USS Eagle 56-- Part 3: The Sinking Was It a Boiler Explosion or U-Boat?

Next, the Eagle was assigned to Naval Air Station Brunswick from 28 June 1944.  

At noon 23 April 1945, the Eagle exploded amidship and broke into two pieces 3 miles off Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  The destroyer USS Selfridge was operating nearby and arrived 30 minutes after the explosion to rescue 13 survivors from the crew of 62.

The Selfridge obtained a sharp, well-defined sonar contact during the rescue and dropped nine Mark X Mod 2 depth charges without obvious result.  According to a classified U.S Navy report, the German submarine U-853 had been operating in the waters off Maine.

At a Naval Board of Inquiry in Portland the following week, five of the 13 survivors claimed to have seen a submarine. Several spotted a red and yellow emblem on the submarine's sail.  These insignia match the markings of the the U-853: a red horse on a yellow shield.  The Eagles boiler had been overhauled just two weeks before she sank and none of the other boilers on the Eagle boats had ever exploded.

Nevertheless, the official Navy inquiry concluded that Eagle 56 had suffered a boiler explosion.

--GreGen