Michael Peck
Security, Americas
Time to bring back the Q-ships.
Through the lens of the submarine’s periscope, the tramp steamer looks like a bathtub toy as it bobs on the waves.
But to the German U-boat captain observing his prey from six feet below the surface of the North Atlantic, it’s the perfect victim. A lone merchant ship sailing between New York and Liverpool in the summer of 1916, with no destroyers to escort it.
The U-boat skipper briefly considers firing a torpedo at the ship. But why waste a precious tin fish on a helpless rustbucket when his submarine only carries six torpedoes? …read more
Source: The National Interest