how did submarines fight eachother before there was sonar?

Answer 1

Recall history. The very first ship to be sunk by a submarine was in the Civil war. The submarine was the CSS Hunley and the ship was the USS Houstatonic. It was done in Charleston harbor, SC. They did by strapping a keg of TNT to a harpoon and rammed it into the ship. When they backed up it had a trigger that detonated the keg. The Houstatonic sunk and so did the Hunley. After that submarines weren't fully developed until right before WWI. They were not combat vessels though. They served more for recon, since they were hard to track. After the invention of sonar, they were again seen as a combat vessel. They were most effective by the Germans in WWII in stopping the brittish shipping lanes. To attack another submarine though was near impossible. You could only point and shoot. Even today, there is a lot of guessing involved in shooting torpedos.

Answer 2

Actually submarines rarely fought each other like in the movies. Usually submarine groups especially German U Boats would target enemy cargo ships or battleships and destroy them. Sometimes they would attack cruise ships as well in the fear taht it was secretly carrying supplies for the Allied nations.

The Attack on The Lusitania in April of 1915 during which 128 of the 197 American passengers were killed would be one of the factors that ultimately lead to the United States taking an active role in combat during World War 1.

Answer 3

When they met an enemy submarine by chance on the surface while the other was at periscope depth. That was the only way. If they saw each other on the surface they dove to avoid being torpedoed by the other.
There was no way for a sub to hunt another sub under water, acoustics could give only a general direction, no sub was going to waste torpedoes on a 1% chance to hit the other sub, if that.

Answer 4

Submarines have rarely fought each other even after the invention of sonar. Instead, they have been primarily used against surface vessels,on reconnaissance missions, in support of special forces, and with the invention of the cruise missile, land strikes.

Answer 5

Submarines very rarely fight each other.
Before sonar they relied on line of sight from their periscopes.

Answer 6

The submarines didn't focus on fighting one another, that was left for the air force and surface ships.

Answer 7

Sub fights were a product of the cold war.

Before sonar, subs were strictly an anti ship weapon (TURTLE 1776).

Answer 8

hit & miss mostly. besides sonar, when in use, wasn't always reliable. the subs played catch, run, hide, kinda' hide n' seek but under the water. if there was a top-side destroyer helping, then depth charges were dislodged & they waited to see if it took effect. subs, like ships on a float, traveled in packs. safety in numbers, you know!

Answer 9

They could only do it if surfaced

Answer 10

they didn't. it was subs vs. ships and ships vs. subs. ships would try to blow up subs while they were on the surface resupplying, and subs would blow up ships while they were on open ocean.