SUBMARINEVERSUSSUBMARINEBy "DORMOUSE"N the <strong>Navy</strong> to-day the overwhelmingweight <strong>of</strong> man-Ipower, ships and aircraft isconcentrated, directly or indirectly.in the auti-suhiiiarinerole. Some tiO frigates havebeen converted or built expresslyto cope with this aspect<strong>of</strong> defence, and the whole face<strong>of</strong> the sea-going <strong>Navy</strong> haschanged over the past twodecades. <strong>The</strong> most logical, andpotentially the most lethal adversaryto the modern submarineis only now coming to thefore. This weapon! Anothersubmarine—the anti-submarinesubmarine. A brief historicalsurvey <strong>of</strong> the development <strong>of</strong>this facet <strong>of</strong> submarine warfarewill help to underline the point.<strong>The</strong> Submarine Branch isonly just over 50 years old.Ihiring this time most peoplehave thought <strong>of</strong> the submarineas an exclusively "anti-surfaceship" device. <strong>The</strong>re docs notappear to have been any attemptto use it in the A/8 roleuntil 1917.At this crucial stage <strong>of</strong>World War 1. the Germans beganunrestricted L*-Boat warfare,anil our own submarineswere stationed at focal pointsand in patrol areas where theycould expect to encounterenemy submarines. <strong>The</strong>y sank14 L-Boats in the next IKmonths, and a grand total <strong>of</strong> 17during the war. <strong>The</strong>se werenot, however. A/S submarineengagements in the modernsense. Detection and attackswere carried out on surfacedtargets and certainly requiredthe target submarine to bevisible.<strong>The</strong> final stages <strong>of</strong> the war,however, saw the production <strong>of</strong>the "K" class—the first purelyA/S submarines. <strong>The</strong>se wereunique little craft, and 10 hadbeen built by 1919. so greatwas the urgency. <strong>The</strong>y displaceda mere 500 tons, wereIH3 ft. long, anil had a complement<strong>of</strong> 2*2. <strong>The</strong>ir surfacespeed was only nine knots, butonce submerged, their "K"class main motor and large batteriesgave them an incredible14 knots on their single propeller.Here were the perfect vesselsto combat the l'-Boats on surfacetransit. <strong>The</strong>ir low silhouettegave them the first sightingat night, and by day theycould rely on their superiorspeed to reach an attackingposition. Moreover, they hadsix 18-inch bow tubes—a largesalvo for such a small boat.<strong>The</strong>y had conic too late to haveany effect on the war. however,and after a brief period<strong>of</strong> peace-time training theyvanished altogether, the lastbeing sold in 1924.Meanwhile, developments illasdics and experiments in newtypes <strong>of</strong> submarines to fulfilnew. and sometimes fantasticroles, displaced the scarcelyfledged concept <strong>of</strong> an A/S submarinefrom strategical thoughtin the inter-war years. <strong>The</strong>submarine in general was consideredan unmasked bogey; asingle submarine on patrol was"Like a tethered goat — youget a devil <strong>of</strong> a butt if you gettoo close, but otherwise theyare harmless." (This from alecture at the Imperial DefenceCollege in 1935.) Similar lectures<strong>of</strong> this period make nomention <strong>of</strong> all A/S side to submarineoperations, other thanan occasional allusion to thisas "another possible role."During the Second WorldWar surface ships were stillregarded as the proper targetsfor our submarines, and 300out <strong>of</strong> 782 U-liuat sinkingswere, therefore, achieved byH.N. surface escorts and cooperatingaircraft. It is notwidely realised that 39 Axissubmarines were credited totheir Allied counterparts. Fortheir part the German and Italiansubmariners accounted forseven Allied boats discountingRussian ones. <strong>The</strong> 35 Britishsinkings were carried out by abranch which at no stage exceededthree per cent, <strong>of</strong> theuniformed <strong>Navy</strong>.