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You are here: Home / Archives for u-boat

[FEATURE ARTICLE] World War I Hits Cape Cod: The U-156 Attack on Orleans in 1918

June 3, 2018 By Brian Wallin

We’ve shared a few World War I stories on these pages as we mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the conflict. This month, we look at the first time a foreign power fired on American territory since the Siege of Fort Texas in 1846. Such action would not be repeated until the terrorist attacks of September 11.

U-151 Class German Submarine.
U-151 Class German Submarine.

It was 10:30 on a quiet and warm Sunday morning, July 21, 1918 when residents of the Cape Cod town of Orleans suddenly found the war on their doorsteps. A German long-range U-boat, the SM U-156, surfaced and attacked the tugboat Perth Amboy and the string of four barges she was towing south along the outer edge of Cape Cod. The tug was headed to the Chesapeake Bay on the ocean route, rather than the recently opened Cape Cod Canal (perhaps to save the cost of transit through the new waterway). The 15-hundred ton, 213-foot long U-156 opened fire with its two 5.9 inch and 3-5 inch deck guns (eventually, the sub’s crew would fire nearly 150 shells against their helpless target). The U-156 had already caused havoc along the Northeast coast, having sunk a Norwegian steamship off Long Island and laid a minefield southeast of Fire Island, New York that likely resulted in the sinking of the Navy cruiser USS San Diego a few days before the Orleans event.

Tugboat Perth Amboy.
Tugboat Perth Amboy.

The first shells overshot the tug and barges and slammed onto the shore and marshland at Nauset Beach (more strikes followed during the course of the attack). The sub’s gunners eventually found their mark and a projectile smashed into the wheelhouse of the Perth Amboy, seriously wounding one crewman. A large crowd soon gathered on the shore to watch the spectacle. Three barges were quickly sunk, but the fourth proved more difficult to send to the bottom. One eyewitness said it was like watching an arcade shooting gallery. Although damaged by some twenty shells, the steel-hulled Perth Amboy remained afloat. In fact, she would one day return to haunt the Germans (more about that later in the story).

Sixteen men, twelve women, and four children aboard the tug and barges quickly took to lifeboats and began rowing three miles to shore as the Germans continued to fire. Members of the Orleans-based Coast Guard Station 40 swung into action, launching a surfboat to assist survivors.

Lifeboat station captain, Robert Pierce, and his crew.
Robert Pierce and his crew.

Simultaneously, the lifeboat station captain, Robert Pierce, contacted the nearby Chatham Naval Air Station for help. The locals and summer visitors continued to watch the spectacle from the beach or the porches of oceanfront cottages (apparently, no one was particularly worried about being hit by gunfire as the Germans’ aim wasn’t very accurate). One enterprising resident, a local doctor, even called the Boston Globe and provided a blow-by-blow account to the city desk.

Survivors of the Perth Amboy.
Survivors of the Perth Amboy.

As the lifeboat station crew reached the tug’s captain, James Tapley, who had flown a white flag from the tugboat in hopes of stopping the attack, called on them that all were safely off the tug and barges. Coastguardsman William Moore climbed into a survivors’ lifeboat to administer first aid to helmsman John Bogovich who had suffered a major wound to his arm and shoulder (a Boston doctor later noted that Moore’s efforts had saved the man’s arm). Several other survivors had also received minor injuries. All the survivors reached shore safely, either at Orleans or Nauset Beach just to the north.

Aircraft from the naval air station had been aloft that morning, searching for a Navy dirigible that had been reported missing (it later turned up safely).  Located about seven miles from Orleans, the base, in operation for only a few months, was charged with patrolling the area for German submarines. Chatham NAS executive officer, Lt.(jg) Elijah Williams could hear gunfire. It was confirmed moments later when the alert arrived from Orleans.

