imported post
Mini14 wrote:
Q-ships were Britain's WWI answer to surface German U-boat attacks; the Q-ship would wait until the U-boat surfaced then frantically ran to bring hiddendeck guns into play. Since the Germans already were manningtheir guns, Q-ships were often sunk; there's no faster draw than an already drawn gun.
Concealed carry is too complicated for mytastes, you handgun could snag inside your jacket; your handgun could snag in a boot holster. Open carry issimpler and better. The less complex somerhing is, the less liable it is to fail. Why be a Q-ship when you be a U-boat?
I think you have used the Q-ships vs U-boatsas a poor analogy, or comparison, to OC vs CC.
When a WWII sub surfaced, it's deck gun WAS NOT already drawn and ready to fire. The gunnery crew had to come topside after the deck was above the warteline. They had to pull the plug from the barrel, and bring ordinance from below to load into the gun. They had to bring the gun to bare on the target, often using handcranks, before they could fire. IF the sub was "rolling" any, they had to wait for the sub to come to neutral list to fire, or else they would over/under shoot their target.
While the sub crew was doing all of this, the gunnery crews of the Q-ship would be readying their own guns. They had to uncover their guns, load them, and bring them to bear, often in the same manner that the U-baot crew, with hand cranks. The Q-ships gunnery crew also had to deal with ship "roll" while firing.
So what you had here, in a U-baot vs Q-ship engagement, was partly a fast draw gun fight at sea. But it didn't really matter who drew faster as much as it came down to who could shoot straighter after the guns were drawn. Q-boats didn't fair well in these gun fights due to the difference in vessel profiles. Asurface vessels profile is larger than that of a surfaced submarine, which meant that the Q-ship was the bigger target and easier to hit.
There's also the fact that the surfacing sub had to be ID'd as friend or foe before it was fired on, too.
Naval gunships have their guns openly displayed (OC). Ever hear of a sub trying to take on one by surfacing and using it's deck guns? No. They stayed below the surface and used torpeodes. If the subs ran into multiple ships (DD/DE)baring guns (OC) they stayed below surface and tried to get away without detection.
There are pros and cons to both OC and CC. Either way you do it, you may find yourself wishing your were carrying the other way, if you find yourself in a sticky situation.
