; a little story about German U boats in North American waters in WWI...............................The return of the SM U 53 after its successful patrol in North American waters in 1916.
The SM U 53 was a diesel-electric submarine of the German Imperial Navy, which was used in the First World War. It was the first German submarine to carry out operations against commercial traffic off the east coast of the United States. The SM U 53 was launched on February 1, 1916 at the shipyard of Germaniawerft in Kiel and was put into service on April 22, 1916. The submarine commanders were Hans Rose (April 22, 1916 - August 17, 1918). ) and Otto von Schrader (August 18, 1918 - November 29, 1918).
The SM U 53 carried out 13 patrols against the enemy in the North Atlantic during the First World War, including a transatlantic voyage. It sank a total of 87 merchant ships of the Entente and neutral states with a total tonnage of 217,508 GRT. In addition, she managed to sink a warship. This makes the SM U 53 one of the most successful military submarines of the First World War. Considering the gross registered tonnage she sunk, it ranks fifth of the German submarines with the highest sinking rates in World War I.
As the first military submarine the U 53 crossed the Atlantic in September and October 1916. The trip was intended to secure the route of German commercial submarines and demonstrate the combat power of the German submarine weapon. Previously, the U 53 had been equipped at the Germaniawerft shipyard with additional tanks for the return trip. The Kapitánleutnant Rose performed a daring feat when he entered on October 7, 1916 for 2 hours and a half in the port of Newport, Rhode Island. There, the members of the Navy of the then neutral United States visited the submarine. The following October 8, 1916, Rose led the commercial war outside the territorial waters of the United States. Here, seven ships were stopped in quick succession and five sunk.
On February 3, 1917, U 53 sank about 20 miles south of Bishop Rock, the American merchant ship Housatonic. Although there were no casualties in the sinking, it contributed to the deterioration of German-American relations. On December 6, 1917, the crew of U 53 sank the American destroyer Jacob Jones southwest of Bishop Rock. Rose achieved a torpedo impact at a distance of around 2,700 meters. The sinking, in which 64 sailors perished, was the first loss of a destroyer of the US Navy by enemy action.
Sources: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Besatzung-von-U5 ... 25c2940f03
https://uboat.net/wwi/boats/?boat=53
Cheers. Raúl M
.