Thetis (decoy)

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A US government drawing of a Thetis decoy.
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A US government drawing of a Thetis decoy.

Thetis was the name of a floating radar decoy used by German U-boats during the Second World War.

The device is stored as a pole about two meters long. When deployed it is extended to a total length of 8 meters, half of which is submerged. The upper half has a series of radar reflectors that were tuned to allied anti-submarine radar wavelengths to give the same return signal as a U-boat. A typical U-boat (U-66) carried twelve of the devices.

It was introduced in January 1944, and large numbers were released into the Bay of Biscay in July 1944 to simulate U-boat patrols during the Battle of Normandy

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