The creeping attack was an anti submarine measure developed during the

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World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was first used by 36 Escort Group of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

after being developed by the Group's commanding officer, Captain "Johnnie" Walker. The problem addressed by Walker in the tactics then in use was that

ASDIC Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or ...

, the means to search for and find a submerged submarine, searched forward, while the main weapon to attack it, the depth charge, was released or projected from the stern. This led to a loss of contact in final run up to target, giving the

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

a chance to move at the last minute and evade damage. The more skilled or experienced U-boat commanders became adept at predicting the points at which the escort sped up to attack, and when they lost ASDIC contact, and were able to move aside while the charges sank to their depth. The creeping attack used two ships; one to remain stationary and keep in contact, and guide a second ship onto the target. The second approached slowly, in order not to warn the U-boat of its approach, and released its depth charges on a signal from the first. The method required practice to get right, and was expensive of time and resources, but was devastatingly effective. 36 EG, and Walker's next group, 2nd Support Group, were the most successful U-boat killers of the war. The advent of more sophisticated ASDIC systems, that held contact close in, and forward-throwing weapons, such as

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and

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, also overcame the problems that made the creeping attack necessary, but it remained in use throughout the campaign.

Sources

*Burns, Alan: ''The Fighting Captain'' (1993) *Milner, Marc. ''The Battle of the Atlantic'' (2003). (UK): {{ISBN, 1-55068-125-7 (Canada) Naval warfare tactics Anti-submarine warfare Battle of the Atlantic