# What was the name of this cool Battleship-like game I had in the early 1960's? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 18, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340 "2012-05-18T17:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/1 "2012-05-18T17:29:38Z")
Since Battleship is all in the news right now. I had this cool game. I’m thinking about 1962. Twelve years old sounds right. It wasn’t Battleship, though, it was a Destroyer/Submarine game that was played like Battleship. It was a plastic console game, that had a round, green radar screen with the requisite grid marks. It was divided into two hinged panels. You lifted your screen half and below was a corresponding plastic grid where you set your submarines, like battleship. The subs were flat slabs that plugged into the grid. Instead of calling out grid numbers, each player had etch-a-sketch style x/o knobs that moved your destroyer cursor underneath the green screen. The screen was translucent so you could see the little + cursor moving around the grid. When the attacking player chose a grid space, he would depress a control button which would cause the cursor to mechanically descend (like a depth charge). It had an electrified spring on it. If there was no sub there, it wouldn’t touch the bottom and nothing would happen. But if it was over a sub, the spring would compress causing the cursor to light up signaling a hit. Where it got cool was the submarines defensive capability. (Like Battleship?) you placed mines to protect your submarines when you set up your side. The mines were these plastic cylinders that were taller than the sub pieces. If the attacking destroyer cursor brushed across one of these, it would bend the spring causing a loud buzz and a red light to indicate your destroyer was…destroyed. But what was even cooler, was that each player had a little periscope to view your side that let you watch your opponent attack you, and you could see whether he was closing in on your sub, or about to get blasted by a mine. I’ve looked on the old toys and game sites, but I can’t find any sign of it.Anybody have an idea? ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/2 "2012-05-18T17:43:36Z")
Wow… that sounds very familiar, as if one of my cousins had it. This is probably NOT it, but might be a good starting point for further research. > **[Sub Search](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1551/sub-search)** > > Depth charges or torpedos? How will you claim victory on the high seas? For one thing, the date (1973) is much too recent. You wanted something from the early 1960s I think. Battleship was launched as a boardgame in 1967 by Milton Bradley. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/3 "2012-05-18T18:56:34Z")
Definitely not it. Has to be back in the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/4 "2012-05-18T19:02:59Z")
This does indeed ring a bell. Could the name of the game have been DEPTH CHARGE? That’s the first thing that clicked in my brain… ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/5 "2012-05-18T19:03:06Z")
Wow, this sounds vaguely familiar to me, too. Since it’s so close to being Battleship, perhaps a thorough search of Battleship’s makers’ history might bring up something; perhaps it was the same company? It sounds rather advanced for the time, actually. I’d play that now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/6 "2012-05-18T19:05:27Z")
I’m surprised to hear that MB came out with BATTLESHIP only in 1967. I swear I can remember playing it when I was in grade school. (Of course, that may have been just the old-fashioned version, with pensil and paper…) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/7 "2012-05-18T19:09:17Z")
Maybe this? Milton-Bradley’s ‘SUB SEARCH’ > **[Sub Search - better than a 3-d version of Battleship | Sub Search](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/429041/sub-search-better-3-d-version-battleship)** > > Milton Bradley’s Sub Search is often referred to as a 3-dimensional battleship. Because the game has similar playing pieces and uses the similar mechanic of guessing the location of hidden enemy vessel’s, the comparisons are not without cause. ... Edit to add…probably not that one. This is a 3-d one instead of 2-d. AND NOW I WANT ONE!! > **[Sub Search Game by Milton Bradley - Sam's Toybox](https://www.samstoybox.com/toys/SubSearch.html)** > > Sub Search, the three-level stragegy game from Milton Bradley in the 1970s, a more complex Battleship cousin. ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/8 "2012-05-18T19:19:23Z")
[TimeWarp Vintage Toys 1950s 1960s 1970s Old Toys For Sale](http://www.timewarptoys.com/code2.JPG) There it is 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/9 "2012-05-18T19:30:43Z")
That website appears to be down. What was the name of the game? ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/10 "2012-05-18T19:37:08Z")
Damnit, I closed the site, but it was listed under 1960s games, but upon re-Googling with just the name it looks like it was 1977?! ☹ It was called Code Name : Sector, it was computerized and blue (and not 3-levels), but it appears the time frame is off. Here’s one from '63: [http://mysite.verizon.net/adminkp1/toys/barracud.html](http://mysite.verizon.net/adminkp1/toys/barracud.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/11 "2012-05-18T19:40:01Z")
> [@pantheon](#): > > [TimeWarp Vintage Toys 1950s 1960s 1970s Old Toys For Sale](http://www.timewarptoys.com/code2.JPG) There it is 🙂 OMG! I had that! It was one of the first electronic games I ever owned. Wow! Thanks! Now, this may not be what the OP was thinking of, but it was what I was thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/12 "2012-05-18T19:47:02Z")
w00t, one down, one to go… OP- I think I found it! Sonar Sub Hunt, including lights and noises and green radar screen: [pics here](http://sonarsubhunt.mygamesonline.org/pic.html) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/13 "2012-05-18T19:57:55Z")
> [@pantheon](#): > > w00t, one down, one to go… > > OP- I think I found it! Sonar Sub Hunt, including lights and noises and green radar screen: [pics here](http://sonarsubhunt.mygamesonline.org/pic.html) Wow, that’s a helluva find! I love that the guy is resurrecting old games; that’s just neat! ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/14 "2012-05-18T20:36:06Z")
Weirdly, it appears that I had ‘Sub Search’ as well. I seem to remember that the back panel was an illustration of deep-sea denizens. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/15 "2012-05-18T20:39:11Z")
OK, Sonar Sub Hunt is unknown to me. Amazing what you can find when you hunt around for a bit. The Web is like everyone’s collective attics all mooshed up together. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-name-of-this-cool-battleship-like-game-i-had-in-the-early-1960s/622340/16 "2012-05-18T23:45:15Z")
> [@pantheon](#): > > w00t, one down, one to go… > > OP- I think I found it! Sonar Sub Hunt, including lights and noises and green radar screen: [pics here](http://sonarsubhunt.mygamesonline.org/pic.html) We have a winner!!!🆒 Thanks guys. I’ve been meaning to ask for a while.