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In early 1942, Royal Navy Capt Gilbert Roberts (1900/1986) formed a new operational analysis team, to be called the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (W.A.T.U.) to explore and evaluate new tactics and then to pass them on to escort captains in a dedicated Anti Submarine Warfare course in Derby House, the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches, in Liverpool.
Cpt Roberts
It was led by Capt. Roberts and was principally staffed by officers and ratings from the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens). Their primary tool for studying U-boat attacks and developing countermeasures was wargames set in a tactical floor divided into squares, basic ship models and a lecture theatre to both train 5,000 officers in the art of anti-submarine warfare and even develop new tactics vital to winning the Battle of the Atlantic.
After the U-boat threat to merchant shipping was defeated, WATU continued to develop anti-submarine tactics for later stages of the war, including Operation Overlord and the Pacific War. WATU trained naval officers in its tactics by hosting week-long training courses in which the students played wargames.
WATU formally ceased operations at the end of July 1945, at the end of war.
Cpt Roberts
It was led by Capt. Roberts and was principally staffed by officers and ratings from the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens). Their primary tool for studying U-boat attacks and developing countermeasures was wargames set in a tactical floor divided into squares, basic ship models and a lecture theatre to both train 5,000 officers in the art of anti-submarine warfare and even develop new tactics vital to winning the Battle of the Atlantic.
After the U-boat threat to merchant shipping was defeated, WATU continued to develop anti-submarine tactics for later stages of the war, including Operation Overlord and the Pacific War. WATU trained naval officers in its tactics by hosting week-long training courses in which the students played wargames.
WATU formally ceased operations at the end of July 1945, at the end of war.
