USS Jouett (DD-396)-- Part 3: Sinking Two German Blockade Runners

The Jouett then continued to operate with Admiral Ingram's antisubmarine force, now called 4th Fleet, through the rest of 1943.

On New Year's Day, 1944, she joined the light cruiser USS Omaha (CL-4) for ocean patrol; and the ships intercepted the German blockade runner SS Rio Grande with a cargo of rubber.  After its crew abandoned ship, the Jouett and Omaha sank the German ship.

This effective closing of the South Atlantic to German blockade running was demonstrated even more forcefully just a day later when patrol planes reported a strange ship identifying herself as the Floridian.  Intelligence, however, identified her as the blockade runner Burgenlund.  

Before aerial attacks could begin, the Omaha and Jouett picked her up on radar and closed in.  Scuttling charges were set on the German ship and the cruiser's gunfire sank her just after 17:30.

--GreGen

USS Omaha (CL-4)-- Part 2: Neutrality Patrol and Rescues

After commissioning in 1923, the Omaha operated on the Pacific coast, Caribbean Sea, Brazil and Central America.  In 1937, she became grounded on a reek in the Bahamas.

By June 1941, the Omaha was involved with Neutrality Patrols near Brazil with the intention of enforcing a blockade against Germany by intercepting and boarding vessels that might be involved in commercial endeavors for Germany.

CAPTURE OF THE ODENWALD

The German blockade runner Odenwald was sighted 6 November 1941 by the Omaha and the destroyer USS Somers ((DD-381).  It was pretending to be an American ship by the name of SS Willmoto and carrying a large cargo of much-needed rubber.  This ended up being the last time Navy personnel received prize money for the capture of a blockade runner.

This was a month and a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor which plunged the U.S. into World War II.

The Omaha then patrolled the Atlantic and Caribbean Seas and made quite a few rescues of survivors of sunken Allied ships.

--GreGen

Wreck of the SS Rio Grande

From the Axis History Forum.

Mearns  claim to finding one of the deepest wrecks, the S.S. Rio Grande, a German blockade runner sunk by US  naval ships in 1944.  Discovered in 1996, the Rio Grande  is on the floor of the South Atlantic at a depth of 5762 meters.. "The [Sydney] wreck is nowhere as deep as the Rio Grande," he says.

*********************

Reply:  The Bergenland was sunk a few days later off Brazil.

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Reply:  The ship was sighted by a plane from the Omaha, then sunk by artillery fire from the Jouett on the night of 2nd/3rd January 1944 somewhere west of Ascension Island in the South Atlantic.

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Reply:  Approximately  55 miles (89 k) off Brazil.

--GreGen

German Blockade Runner SS Rio Grande: Deepest Shipwreck Ever Found

From the April17, 2017, Mental Floss "The deepest shipwreck ever found."

According to the Guinness  World Records, the deepest  shipwreck ever identified is that of the German blockade runner from WW II, the SS Rio Grande. 

In early January 1944, it was sunk by two U.S. warships in the South Atlantic Ocean.  It lies at the depth of  about 18,900 feet -- about 3.5 miles below the surface.  It was discovered on November 28, 1996, using side-scanning sonar technology.  Two days later, the company responsible for finding it, Blue Water Recoveries, confirmed the wreck using  a remotely operated  vehicle.

--GreGen

Anniversary of Sinking of Coast Guard Cutter Alexander Hamilton

From the January 29, 2016, ABC 4 News Charleston, S.C. "Cutter sunk in World War II being remembered in South Carolina" AP.

North Charleston, S.C.  Coast Guard personnel and historical societies gathered Friday afternoon when the Coast Guard Cutter Alexander Hamilton docked.

This was the anniversary of the day in 1942 when another cutter by the same name was torpedoed by a German submarine.

A plaque was dedicated with the names of the whole crew of that ship.  It is a replica of the plaque placed on the wreckage in the sea off Iceland three years ago.  The wreck was found in 2009.  There were 26 lives lost.

--GreGen

Diving on World War II Wrecks Off U.S. East Coast

From the October 4, 2014, Sanduskey (Ohio) Register "Marblehead native dives into historic wrecks" by Tom Jackson.

World War II was also fought off the United States coast.  Joe Hoyt, 32, is a government NOAA marine archaeologist exploring the war off the east coast.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, German U-boats began prowling off our coast.  In the first six months of the war (for the U.S.), 1942, there were more than 50 Allied ships sunk.  Says Hoyt, "It was a bit like a shooting gallery for the Germans along the East Coast."

