The GHG was Germany's standard hydrophone installed in its Uboats upon entering World War II. It was installed in the Uboats from 1935 onwards. It consisted of two groups of hydrophones installed on each side of the bows. These groups each covered an arc of a 140 degrees on the sides of the Uboat. This meant that at any one time, the Uboat could listen to 280degrees out of the 360degree angle surrounding the boat. Under favorable conditions, single ships could be detected as far as 20kms away. (When the Uboat was underwater obviously). The KDB came out in late 1939 and it was designed to be an improvement over the GHG. The KDB was located on the upper casing and could be rotated from within the Uboat. Since the KDB could be rotated (like a radar dish), it could cover a +/- 160 degrees arc = total of 320 degrees. The reason the KDB does not cover the whole 360 degrees is because the Uboat engines usually drown out any noise coming from the rear of the ship. The conning tower also interfered with any detection from the rear. Still, this was a 40 degrees improvement on the earlier GHG. The one terrible defect that the KDB had was its extreme vulnerability to depthcharges. This leads me to the following question. For a Uboat commander, would you prefer being more able to detect surrounding ships but risk the loss of your hydrophone when depthcharged closely or would you rather detect less but have a much less fragile hydrophone? This is one of the kinds of choices that most of the Uboat commanders went through during the war.
First up - welcome back DesertWolf! Good to have you back Right, as to your question - I'd prefer to have both! But seriously, I would personally prefer the less vulnerable system. While you might worry about what was happening in that extra 40 degrees, there is a much better chance that you will not be 'blinded' any time an escort manages to drop a depth charge near you.
i would go for GHG. knowing where the enemy DD is crucial information when you are getting or about to be depthcharged
I would go for a combo of those two...or install the Balkon Gerat wich was an improved version of GHG. Where the previous had 24 hydrophones, the Balkon had 48 hydrophones and improved electronics, which enabled more accurate readings to be taken (Standard on the Type XXI and installed on some type VII). I conclude out of this that the KDB was not all to popular as the type XXI had an upgraded GHG
no, i am talking about GHG. a destroyers does more depth charged runs. if your KHD is damaged by the first attack you won't know where the DD is comming from. although those extra 40 degrees come's in handy, i just don't want to take the risk of having it damaged
On the other hand a more sensitive but more fragile piece of kit might help you avoid getting depthcharged in the first place.
But the more fragile piece of equipment is more likely to break down under normal wear and tear. Remember, the U-boats operated mainly on the surface, which entails a lot of pounding from the sea itself.