<strong>The</strong> Axis submarines weresunk on the surface bytorpedo, gunfire, or even byramming in all hut one significantcase. This single attackmarks the beginning <strong>of</strong> the presentconcept <strong>of</strong> a submarineA/S attack, for on 4th February.1945. Lieutenant .1. S.Launders in VKNTI REK sankl'8K4—BOTH submarines beingdived throughout.VBNTVRBR. on patrol to thenorth <strong>of</strong> Bergen, had receivedintelligence reports <strong>of</strong> an approachingU-Boat the previousday. Her asdics detected the"hydrophone effect" <strong>of</strong> a vesselunlike the customary fishingboats, but though the bearingwas carefully watched,nothing could be seen. <strong>The</strong>nthe Officer <strong>of</strong> the Watchcaught a brief glimpse <strong>of</strong> amast or periscope. It seemedlikely that this was the submarine,but course, speeds, evenrange, were unknown. Suddenlythe Captain sighted twoperiscopes too close to ensurethe arming <strong>of</strong> his own torpedoes.He gave chase and,after an exciting pursuit, gain-14 THE NAVYed an attacking position, turnedand fired four torpedoes,the last <strong>of</strong> which sent thehomecoming submarine to thebottom. Contact had beenmaintained, and course andspeed estimated, during anaction <strong>of</strong> two hours' durationwith only the "hydrophoneeffect" bearings as a guide, forno further sighting was obtained.This brilliant action translatedinto practice the vaguelyformed theory <strong>of</strong> fixing thetarget by "bearings only."Much depended on the skill <strong>of</strong>the asdic operator, whose cooljudgment <strong>of</strong> the volume andbearing <strong>of</strong> the target's "hydrophoneeffect" won him in thisinstance a D.S.M.Submarines now entered anew phase in their development,Over the intervening 15years the fascinating technique<strong>of</strong> attacking a totally invisibletarget from a submerged submarinehas been practised andperfected in countless N.A.T.O.exercises. This new role hascoincided with the adoption <strong>of</strong>the snort and with longer rangeasdics; so that the modern submarine,with a vast submergedrange and enhanced listeningcapabilities, is, indeed, a foriiii d a I) 1 e anti - submarineweapon.<strong>The</strong> history <strong>of</strong> submarineoperations, as <strong>of</strong> any other(Continued on page 25)Sydney Harbour Bridge (stop ger-nashing yer teeth. Meibournltes! > as Hera by the submariners in H.M.Submarine "ANCHORITE." This picture was taken through the main periscope <strong>of</strong> the submarine.—Courtesy S.M.H.July, I960 |5
WRANS1inthe NewsW.RJI.N.S. at Flinders Depot prepare to come alongside In a work boat. Front:Wran Sid. G. J. Spragg <strong>of</strong> Bundaberg iBowman!. Rear: Wran Sid. R. S. Brown<strong>of</strong> Tumbellup W.A. iSlern-sheetmanl, Cabin: Wran Cook O. E. McCann <strong>of</strong>Bayswater, W.A.Commodore F. L. Georgr, A.D.C.. R.A.N., and FirstOfficer E. Ekert. W.R.A.N.S.. cut the Birthday cakeat the party given by the W.R.A.N.S. at FlindersNaval Depot to mark the nineteenth anniversary <strong>of</strong>the formation >>f their Service. W.R.A.N. IM.T.D.) Wendy Thurley A/P.O. "Simon", and Naval Airman RalphTurner <strong>of</strong> HM.A.S. "ALBATROSS", captain <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Navy</strong>'s <strong>Australia</strong>n RuinFootball team In the Charity Carnival.Lien tenant B. Dunn points out features <strong>of</strong> a Gannet anti-submarine aircraftto W.R.A.N. <strong>of</strong>ficer* and ratings from the aircraft carrier Melbourne, InDarwin recently.—Courtesy S.M. Herald.Lieut. Commander Clark-Smith swears In 8 new members <strong>of</strong> the W.RAN.8.at H.M.A.S. "RUSHCUTTER" <strong>The</strong> girls are from various parts <strong>of</strong> N.S.W. andwill now begin their initial training at Flinders Naval Depot It is intendedthat In a future Issue we will publish a picture <strong>of</strong> the same girls In the sameline up but wearing their uniforms. Left to right: M. D. F el ton (Newcastle).M J. Haragan 'Newcastle! L. C. Dickson ICampsiel, D. H. Maclntyre(Hornsbyl. M. A. Magtll (East Hlllsl. E. A. MeFadden IManly). D. Honey(Stanwell Parkl. M. D. McTiernan lOrangel.THE NAVY ju|y, I960
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