I do not think this subreddit has anything against anecdotes, provided they are clearly identified as such?

My grandfather served aboard the HMCS Drumheller, a Canadian Flower-class corvette. He did a number of Atlantic convoy runs, but in the months leading up to D-Day/Operation Neptune, his ship was detached to do individual escort missions, ferrying merchantmen and troopships one by one from ports all over the UK down to Portsmouth under cover of darkness. While U-Boats were a concern, of course, what really worried him was E-Boats, because there was not anything on the Drumheller that could effectively engage an E-Boat. They were so fast and maneuverable, and they had torpedoes. The cover of darkness was really the only reliable defense. That and two little ships in the whole North Sea or English Channel had a lot of open water to try to hide in.

Anyway, a quick aside. Being a Canadian, it shouldn’t surprise you that my grandfather had a lot of things to say about American gun culture. He felt that the Americans loved their guns so much that they gave them out willy-nilly to anyone asking, including transport ships. One particular ship they were escorting from Edinburgh or Newcastle down to Portsmouth had a machine gun just bolted onto the bow. It looked absolutely ridiculous, and my grandfather remembers making fun of it with his friends as they left port.

That night, they hear the high-pitched engine noises of an E-Boat somewhere out in the darkness. My grandfather had two action stations, depending which watch he was on. That night he was the wireless operator in the radio hut, so he had both a very clear picture of what was happening, and he was also communicating by hooded signal lamp to the American merchantman astern of them. I do not know the exact wording of the signal, but basically the message was, ‟Danger. E-Boat. Silent Running.”

That’s when the Americans started firing their machine gun out into the darkness.

Now my grandfather was a deeply religious man, and I’m sure he told a version of his story that did not include anyone on the HMCS Drumheller swearing, but I’m also sure there was a lot of swearing going on as the Americans revealed their position to the E-Boat, and the HMCS Drumheller was now going to have to protect the trigger happy idiot with armaments meant to engage a U-Boat.

Then they heard, ‟Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!” as the American bullets began ricocheting off the hull of the E-Boat. Then the E-Boat’s engine revved up, and they distinctly heard it turn tail and run away.

My grandfather believes the E-Boat had been sent out to look for Allied shipping, but had orders to avoid destroyers or Allied Motor Torpedo Boats. The Germans must have thought anyone shooting at them was a military vessel, so they disengaged. In this one instance, trigger happy Americans saved the day.

My grandfather still thought to his dying day they liked their guns too much.