“U.S.A.: At 12:15pm U-853, five miles southeast of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, torpedoes and sinks USS Eagle (PE-56). The Eagle was at a dead stop. The explosion amidships sends a geyser of steam and water 200 feet skyward, breaking the ship in two and sinking her within minutes. 49 seamen are killed.”
These are waters sailed by my family since the early 1600s. My grandfather told me that a German sub was sunk off of nearby Reid State Park...perhaps during WWI.
Curiously, the US Gov’t did not recognize that this boat was sunk by this sub until 2001!
Here is what happened to this sub:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-853
U-853 carried a crew of 55. The Germans nicknamed the U-boat der Seiltänzer (”the Tightrope Walker”), and her crew painted an emblem of a yellow shield with a red horse on her sail.[4]
Eagle Boat 56, a World War I-era patrol boat, was towing targets for a United States Navy dive-bomber training exercise 3 miles (4.8 km) off Cape Elizabeth when she exploded amidships and sank. Only 13 of the 67 crew survived. Although several survivors claimed to have seen a submarine sail with yellow and red insignia, a Navy inquiry attributed the sinking to a boiler explosion. The Navy reversed its findings in 2001 to acknowledge that the sinking was due to hostile fire and awarded Purple Hearts to the survivors and next-of-kin of the deceased.
On 5 May 1945, President (Reichspräsident) of Nazi Germany Karl Dönitz ordered all U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases. U-853 was lying in wait off Point Judith, Rhode Island at the time. According to the US Coast Guard, U-853 did not receive that order, or less likely, ignored it.[14] Soon after, her torpedo blew off the stern of SS Black Point, a 368-foot (112 m) collier underway from New York to Boston. Within 15 minutes Black Point had sunk in 100 feet (30 m) of water less than 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Point Judith.[16] She was the last US-flagged merchant ship lost in World War II. Twelve men died, while 34 crew members were rescued. One of the rescuing ships, Yugoslav freighter SS Kamen, sent a report of the torpedoing to authorities. The US Navy organized a “hunter-killer” group that included four American warships: Ericsson (DD-440), Amick (DE-168), Atherton (DE-169), and Moberly (PF-63).[17]
The group discovered U-853 bottomed in 18 fathoms (108 ft; 33 m), and dropped depth charges and hedgehogs during a 16 hour attack. At first the U-boat attempted to flee, and then tried to hide by lying still. Both times it was found by sonar.[18] The morning of 6 May 1945 two K-Class blimps from Lakehurst, New Jersey, K-16 and K-58, joined the attack, locating oil slicks and marking suspected locations with smoke and dye markers. K-16 also attacked with 7.2-inch rocket bombs. Numerous depth charge and hedgehog attacks from Atherton and Moberly resulted in planking, life rafts, a chart tabletop, clothing, and an officer’s cap floating to the surface. With the loss of all 55 officers and men, U-853 was one of the last U-boats sunk during World War II.[18] and, with U-881, the last to be sunk in US waters. Atherton and Moberly received credit for the kill.[2
Thanks for the post. Damn shame those sailors died after the war was over. Reminds me of the Battle of New Orleans.