On her first war patrol from May to June 1944, the U-853 was assigned weather watching duty. German intelligence believed weather would have a major impact on an expected Allied invasion of Europe. On 25 May, she spotted the RMS Queen Mary, loaded with American troops and supplies. (The Queen Mary most likely was carrying 15,000 soldiers at the time.)
The U-853 submerged to attack but was outrun by the much faster ship. As she surfaced in the Queen Mary's wake, she was attacked by British aircraft from an oil tanker and a grain ship converted into Merchant Aircraft Carriers.
No major damage took place to the submarine, however.
Meanwhile, the escort carrier Croatan had been hunting weather boats for nearly a month and had already sunk the U-488 and U-490. German radio messages were intercepted from the submarine and the Croatan and six destroyers went looking for her.
The U-853 proved elusive, but on 17 June, a weather report from the U-853 was picked up just 30 nautical miles away. Planes were scrambled and an attack made within minutes. Strafing runs were made and two sailors were killed and 12 wounded. The submarine crash dived to safety.
The U-853 returned to its base at Lorient in northwest France, ending the patrol.
--GreGen
No comments:
Post a Comment