Williams ordered Ensign Eric Lingard and two crewmen into a Curtis HS-1L seaplane. They arrived over the scene in just a few minutes.  Over the noise of the plane’s engine, Lingard called to bombardier Chief Special Mechanic Edward Howard to drop a 100-pound bomb on the submarine. The bomb refused to release from its wing rack. So intent was the sub’s crew on their attack, they didn’t notice the plane until it was almost on them. They scrambled to clear the deck as the Curtis came around for another try. A second attempt to release the bomb failed. At that, bombardier Howard managed to climb out of his position in the plane’s nose, grab onto a strut of the bottom wing and wrench the bomb loose. Down it fell, and hit the sub without a sound. It was a dud. Several of the sub’s crewmen remained on deck to take a few shots at the Navy plane.

It was now a few minutes after 11:00am. A second aircraft, an R-9 seaplane piloted by Chatham base commander Captain Philip Eaton, arrived on the scene. He zeroed in on the U-156, and dropped a bomb, only to see it fail to explode. Another dud! Eaton was so angry he threw a wrench out of the cockpit at the submarine. By now, the Germans had had enough and dove beneath the surface, escaping safety and ending the attack.

The U-156 wasn’t done yet. Capable of a range of as much as 25-thousand miles at minimum speed, the sub headed north to Nova Scotia, where it attacked and sank a number of American fishing boats and a tanker. It also captured a Canadian fishing trawler, manned and armed the vessel and used it to sink seven more fishing boats before finally heading back to Germany. But, it never returned to its base. Its captain, Richard Feldt, five other officers and sixty crewmen were lost around the end of September when the submarine is believed to have struck a mine in the Northern Barrage minefield off Great Britain.

Map of the attack off of Orleans, MA, in 1918.
Map of the attack off of Orleans, MA, in 1918.

Most of the German long-range submarine activity had been centered off the coast off North Carolina (a favorite hunting ground of U-boats in World War II as well). Three of the six large cruiser/minelayer class boats targeted merchant vessels in the well –traveled sea-lanes. U-151 sank four Allied ships between June 5 and 9, 1918 (the first coastal raid by an enemy warship since the War of 1812). Between August 4 and 6, the U-140 sent four other ships to the bottom including the Diamond Shoals lightship. In a touch of irony, the lightship had originally been stationed off Nantucket and was witness to the 1916 sinking of five enemy merchant ships by the U-53 whose visit to Newport (before America entered the war) we have shared on these pages. U-117 laid a minefield north of Cape Hatteras sinking the British tanker Mirlo. Of course, these few incidents were far out distanced by the havoc wrought along the Atlantic coast by U-boats in World War II.

So, a couple of notes to finish out our tale: Fortunately, there were no fatalities in the attack. All the injured were successfully treated at Boston hospitals. Although the Navy did manage to drive the submarine away, the barges were lost along with their cargo. But, the tugboat survived. The Perth Amboy was repaired and returned to service. She was sold in 1936 to the well known Moran Towing Company in New York where she was renamed the Mary Moran. In 1941, she was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission and sent to Europe where she participated in the war effort until she sank in 1945 after colliding with a tanker in the English Channel. In 1920, the Chatham Naval Air Station was closed as part of the post-war military cutbacks. Today, the site is occupied by high-end homes. A small plaque at the end of Strong Island Road commemorates the existence of the station along with some crumbling remains of concrete foundations here and there.

For many years, there has been speculation about why the U-156 was so far north of the favored hunting grounds of the other cruiser/minelayer boats. Planting a minefield off New York was, of course, worthwhile. But was there another part of the mission?

In 1898, the Compagnic Francaise Le Cables Telegraphiques, which had been operating a transatlantic cable since 1879 from Canada to France, placed into service a cable running from Orleans to Brest, France. Messages could be sent directly from the U.S. to France without having to travel via Newfoundland. When America entered the war, a unit of Marines was sent to guard the shorefront cable station. The July 21st incident led many people to speculate that the Germans’ real target was the station and that the tug and its barges just happened to blunder into the attack. Since the U-156 never returned to its base, no one lived to tell the tale or to confirm that there was cable-cutting equipment aboard. However, new historical research now suggests that the cable station was the target all along.

