeah they were all bad Germany had the most, then Japanese and then american. Other countries were just statistical blips due to relative low usage
Jaggedmallard26 t1_iwhokxm wrote
By the end of the war the allies had figured out how to deal with submarine technology of the era. Escorted Convoys made attacks dangerous and near constant aerial patrol by heavy bombers meant that as a submarine surfaced to recharge its battery and replenish its air it'd be reported and hunted.
raidriar889 t1_iwhwpco wrote
Another overlooked measure that significantly reduced the threat of U-boats was improvements to radar that allowed ships to detect the conning towers of submarines from beyond the horizon and even their periscopes.
SteveThePurpleCat t1_iwikurt wrote
By mid-war the British had air based radar that could detect a periscope or snorkel in the water, by the end it was just damn unsporting.
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