Wolf Packs and Submarine Hydrophones during WW1

Lets say that some enterprising German Naval officer comes up with the idea of Wolf Packs during mid-WW1 for merchant raiding, and the concept is put to practice after declaration of USW, and also that Hydrophones were introduced to allow Submarines to track ships underwater. Does Britain bend in this TL?
 
The British may have an easier time defeating the U-boat menace since they've been intercepting and decoding German signals to their warships practically since 1915.
 

mowque

Banned
The British may have an easier time defeating the U-boat menace since they've been intercepting and decoding German signals to their warships practically since 1915.

Yeah it cuts both ways. Wolf packs require lots of radio talk, which may hurt the Germans. Were the U-Boats mechanically capable of such tactics in 1916?
 

Deleted member 1487

Lets say that some enterprising German Naval officer comes up with the idea of Wolf Packs during mid-WW1 for merchant raiding, and the concept is put to practice after declaration of USW, and also that Hydrophones were introduced to allow Submarines to track ships underwater. Does Britain bend in this TL?

They did come up with the Wolfpack in 1917. Naval Command rejected the idea because there were too few Uboats as it was and they wanted maximum dispersal so that some interceptions were happening. Also the communications necessary were not yet powerful enough for the average sub in 1918. Its a good concept, but like many things in WW1 technology and industrial output wasn't up to the task.
 
Top