When Speed is Your Greatest Weapon

Believe it or not, during World War 2 both the RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth never crossed the Atlantic in convoys. In fact, the Escorts that followed them during their time as Troop Ships, were only there to protect the ships from air attacks rather than submarines.

The Era of Fast Ocean Liners

You see, at the time both ocean liners were some of the fastest ships of their kind afloat. Both vessels had a top speed of 32 knots, which for their size was quite impressive and were much faster than the cargo vessels which usually crossed the Atlantic.

So fast, in fact, it was actually impossible for German U-Boats to attack the ocean liners. For by the time a submarine had lined itself up for an attack, the vessels would have already moved out of the line of fire and over the horizon. It’s one thing to target a slow-moving cargo ship or tanker that can barely do 13 knots. It’s another story when trying to target ocean liners that can do well over 25 knots without breaking a sweat.

~NC