Capt Walker RN

[Red Devil]

If you want to learn/read the 'master class' of anti U Boat operations, then either read Walker RN (now out of print) or read my many pages on this hero of WW2. He never found a U boat and didnt kill it.

www.captainwalker.uk (there may be some anomolies on this site, its never been 'right', missing images etc. I blame MS.

some US sites claim the honour of forming the first 'hunter/killer' groups. Rubbish. Walker did it. Walker RN, the book, is included in this web site. Took me weeks to scan each page.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Red Devil

If you want to learn/read the 'master class' of anti U Boat operations, then either read Walker RN (now out of print) or read my many pages on this hero of WW2. He never found a U boat and didnt kill it.

www.captainwalker.uk (there may be some anomolies on this site, its never been 'right', missing images etc. I blame MS.

some US sites claim the honour of forming the first 'hunter/killer' groups. Rubbish. Walker did it. Walker RN, the book, is included in this web site. Took me weeks to scan each page.

That's why I was hoping to see a game with British/Commonwealth antisubmarine operations.....although I am still excited about this game.

I admit I'm biased; my parents grew up in the British Empire's colonies. But the fact is, the RN & RCN really did shoulder much of the antisub burden before the USA declared war. I like to think of myself as an American who's strongly appreciative of the UK's role in defeating Hitler.

Thus I'd much prefer an H Class destroyer or even a Flower Class to a Fletcher. Ah well, I can dream! Maybe in a mod.

[blackswan40]

Convoy HG-76 Frederic John Walker and Walkers Exploits (A very good watch)


When a Uboat attacks a convoy all the escorts do the same thing at the same time to have maximum effect around the convoy on a planed line
as the war progressed and convoys had more escorts around the convoy walker invented the creeping attack with upto four escorts line abrest dropping dcs like a creeping artilery barage on the uboat then leaving two escorts in that area waiting for the uboat to surface to recharge batteries and replace the air in the Uboat .






The World at War (Wolfpacks)
with Convoy HG-76 and John Walkers tactics on attacking Uboats (25 minuets in)

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x68qud0

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by blackswan40

Convoy HG-76 Frederic John Walker and Walkers Exploits (A very good watch)


When a Uboat attacks a convoy all the escorts do the same thing at the same time to have maximum effect around the convoy on a planed line
as the war progressed and convoys had more escorts around the convoy walker invented the creeping attack with upto four escorts line abrest dropping dcs like a creeping artilery barage on the uboat then leaving two escorts in that area waiting for the uboat to surface to recharge batteries and replace the air in the Uboat .






The World at War (Wolfpacks)
with Convoy HG-76 and John Walkers tactics on attacking Uboats (25 minuets in)

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x68qud0

Thanks for sharing. Always found it quite sad that Walker passed away, not in action, but basically from the stress of operations.

[Red Devil]

I had a huge fight with Wikipedia over his entry in there. Someone had written th article and included naming his as a war criminal because 'he left german prisoners in the water'. Its a long story, but he NEVER did. A complete fabrication. HE even buried dead germans at sea with full military honours. When a guard accidently discharged a psitol wounding a prisoner, he had a full enquiry, had the doc fix up the prisoner, and submitted a full report to the Red Cross. He was a perfect gent.

I won the fight when I was talking to a bloke who was a Wiki editor, explaining the travesty. He agreed with me and had it deleted. Since then I have become a wiki editor myself. but never really have to do much.

I know Walkers grandson, a retired RN Captain, he was furious when I told him about wiki article.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Red Devil

I had a huge fight with Wikipedia over his entry in there. Someone had written th article and included naming his as a war criminal because 'he left german prisoners in the water'. Its a long story, but he NEVER did. A complete fabrication. HE even buried dead germans at sea with full military honours. When a guard accidently discharged a psitol wounding a prisoner, he had a full enquiry, had the doc fix up the prisoner, and submitted a full report to the Red Cross. He was a perfect gent.

I won the fight when I was talking to a bloke who was a Wiki editor, explaining the travesty. He agreed with me and had it deleted. Since then I have become a wiki editor myself. but never really have to do much.

I know Walkers grandson, a retired RN Captain, he was furious when I told him about wiki article.

Good on you for correcting that. What an absolute load of garbage; it is common knowledge that no naval forces were EVER obligated to pick up survivors. Rescuing survivors was done on a case by case basis, if it was safe. (Consider what happened to Cressy & Hogue in WWI when they tried to rescue HMS Aboukir's crew).

When the Germans sank the carrier "Glorious" they didn't rescue survivors because they needed to leave the area ASAP.

Same thing with the British when "Bismarck" was sunk; as we all know "Dorsetshire" had to leave most of the Germans behind because a submarine was apparently nearby.

This was even done when a friendly ship was sunk; off the top of my head I remember that when USS "Preston" and "Walke" were sunk, the battleship USS "Washington" left the American survivors behind. Harsh but logical. Stopping a battleship with over 1,000 men on board to rescue a couple hundred men (as torpedoes are whizzing through the water) would be sheer madness.

At the war crimes tribunals after WWII the Allies rightly conceded that U-Boats not assisting survivors did NOT constitute an atrocity - after all, Allied subs did the same thing. Thus, even assuming Walker did not rescue every U-Boat crew he sank, it's in no way comparable to an atrocity like sinking lifeboats, machine gunning men in the water, etc.