On April 14, 1942, the destroyer USS Roper became the first U.S. ship to sink a German U-boat in World War II.  It found the U-85 on the surface and sank it with cannon fire.

Hoyt is one of the speakers at "Shipwrecks and Subs," a none-day conference at Sawmill Creek.

Mr. Hoyt earned his degree from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., noted for their underwater archaeology offerings.  He has also dove on the USS Monitor.

--GreGen

Loss of USCGC Escanaba

From the June 17, 2013, M Live  "Look back: Grand Haven USCGC Escanaba lost during World War II" by Dave LeMieux.

Seventy years ago, Grand Haven, Michigan learned of the loss of "its" ship, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba.  The 165-foot-long ship was sunk at 5:10 a.m. June 13, 1943, on convoy duty off Greenland, resulting in the death of all aboard but two.

The cause is still unknown.  Perhaps it was sunk by a submarine or hit a mine or maybe even an internal explosion.  The two survivors were picked up by the Rariton.

At one time, most of the crew lived in Grand Haven, where it was stationed.  the ship was built at a cost of $550,000 after a series of marine tragedies in 1929 that claimed the lives  of men with the sinking of four vessels.  The Escanaba underwent extensive renovation for war in late 1940 and 1941.  The hull was strengthened, ammunition lockers installed, machine guns, anti-aircraft guns and depth charges mounted.

No one still knows what caused it to sink.

Its 60-foot tall mast was removed in a 1940 refit and is today a memorial along with a life raft on Grand Haven's waterfront.

A third cutter named Escanabia was commissioned in 1985 and is stationed in Boston.

GreGen

The Long History of the USS Muskegon-- Part 2

The USS Muskegon was a Tacoma-Class patrol frigate which was much faster than its Navy cousin, the destroyer escort.

It was originally designed to combat submarines, but by 1944, when the Muskegon went to sea, the U-boat threat along the U.S. coasts was essentially over.  The Muskegon escorted an occasional convoy to Boston and sometimes went out on anti-submarine patrol.

It remained on duty in the Atlantic for years after the war.  At one point it was kind of a marker buoy for planes flying across the Atlantic.  After that, it went to the Coast Guard, the French Navy where it served as an unarmed weather ship, the Mermoiz until the late 1950s when it was sold for scrap.

There is still a USS Muskegon in the U.S. Navy, a harbor tug launched at Slidell, Louisiana, in 1962.

--GreGen

Wilmington, N.C., At War-- Part 1: War Off the Coast

From the April 4, 2012, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Back Then"  by Scott Nunn.

I really looked forward to reading Mr. Nunn's trip back through the newspapers of 70 years earlier and the interesting tidbits that he found about Wilmington's homefront.  Sadly, he rarely does these any more.  I'd like to volunteer to continue these posts, but live too far away.

MARCH 16, 1942:  The war really got close when a group of oil-stained and seared men were brought to Wilmington's Dosher Hospital.  they were eleven of twenty-six survivors of an oil tanker sunk of the southeast coast of North Carolina by a U-boat.

The Star noted that this story had been delayed 24 hours by Navy censorship rules.

--GreGen

U-boats Off the North Carolina Coast, March 1942-- Part 6

March 26th: DIXIE ARROW, tanker, sunk by the U-71; 11 killed. //// March 26th: EQUIPOISE, freighter, sunk by the U-160; 41 killed. //// March 26th: SULOIDE, freighter, collided with the wreck of the W.E. HUTTON. //// March 27th: CAROLYN, Q-Ship USS Atik, sunk by the U-123; 47 killed. //// March 29th: CITY OF NEW YORK, passenger-freighter, sunk by the U-160; 26 killed. //// Most Americans during this time and even today, do not know about the threat of German U-boat attack off the coast of the United States, but, as you can see, it was real. //// Watch Out for Those U-boats. --GreGen

U-boats Off the North Carolina Coast, March 1942-- Part 5

March 18th: the destroyer USS DICKERSON was shelled by the LIBERATOR; 4 killed (it wasn't sunk and, of course, not sunk by a U-boat, but just to show the tension along the coast) //// March 19th: LIBERATOR-- freighter; sunk by the U-332; 5 killed. //// March 21st: ATLANTIC SUN-- tanker, sunk by the U-124. //// March 22nd: ESSO NASHVILLE-- tanker, sunk by U-124. //// March 23rd: NAECO-- tanker, sunk by U-124; 24 killed. //// March 25th: NARRAGANSETT--tanker, sunk by U-105; 49 killed. //// Kind of interesting to see the freighter Liberator fired on a ship that was there to protect it on March 18th and then was sunk itself on the next day. //// Still Not Done With March Sinkings. --GreGen

