SIDE STORY FEATURE
ASDIC TRAINING DURING WORLD WAR II
Edited by Jerry Proc
SIDE STORY FEATURE
ASDIC TRAINING DURING WORLD WAR II
Edited by Jerry Proc
Frank Curry, author of the book War at Sea, does an excellent job in depicting the challenges of making it from a raw recruit to a submarine detector during World War Two. Here is an excerpt from his book:
"The Asdic training program covered little about U-boat warfare, strategy, tactics or philosophy. From the day we signed the document committing ourselves to Asdic for the duration of the war, I cannot recall a single lecture or paper about the war at sea and our part in it. We were left entirely out of the big picture, except merely to absorb training and carry out duties to the best of our abilities.The training to convert us into submarine detectors (SD) was intensive, beginning with a thorough run-through of the theory of Asdic, and the equipment developed to apply the theory. The earliest equipment consisted of a large, flat, round transmitter that would be lowered or raised inside a dome fastened to the keel of the ship. The dome was usually positioned directly under the bridge. In a compartment surrounding the transmitter and dome, the transmission equipment, powered by high-speed motors, created the sound beam, sent it out through the transmitter. The submarine detector's job was to control the transmissions sent out every few seconds on a sweeping arc. We were taught to use earphones to follow the sound of the transmission out to its limits, 3000 to 4000 yards under ideal conditions and to listen intently for any sign of an echo. An echo was the ultimate sound of danger; the trigger for action stations; the start of attack procedures leading to the firing and dropping of 150 pound depth charges in patterns aimed at the conning tower of the attacker. Along with echoes, we were expected to listen for any sound of engines or motors in the ocean's depths.
We spent weeks getting used to the equipment and then faced what would be the bane of every SD in the navy -- the attack table, a sophisticated and monstrous mock-up of a convoy operation, including escort ships, columns of merchant ships and attacking U- boats plus a variety of weather conditions and water vibrations. These were staffed by a veteran group of Asdic staff members including Commander Welland, the top anti-submarine expert in the Royal Canadian Navy.They drove us young and inexperienced recruits to the breaking point. Commander Welland created impossible situations; wreaked havoc; drove us to tears by screaming and yelling at our mistakes and breakdowns. He seemed determined to come as close as possible to the combat situations we would all face when isolated aboard a destroyer, a corvette or a bangor. It was a fearful and soul destroying introduction to the war at sea before we ever put a foot aboard an operational ship. For the rest of the war, in whatever naval port we found ourselves, all the Asdic's spent every hour in an attack-table bus, hammered and harassed with every new element of Asdic operations. We spent week after week in the Asdic school, and many of us felt we were caught up in an impossible situation. There was no backing out; we were in it for better of for worse.
Finally came the day when we took our classroom knowledge to sea. Off we set for St. Margarets Bay, down the coast from Halifax, and aboard an Asdic equipped training ship. In the vast peace and calm of this magnificent bay, we joined a Dutch submarine for ten solid days and nights against a German U-boat -- simulated by our Dutch ally. It dodged and wheeled in the depths, shutting off its engines and sitting silently, on the bottom as our Asdic transmissions tried to establish contact. Contact was made...the attack began...the charges were dropped...contact had to be maintained...contact was lost. We were subjected to a scathing criticism by Commander Welland as we continuously blundered our way through the procedure. Finally, a brief word of praise for a correct manoeuvre."
These SD ratings knew that the lives of their fellow shipmates and those on other ships in the convoy rested on their ability to detect a submarine. It must have been a big burden to carry!"
Operating the Asdic required undivided attention. After a two hour watch, operators were generally happy to see their relief show up. It became so monotonous listening to the pinging, that many S.D.'s even heard those transmissions in their sleep. After several weeks at sea, the Asdic crew was completely drained from this and never received a decent rest. Duty watches varied by ship. Sometimes it was two hours on and two hours off. Other schedules called for four hours on and eight hours off. While on duty, one operator would spend one hour on the set and one hour on lookout then the procedure would be reversed. On some ships, the S. D's were relieved of other duties such as cleaning ship or swabbing decks. Asdic operators also acquired the nickname of 'ping merchants'.