Sonobuoys: The Secret Ears of WWII

The U.S. Navy once dismissed the new airborne sonar device as a “radar pipe dream.” But by 1943, the sonobuoy—a simple radio-linked hydrophone dropped from patrol aircraft—gave Allied forces the unheard-of ability to listen for German U-boats across the vast Atlantic.

Early sonobuoys could hear propeller signatures up to 10 miles away, transforming submarine hunting. By 1944, PBY Catalina patrol planes used them to locate and destroy dozens of U-boats off the coast of Brazil. Combined with Hedgehog anti-submarine attacks, the system protected vital supply routes during the war’s closing years.

This documentary uncovers how a device once mocked as fantasy became one of WWII’s most decisive anti-submarine warfare breakthroughs—and helped win the fight for the Atlantic.

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Видео Sonobuoys: The Secret Ears of WWII канала Alex Explains WW2