The Beta search shapes a U-boat's escape

WATU's Beta search refined Captain Walker's Alpha method. Alpha relied heavily on experience and an assumption about the submarine's escape, while Beta tried to shape that escape before beginning the search. Rather than steering directly at the U-boat, the escort approached at an angle that was expected to induce a course parallel to the convoy, then searched the predicted line with short zigzags and ASDIC. The method illustrates WATU's central logic: use an understanding of the opponent's incentives to make a tactical search more disciplined than intuition alone, though the refinement required additional escort equipment.