So far really enjoying. Question, did they use noisemakers in WWII? I had no idea.

Also, and this is the land lubber in me.

There are only 3, maybe 4 escorts. I understand the supply ships were the prize and that torpedos are very limited but would it not make sense for the (a) Wolfpack to sink the 2-4 escorts and then focus on the convoy using deck guns when pertinent?

I do understand the escorts have fangs so to speak but the UBoats still had a pretty decided advantage at least early on, no???

Much harder to sink escorts. Very maneuverable and fast. Unlike the convoy which was dogshit slow. They would go at the slowest ship speed. Escorts would move about while screening. U Boats also had a limited amount of torpedos. Using them on escorts isn’t the best use. Destroyers are easily replaced. Troop ships not so much.

A classic that's related, Robert Mitchum captain's a Destroyer Escort crossing the Atlantic with a convoy

Just finished it this morning. I thought it was excellent, if a little short.

Hanks was as good as usual. He has a passion for WW2 history, and it clearly comes through in his work on things like this.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
Also, and this is the land lubber in me.

There are only 3, maybe 4 escorts. I understand the supply ships were the prize and that torpedos are very limited but would it not make sense for the (a) Wolfpack to sink the 2-4 escorts and then focus on the convoy using deck guns when pertinent?

I do understand the escorts have fangs so to speak but the UBoats still had a pretty decided advantage at least early on, no???

I believe at one point, that is what the Germans did; attacking the escorts ships using wolf pack tactics, putting multiple torpedoes from multiple angles. It was successful for a time.

Great flick...we enjoyed it. Hanks was great as usual.

Just got a new Firestick to replace my Roku and was able to get AppleTV and watched this movie.

I really liked it.

I think I would have enjoyed it much more with a good sound system.

I need to get a sound system for my tv, I am completely lacking in a home theatre sound system.

I'm thinking of getting a simple sound bar for the current time. I'd like to replace my 10 year old Samsung with a new and bigger tv soon, probably around Black Friday time, and I'll also get a proper home theater system.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I'm thinking of getting a simple sound bar for the current time. I'd like to replace my 10 year old Samsung with a new and bigger tv soon, probably around Black Friday time, and I'll also get a proper home theater system.

Grab you a TCL Alto 5 or 7 soundbar for the time being. You can get them for $60/$80, and they're the best "bang for the buck" in basic stereo soundbars currently. It'll be a noticeable improvement over just the built-in TV speakers.

Then once you get a proper home theater system, move the soundbar to the bedroom TV.

https://www.tcl.com/us/en/products/sound-bars

https://www.amazon.com/TCL-Alt...-Sound/dp/B07PHH7VPW

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
Question, did they use noisemakers in WWII? I had no idea.

Yes, the Germans actually pioneered the concept of submarine sonar decoys. They introduced them in 1942, and used them for the remainder of the war.

The first ones were known as "Bold" and consisted of a cannister of calcium hydride, which when it was launched from the sub and came into contact with seawater would produce a large amount of hydrogen gas bubbles for about 20 minutes. (Like a giant Alka-Seltzer.) But these early decoys were stationary, so they later introduced a more elaborate version of the basic Bold known as "Sieglinde", which had an electric motor to allow it move/ascend/dive to appear more realistic.

They also used "Siegmund" decoys, which produced a series of loud explosions to temporarily overwhelm Allied listening devices.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:

I'm thinking of getting a simple sound bar for the current time.

Personally, I would only get one with a sub woofer.

And I too thought the movie was great!

I have yet to find a cheap 2.1 soundbar whose sub was worth a damn. Some of the higher-end soundbars, like Sonos, have nice subs, though.

For what you'd be getting, the little sub is not worth the $50 upcharge on the 2.1 TCL Alto Plus (nearly doubling the price of the Altos), for example. Especially since that soundbar is just going to be a stopgap for a few months until he invests in a true home theater system. The Altos have decent bass, for a stereo soundbar. And certainly better than the TV's tinny built-in speakers.

