On April 15, 1944, the U-550 torpedoed the gasoline tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania which had lagged behind its convoy. It was carrying 140,000 barrels of gasoline heading for Great Britain (this was right before D-Day).
The U-boat went under the doomed tanker to hide, but the USS Joyce caught the move on sonar and damaged the submarine with depth charges, forcing it to surface where its deck guns were manned and an exchage of gunfire took place. Another escort ship, the USS Gandy, rammed the 550. A third escort, the USS Peterson hit the stricken ship with two more depth charges. The German crew abandoned the ship after setting explosives to sink it.
Down went the U-550 and it wasn't seen again until Monday.
Several sunken U-boats have been located along the U.S. coast, but the U-550 is the only one in this area.
Discovery was made even more difficult because of U'S. military positioning of the battle site was inprecise. A side-sonar scan in a mow-the-lawn pattern was used covering 100 square miles of ocean floor was used. At first, just the nose of the submarine could be seen on the swing. A second one confirmed it. Mazraani will nect contact combatants and their families.
I wonder if they found the wreck of the SS Pan Pennsylvania since the article mentioned it as a doomed ship?
Always Great to Find Sunken Warships. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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