U-boats Off the North Carolina Coast: March 1942-- Part 4: Good Hunting

Continuing with the list of Allied ships sunk off the coast of North Carolina during March 1942. And this list is just the ships sunk off the North Carolina shore. Ships were being sunk all up and down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. //// March 15th: ARIO-- tanker, sunk by the U-158; 8 killed. //// March 15th: CEIBA freighter (also shown as sunk by the same sub on March 17th), freighter, off Nags Head by U-124; 44 killed. //// March 16th: AUSTRALIA-- tanker, sunk by U-332; 4 killed. //// March 18th: E.M. CLARK-- tanker, sunk by the U-124; 1 killed. //// March 18th: PAPOOSE-- tanker, sunk by U-124; 2 killed. //// March 17th: KASSANDRA LUOLOUDIS-- freighter, sunk by U-124. //// That U-124 was having a good week. GreGen

U-boats Off the North Carolina Coast-- Part 3: March 1942

This month, the U-boat war along the North Carolina coast really kicked into high gear. Eight ships were sunk by German U-boats (plus one in a collision with a British warship) in January and seven in February. //// However, this month, the NC Wreck Diving Site lists 24 (although two appear to be listed twice, so at least 22). In addition, one, the schooner ANNA R. HEIDRITTER, ran aground off Ocracoke on March 1st. Another of the listings was a U.S. destroyer attacked by a merchant ship, so the number probably was twenty sunk by U-boats. I'll divide the list into three parts: //// March 7th: ARABUTA-- freighter, torpedoed and sunk by U-155; 1 killed. //// March 11th: CARIBSEA-- freighter, torpedoed and sunk by U-158; 21 killed. //// March 12th: JOHN D. GILL-- tanker, torpedoed and sunk by U-158; 23 killed. //// March 14th: OLEAN-- (also listed March 16th) tanker, torpedoes and sunk by U-158. //// --GreGen

U-boats Off the North Carolina Coast-- Part 2: February 1942

The second month of U-boat operations. //// Feb. 2: AMERTIKALAND, ore carrier, sunk by the U-106; 29 killed. //// Feb. 8th: OCEAN VENTURE, freighter, sunk by U-108; 32 killed. ///// Feb. 11th: BLINK, freighter, sunk by U-108; 34 killed. //// Feb. 15th: BUARQUE, passenger-freighter, sunk by the U-432. //// Feb. 22nd: OLYMPIC, tanker, sunk bt U-130. //// Feb. 24th: NORLAVORE, freighter, sunk by the U-432; 28 killed. //// Feb. 27th: HALO, tanker, sunk by U-130. //// --GreGen

U-Boats Off the North Carolina Coast-- Part 1: January 1942

From the NC Wreck Diving Site. //// Little-known to most Americans back then, but the Germans were operating its feared U-boats off the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts and really sinkin a lot of ships in 1942. //// The first ship sunk by a U-boat went down just 41 days after the U.S. declaration of war on Japan, January 18th. Five were sunk on January 19th alone. //// These are the ships listed as being sunk off the coast of North Carolina in January 1942. //// JAN. 14TH:The Brazos, freighter, sunk in collision with HMS Archer off Cape Hatteras. // JAN. 18TH: The Allan Jackson, tanker, sunk by U-66 off Diamond Shoals; 22 killed //// JAN. 19TH: Norvana, tanker, sunk by either the U-123 or U-66 off Diamond Shoals; 29 killed // City of Atlanta, passenger-freighter, sunk by U-123 off Diamond Shoals; 43 killed. // Malay, tanker, shelled by the U-123 off Diamond Shoals; 4 killed. // Ciltvaira, freighter, sunk by U-123 south of Diamond Shoals; 2 killed. // Lady Hawkins, passenger-freighter, sunk by U-66 off Cape Hatteras' 251 killed. //// JAN. 22ND: Olympic, tanker, torpedoed and sunk by U-130; 31 killed. // JAN. 24TH: Empire Gem, tanker, sunk by U-66 off Diamond Shoals; 49 killed. //// Happy Hunting for U-boats in Early Going. --GreGen

U-85

From Wikipedia. Type V1CB U-boat laid down in 1939 and launched 10 April 1941, commissioned in June and assigned to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla. Completed four war patrols and sank three ships, totalling 15,060 tons.