I just learned of another book about Merchant Marine convoys, "The Ghost Ships of Archangel: The Arctic Voyage That Defied the Nazis."

https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-S...ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0

On the fourth of July, 1942, four Allied ships traversing the Arctic separated from their decimated convoy to head further north into the ice field of the North Pole, seeking safety from Nazi bombers and U-boats in the perilous white maze of ice floes, growlers, and giant bergs. Despite the risks, they had a better chance of survival than the rest of Convoy PQ-17, a fleet of thirty-five cargo ships carrying $1 billion worth of war supplies to the Soviet port of Archangel--the limited help Roosevelt and Churchill extended to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to maintain their fragile alliance, even as they avoided joining the fight in Europe while the Eastern Front raged.

The high-level politics that put Convoy PQ-17 in the path of the Nazis were far from the minds of the diverse crews aboard their ships. U.S. Navy Ensign Howard Carraway, aboard the SS Troubadour, was a farm boy from South Carolina and one of the many Americans for whom the convoy was to be a first taste of war; aboard the SS Ironclad, Ensign William Carter of the U.S. Navy Reserve had passed up a chance at Harvard Business School to join the Navy Armed Guard; from the Royal Navy Reserve, Lt. Leo Gradwell was given command of the HMT Ayrshire, a fishing trawler that had been converted into an antisubmarine vessel. All the while, The Ghost Ships of Archangel turns its focus on Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, playing diplomatic games that put their ships in peril.

The twenty-four-hour Arctic daylight in midsummer gave no respite from bombers, and the Germans wielded the terrifying battleship Tirpitz, nicknamed The Big Bad Wolf. Icebergs were as dangerous as Nazis. As a newly forged alliance was close to dissolving and the remnants of Convoy PQ-17 tried to slip through the Arctic in one piece, the fate of the world hung in the balance.

The Arctic convoys are an interesting and little-known aspect of WW2.

The Allies sent a huge amount of supplies to prop up the Soviets. Without US/British aid, the Soviets would not have been able to regroup, rearm, and beat back the Germans. We provided them a large percentage of their supplies, everything from guns, planes, and tanks, to trucks, fuel, food, clothing, and shoes.

Much of this was shipped overland through Persia (Iran), but some was brought by sea convoys to the Soviet's Artic ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk (on the northwestern coast of Russia, near their border with Norway). But with Norway being in German hands, these Artic convoys were harassed by German ships, subs, and planes during much of their crossing, and suffered fairly heavy losses.

Convoy PQ-17, the one referenced in Sigmund's post, suffered the worst losses of any convoy in WW2. Of the 35 ships in the convoy, only 11 survived the voyage.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I'm thinking of getting a simple sound bar for the current time. I'd like to replace my 10 year old Samsung with a new and bigger tv soon, probably around Black Friday time, and I'll also get a proper home theater system.

Grab you a TCL Alto 5 or 7 soundbar for the time being. You can get them for $60/$80, and they're the best "bang for the buck" in basic stereo soundbars currently. It'll be a noticeable improvement over just the built-in TV speakers.

Then once you get a proper home theater system, move the soundbar to the bedroom TV.

https://www.tcl.com/us/en/products/sound-bars

https://www.amazon.com/TCL-Alt...-Sound/dp/B07PHH7VPW

Hi I took your advice and bought a TCL Alto 7 this afternoon and just got it hooked up.

I think it's really good for a $79 item, great bang for the buck.

I'll take your advice and move it to the bedroom later on.

That was a really great idea, thank you for the help.
.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OKCGene,

I'm re-watching the movie. At one point, the captain calls for hard right rudder to avoid collision with one of the merchant marine ships. The camera then shows the Greyhound heeling over to the right as the bow turns toward port. I am obviously not a mariner but shouldn't he have called for hard left rudder?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Orguss,

Older thread but, I just watched it tonight with my boys on our new 86" TV. We only had a sound bar as I saving up for sound system. That being said, great movie and the bigger TV was great for a movie like this. We are going to start Band of Brothers tomorrow.

Go to the next step and add 7.1.2 surround/atmos with a nice big sub - like an Outlaw and really enjoy movies. This adds a whole new dimension. You'll hear things you never heard before in the shows.

Resurrecting this one…

Watched Greyhound last night on Apple TV. Absolutely great movie. Loved every second of it. My wife said it was good but it was the most stressful movie she’d ever watched.

I told her that was how my average night felt when I was a shift supervisor lol…

Can’t believe I missed this when it came out. Excellent movie.

Looks like Hanks will be making a sequel to Greyhound.

https://collider.com/greyhound...hanks-apple-tv-plus/