The Listeners. Roy R. Manstan
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THE LISTENERS
U-BOAT HUNTERS
DURING THE GREAT WAR
ROY R. MANSTAN
THE LISTENERS
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown CT 06459
© 2018 Roy R. Manstan
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
Typeset in Charter and Clarendon by
Nord Compo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Manstan, Roy R., author.
Title: The listeners : U-boat hunters during the Great War / Roy R. Manstan.
Other titles: U-boat hunters during the Great War
Description: Middletown CT : Wesleyan University Press, [2018] | Series: Garnet books | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2018017912 (print) | LCCN 2018020180 (ebook) | ISBN 9780819578372 (ebook) | ISBN 9780819578358 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1914–1918—Naval operations—Submarine. | Anti-submarine warfare—United States—History—20th century. | United States Naval Engineering Experiment Station—History. | World War, 1914–1918—Connecticut—New London. | Hydrophone—History—20th century. | Submarines (Ships)—Germany—History—20th century. | World War, 1914–1918—Aerial operations. | World War, 1914–1918—Campaigns—Atlantic Ocean.
Classification: LCC D590 (ebook) | LCC D590.M36 2018 (print) | DDC 940.4/5160973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017912
Front cover illustration: Submarine UB-148 at sea. Courtesy: National Archives, photo no. 19-N-11434.
CONTENTS
PREFACE: SUBMARINE WARFARE-ITS GENESIS IN CONNECTICUT / VII
INTRODUCTION: THE WAR TO END ALL WARS / 1
CHAPTER 1: PREDATOR AND PREY / 11
CHAPTER 2: THE FIRTH OF FORTH / 20
CHAPTER 3: SIGHS OF A LOVESICK MERMAID / 29
CHAPTER 4: HUNTING SUBMARINES FROM SHORE / 40
CHAPTER 5: A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK / 46
CHAPTER 7: AMERICA AWAKENS / 62
CHAPTER 8: PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE / 70
CHAPTER 9: AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR / 79
CHAPTER 10: CROSSING THE ATLANTIC / 88
CHAPTER 11: THE FIRST TENTATIVE STEPS / 94
CHAPTER 12: PHYSICS PURE AND SIMPLE / 101
CHAPTER 13: A SOUND DETECTOR OF EXCEEDING DELICACY / 110
CHAPTER 14: FROM THE LABORATORY TO SEA / 122
CHAPTER 15: MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH / 136
CHAPTER 16: A “PROBABLE” FIRST KILL / 150
CHAPTER 17: COLDEST WINTER ON RECORD / 163
CHAPTER 18: THE NAVAL RESERVE FLYING CORPS / 172
CHAPTER 19: LISTENERS IN THE SKY / 181
CHAPTER 20: THE CRAZY AMERICAN—U-BOATS BEWARE / 201
CHAPTER 21: INVISIBLE LIGHT AND OTHER MAGIC / 215
CHAPTER 22: U-BOATS WESTWARD TO AMERICA / 228
CHAPTER 23: AMERICA EASTWARD TO THE WAR / 240
CHAPTER 24: LISTENERS AT THE FRONT AND ARMISTICE / 255
EPILOGUE: THE WAR THAT DID NOT END ALL WARS / 271
PREFACE SUBMARINE WARFARE –ITS GENESIS IN CONNECTICUT
Nineteenth-century illustration of David Bushnell’s submarine Turtle used during the Revolutionary War in an attempt to sink the British flagship HMS Eagle, September 7, 1776. (Barber, 1875)
The external shape of the sub-marine vessel bore some resemblance to two upper tortoise