New public historic marker commemorating the 1918 attack off of Orleans, MA.
New public historic marker commemorating the 1918 attack off of Orleans, MA.

Local organizations are set to observe the centennial in a big way. A new public historic marker commemorating the event has been erected, replacing a wooden marker that stood on private property. The Orleans Historical Society is planning several events in July. Jack Krim, author “Attack on Orleans” and Paul Hodos author of “The Kaiser’s Lost Kreuzer” will present lectures on the attack. Hodos has conducted extensive research that supports the cable station attack theory.

Visit www.orleanshistoricalsociety.org or www.historicorleans.org for lecture details and more information on a planned display about the attack. The Chatham Historical Society and several other organizations are also involved in planning events surrounding the centennial. So, if your plans call for a trip to Cape Cod around the middle of July, you might like to take a trip back in history to learn about those exciting few moments when World War II came quite literally to the shores of America.

Filed Under: Feature Article Tagged With: cape cod, Germany, submarine, u-boat, world war I

[FEATURE ARTICLE] The Only Nazi Bomb To Hit North America: An East Greenwich Connection

April 10, 2016 By Brian Wallin

This story takes us up north to Canada’s Gaspe Peninsula and involves a well-known East Greenwich resident. Our tale starts in 1942. Canada was under attack by marauding German U-boats that were sinking ships carrying vital supplies to Great Britain as they ventured down the St. Lawrence River and out to sea.

Faced with the Nazi threat of torpedoes (and spies), local residents endured blackouts plus increased military presence. One incident has a special connection to Robert Merriam, Founder and Director of the New England Wireless and Steam Museum on Frenchtown Road.

Robert Merriam on a 1928 Eagle Scout.
Robert Merriam on a 1928 Eagle Scout.

During the summer of 1942, Bob had worked at the Rheem Shipyard at Field’s Point in Providence between his freshman and sophomore years at Harvard. Before starting classes again, Bob decided to visit some New Hampshire school chums and his Canadian cousins. His transportation was a third-hand, 1928 Indian Scout motorcycle. “It was in good shape,” recalls Bob, “because during the Depression we took care of things.” He packed some of his father’s WW I army gear: mess kit, sleeping bag, a full-length black rubber raincoat and boots, goggles plus tools for roadside repairs. After stops in New Hampshire, Bob headed for his English-speaking cousins in North Hatley, Quebec.

“The Canadian Customs officers said USA motorcycles could only get one gallon of gasoline, due to strict rationing,” he said. “But my Scout would run on un-rationed kerosene if you primed it with a little gas. Presto! No more rationing problem. A little gas to start the engine each morning and I was all set.” With a one-gallon can of gas, Bob started out on the thousand-mile circuit around the Gaspe Peninsula. “I slept on the ground or under bridges, but who cared? I was young and on an adventure,” he mused. Little did he suspect the adventure ahead.

German U-boats were attacking shipping well up into the St. Lawrence River. On May 12, 1942, some 80 survivors of the torpedoed British steamer SS Nicoya came ashore at the village of Saint Yvon. Rumors remained rife about further attacks and spies. When Bob arrived at the village on September 6, there had been another scare the day before.

Remains of the Saint Yvon torpedo.
Remains of the Saint Yvon torpedo.

The German U-165, under command of Oberleutnant Zur Zee Rudolf Hoffman, had attacked the SS Meadecliffe Hall. The torpedo missed and plowed into the shore by the village, blasting a 7-foot wide crater and sending fragments everywhere, breaking nearby windows and scaring the daylights out of the residents. A passing Canadian Navy armed yacht, HCMS Raccoon, likely startled the U-boat skipper and caused him to miss his shot. The steamer safely passed on its way to Ogdensburg, New York. The U-boat stole out to sea (two days later other U-boats sunk the Raccoon off the Canadian coast. Heading black home, the U-165 hit a mine and sank in the Bay of Biscay).

The explosion had put the village on high alert. Bob Merriam innocently rode into town, clad in that black rubber raincoat, goggles, and boots, riding a black and red chromeless motorcycle with military gear strapped to the back: the perfect image of a Nazi spy to the people of this isolated village.