FIRST PATROL-- Departed Trindheim in Norway 28 August 1941. Sank one ship. Returned to St. Nazaire, France, on the Atlantic coast 18 September 1941.

SECOND PATROL-- Started and ended in Lorient, France.

THIRD PATROL-- Sank one ship northeast of St. John, Newfoundland, 9 Feb 1942.

FOURTH PATROL-- Left St, Nazaire 21 March 1942. Probably sank a ship April 10th. Sunk with all hands 14 April 1942. It was the first German U-boat loss in Operation Drumbeat.

--GreGen

Greman U-boat U-85 Sailors Buried on American Soil

From U-boat Archives.

Back on Dec. 23, 2013, I wrote about the 28 crew members of the U-95 being buried at the Hampton National Cemetery in Virginia. Here is a follow up on the story.

The U-85 was sunk by the destroyer USS Roper in a night surface action off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic off the coast of the United States on April 14, 1942.

It had been attacked several months earlier by a VP-82 PBO-1 Hudson flown by AMM1c Donald L. Mason on 28 Jan 1942. At the time, Mason had reported back to his base at Argentia, Newfoundland, "Sighted sub, sank same."

Twenty-nine sailors of the U-85 were buried at Hampton National Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia, with military honors, secretly on the evening of April 15, 1942. Fifty-two German prisoners from Fort Monroe prepared and later filled the graves. At 2000, the burial service was read by the Catholic Chaplain, followed by the Protestant Chaplain. Twenty-four U.S. seamen fired three volleys and Taps was sounded. This burial was kept secret for fear of enraging the American public that German sailors had been buried on American soil.

Doing Their Duty. --GreGen

Parts of New York City Built On Ruins of English Cathedrals

From the Dec. 28, 2013, Gizmode/Australia by Geoff Manaugh.

Here is one aspect of the war you never consider, what happened to all the buildings that were destroyed by bombing?

Parts of Manhattan are built on the ruins of English towns, especially London, that were destroyed by the German Luftwaffe. The rubble was shipped across the Atlantic as ballast on ships returning from Europe.

New York City's FDR Drive was built along the east side of Manhattan, much of it English rubble fill.

So much in fact was dumped, that one area between 23rd and 34th streets became known as the "Bristol Basin," though it was primarily from London.

So, the "ruins of another city" are under a part of New York City. What makes this even more interesting is that NYC is not just another city built on top of a pre-existing city like many of the world's cities.

Just Something I Never thought About. --GreGen

Death of Aubrey F "Bud" Kriegermeir

From the Aug. 15, 2013, Northwest Herald (McHenry County, Il.) obituaries.

AUBREY F. "BUD" KRIEGERMEIR, Age 89, of Woodstock.

Died Aug. 10th.

Born Jan. 22, 1924, in High Hill, Missouri, and grew up in Moulton, Iowa.

During World War II, he served two years as Fireman First Class in Division 6 submarine service in the South Pacific, and six months in the Atlantic theatre on Patrol E Scout.

I tried to find out more information about Division 6 and Patrol E Scout, but didn't find anything.

The Greatest Generation. --GreGen

HMCS Nanaimo (K101)

From Wikipedia. Back on Oct. 25th, I wrote about the SS Port Nicholson being sunk by a U-boat and supposedly carrying one of the largest treasures ever in a sunken ship. The crew was rescued by the Royal Canadian Corvette Nanaimo.

It was named for Nanaimo, British Columbia, and commissioned 26 April 1941 and served until 28 September 1945. It was a Flower-class corvette, 205-feet long and mounting 4-inch guns, machine guns and depth charges.

After commissioning, it did escort duties from Halifax, Canada, for three months. In October 1941, it transferred to the Newfoundland Command and escorted convoys from St. John's to Iceland. In March 1942, the Nanaimo was assigned to the Western Local Escort Force and on June 10, 1942, picked up 86 survivors from the British merchant ship SS Port Nicholson which had been torpedoed by the U-87 northeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

In November 1944, it was ordered to Pacific Command and after the war was sold for commercial conversion and became the whale catcher Rene W. Viake. It was broken up in South Africa in 1966.

The Story of a Ship. --GreGen