Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:47:15-1:47:31

Merchant ships ramming surfaced U-boats

Merchant ships occasionally used their hulls as weapons when they caught submarines exposed on the surface.

Anti-Submarine WarfareMerchant ShippingRammingU-Boats
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Question

Was it common for merchant ships to sink U-boats during the world wars?

Short answer

No, but a merchant ship could occasionally ram a submarine caught on the surface.

Notes

Merchant ships rarely sank U-boats during the world wars. An important exception arose when a submarine was caught on the surface with a merchant vessel charging toward it. The merchantman could then attempt to ram, turning mass and proximity into an improvised anti-submarine weapon. The reference to HMS Dreadnought evokes the same basic mechanism while keeping the merchant-ship practice in proportion as occasional.