“A gang of fishermen dragged me off the bike while others rolled the Scout into a barn,” he said. “They were jabbering away in French and didn’t understand a word I was saying. I saw them studying a beam over the door as a place to tie a rope and string me up. It was clear what they intended to do, but I didn’t have a clue why.” Things were not looking good for Bob Merriam. Then fate stepped in.

Being good Catholics, the villagers summoned the local priest before they started the necktie party. “Of all things, he pulled up in a chauffeur-driven LaSalle limousine,” Bob continued. “Thank goodness he spoke English, having attended the seminary in Chicago.” He quickly got things straightened out. The priest took Bob to the next village, Grand Etang, where an English-speaking couple was staying at a fishing camp. “They got me a cabin and fed me a splendid trout dinner,” Bob recalled, “and the good father came back at midnight to help retrieve my motorcycle.” End of the story? Well, not quite.

The next morning, Bob’s hosts and the camp owner sent him off right into a rainstorm. He stopped inside a covered bridge to wait out the showers. Along came a trio of fishermen. You guessed it. They pounced on Bob and carried him off to a nearby house. “This time one went for the authorities,” Bob smiled. “The other two and the wife of one guarded me, but they did feed me a bowl of boiled cod fish eyes – apparently a local delicacy.” Before long, a Canadian soldier arrived from a nearby post. “He was a worldly fellow from Montreal who spoke English,” said Bob, “and again, quickly straightened things out. Off I went and completed my tour with no more arrests.” Bob Merriam returned to Harvard to finish his education and get on with life that included war service with the Army’s 3160th Signal Service Battalion in Belgium, marriage, and a career in marine electronics in Rhode Island.

A small fragment of the Saint Yvon torpedo.
A small fragment of the Saint Yvon torpedo.

Bob never forgot his adventure. In 1961, he asked the Canadian Navy for information on the Saint Yvon torpedo incident and that year, returned to Canada with his wife Nancy and their two children. They found a roadside marker in Saint Yvon commemorating the U-boat incident reading “Torpedo Alemande (sic) a Visiter,” or “the visiting German torpedo.” The local postmistress generously gave the Merriams a small fragment of the torpedo that had crashed through her uncle’s cellar door. In 1993, Bob donated it to the Naval War College Museum. The deed of gift records it as “the only German weaponry to hit and explode on the North American continent during the war.”

The torpedo’s remains are displayed at the Musee de la Gaspesie in Quebec.
The torpedo’s remains are displayed at the Musee de la Gaspesie in Quebec.

The torpedo’s remains are displayed at the Musee de la Gaspesie in Quebec. The Indian Scout was meticulously restored and now belongs to a collector in Massachusetts. If you visit the New England Wireless and Steam Museum and are lucky enough to find Bob Merriam in a storytelling mood, maybe he’ll share a little more about his Canadian adventure or one of the many other tales that encompass his long and very interesting life.

Filed Under: Feature Article Tagged With: canada, SS Nicoya, submarine, U-165, u-boat, World War II

[DEC. 12 DINNER MEETING] Speaker Greg Banner on The Halifax Disaster

December 3, 2022 By James Mitchell Varnum

In December 1917, a World War I ammunition ship blew up in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia. This massive event was listed as the largest man-made explosion in human history prior to atomic weapons and totally devastated the city. Thousands died. Our December speaker, Varnum Member Greg Banner, will describe the background, event, response, and results and discuss aspects of military, nautical, local, and emergency response history.

About the Varnum Continentals

The Varnum Continentals are committed to the preservation of the historic heritage of our community, our state, and our nation. Please take a virtual tour of our museums to learn more about our mission to encourage patriotism. You can participate with us through active membership and/or philanthropic support in our non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Museum tours are welcomed and our facilities may be rented for suitable events.

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The Varnum Continentals are committed to encourage patriotism through the Varnum Armory Museum, the Continental Militia, and the James Mitchell Varnum House and thus to preserve, support, and communicate the military history of our community, our state, and our nation.

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