Blog number 254 **** 10 December 2008
Before WW 1, submarines were not very well thought of as weapons - they were more like toys, so no thought was given as to how to fight them.
When they started sinking British merchant ships, the British Admiralty decided to use coastal yachts and motorboats to patrol outside British harbors. Only one in ten of these boats carried any weapon larger than a rifle. A few motor launches carried two swimmers, one armed with a black bag, the other with a hammer. If a periscope was sighted, the black bag was to be placed over the periscope and if that didn't work, the hammer was to be used to smash the glass on the periscope.
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4 comments:
At least they were clever with the hammer and bag.
Too bad it degenerated into a full scale war which led to the incineration of hundreds of thousands in two nuclear blasts. And today we have at least 12,000 of 'em mostly on SUBS!!! Don, I DESPISE war!
It's mind boggling how much the technology of war has changed and continues to change. A black bag and a hammer. Wow. I wonder if it was ever used successfully.
Hi Paul
War is fun to read about and to play, though. Does that count?
Hi Zip!
Not only wonddering if it was ever used successfully, but was it ever used at all?
I can imagine one guy saying, "There's one!" and they jump overboard with their hammer and bag in their teeth, swim to the sub while it waits for them and when the sub is disabled, it blows up and sinks.
Sounds like an episode for The Simpsons, huh?
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