Submarine VS Aerial Threats – A Quick Read on a Bad Idea

Posted 7Sep18.

“Can a submarine shoot down an aircraft?”

During the Second World War, they had to. It didn’t matter if the submarine was sailing under an Allied or Axis flag – aircraft, for those diesel boats, were the harbingers of destruction.

20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns on the USS Loggerhead – Aug ‘44. (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08374.htm)

One handy example of many:

On 21 April 1943, while operating off the Malay Peninsula during her sixth war patrol, Grenadier sustained heavy damage to the after portion of the ship as the result of a Japanese aircraft depth bomb attack. The most serious casualty which occurred, and which directly caused Grenadier’s loss, was the complete immobilization of her propulsion plant due to derangement of the main control cubicle and severe misalignment of the propeller shafting. All efforts by ship’s force to effect emergency repairs were unsuccessful. Early the next morning, Grenadier