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

USS Roper (DD-147)-- Part 1: The U-85 Incident

From Wikipeia.

Wickes-class destroyer commissioned at the end of World War I, 1090 tons, 314-feet long, 101 crew four 4-inch and two 3-inch guns.

Named for Lt. Cmdr. Jesse M. Roper who died during the Spanish-American War while rescuing his crew. First U.S. warship to sink a German U-boat in World War I. After commissioning and during the inter-war period, served in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and along the U.S. west coast.

Immediately before U.S. entry into World War II, the Roper was part of the Neutrality Patrol and then escorted convoys after Pearl Harbor.

On the night of April 13-14, 1942, made contact with a surfaced U-boat off the coast of North Carolina, chased the U-85 and sank it with gunfire.

In 2002, former U-boat commander Helmut Schmoeckel wrote a book suggesting that the USS Roper not rescuing the U-85's crew after they abandoned the submarine was a war crime.

The Roper reported that after initial contact with the U-85, it was almost hit by a torpedo. After sinking it, the Roper's commander delayed rescue operations until morning and the arrival of air support from a PBY Catalina and another ship for reasons of fear of another U-boat possibly operating in the area.

No charges were filed against the Roper's crew or commander, Lt. Cmdr. Hamilton W. Howe. Howe received a Navy Cross medal for the action and retired in 1956 as a rear admiral.

War Crime Or Not? --GreGen

Action Report of the USS Roper Against the U-85

From the U-boat.net.

I've shortened it considerably so you should go to the site and read the whole thing.

The USS Roper was following a ship on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, NC, and when within 300 yards, the searchlight showed it to be a submarine.

Machine guns cut down the sub's crew rushing to man their gun and a direct hit was made on its cunning tower by the 3-inch gun and then the sub appeared to begin to sink, apparently scuttled. Soon, there were 40 of the crew on the sub's deck.

A barrage of 11 depth charges were dropped, but no wreckage seen (evidently, the submarine was now underwater and the crew in the drink). The Roper twice passed near the survivors but made no effort to rescue them for fear that there might be another U-boat in the area (as they often work in pairs or packs).

A PBY plane came and at 0717, rescue operations began after another depth charge attack. Nineteen bodies were recovered and two others allowed to sink after their clothing was searched.

Some of this report definitely has me wondering.

War Crime? --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

Were the Deaths of the U-85 Sailors an American War Crime?

As I continued with my research on the U-85 sailors and USS Roper, there is the possibility that all this might be an American war crime. Perhaps these Germans died unnecessarily.

Wikipedia said in its article on the USS Roper that one German thinks it was exactly that and, after reading the action report of the USS Roper which I found in the U-boat net, does raise some questions.

You Be The Judge. --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

28 Crewmembers of U-85 Buried at Hampton National Cemetery in Virginia

From the Dce. 16, 2013, Hampton Roads (Vs.) Daily Press "A landmark graveyard filled with poignant stories of sacrifice and courage" by Mark St. John Erickson.

Mr. Erickson has also written quite a few interesting stories on the War of 1812 around Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Hampton National Cemetery in Virginia has more than two dozen World War II dead who were buried in secrecy in the dead of the night so as not to attract public attention. Not one of these men was over 30, and several were still in their teens and they died in the first months of what is called the Battle of the Atlantic off the U.S. east coast.

The secrecy was because they were on the wrong side. They were from a German U-boat.

Twenty-eight crew members of the U-85, a submarine caught on the surface by a searchlight on the old World War I four-stacker destroyer USS Roper. Gunfire and depth charges sank the German ship.

Nearly three decades later, the German-American Society began holding annual memorial services at the graves which are often attended by members of the Tidewater Chapter of U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II. Said one member in 1994: "We all went through the same thing even though we were on different sides."

Brotehrs of War Now. --GreGen