U-boat Hooks?

i was watching a movie called %26#039;Below%26#039; in it a destroyer draged hooks to try sink the U-boat did this realy happen in the war or is this just a figment of somones imagination?

U-boat Hooks?
When the Germans first introduced U-boat warfare in WW1 ( 1915) the British Navy ( the US wasn%26#039;t in the war then so it was an all R.N. show) hadn%26#039;t a clue as to what to do........it took a while to develop the depth charge....and even longer to developer an underwater listening gear so you could get an idea of where the bloody thing was to drop the charge)( further aside.at first it was just a listening device to hear the U boats propellers ASDIC from Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee....SONAR Sound Navigation and Ranging, which put out a blip of sound that reflected back.....the bleep bleep bleep noise in all the sub movies came much later.....)


so before there were depth charges the Royal Navy had to resort to some desperate improvisations, and yes, dragging hooks to grab a sub was one of them. Not very successful as you can imagine. Less successful was a scheme where two guys in a motor launch would chase a periscope; one guy would put a hood over it, the second would smash it with a hammer.


Oh,a nd by the way.as submerged torpedo shooter, the German U-boat force reduced England to 6 weeks of food as of Jan 1 1917 and damn near won the war for the Kaiser.
Reply:The Allies attempted to determine how to sink U-boats and developed the depth charge. It was, however, the introduction of the convoy system that defeated the U-boat. The World War I U-boat was really a surfacre vessel that could sumbmerge. Against esorted convoys, World war I era U-boats had little chance of success.
Reply:Devices called explosive paravanes were tried as an early Anti-Submarine tactic. Contact-fused explosive charges were rigged with paravanes which made them tow at about a 20-30 degree angle from the destroyer%26#039;s stern and at various depths, according to how much cable was let out. If a cable made contact with a submerged submarine, the cable would pull the charge to the sub and detonate it. This device was extremely unpopular with destroyer captains, who did not relish the idea of maneuvering while towing charges on cables that could easily become entangled with his own ship%26#039;s screws and/or rudder.
Reply:real...
Reply:i would say a figment



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