USCG HISTORY: On this day, January 14, 1942 -A Coast Guard aircraft, Hall PH-3 No. V-177, dropped food to a raft with six survivors of a torpedoed tanker in one of hundreds of such incidents carried out by Coast Guard aircraft during the war. This tanker had been the victim of a German U-boat attack off the coast of the United States. ---------------------------------------- The German offensive began 11 January 1942 when U-123 sank the SS Cyclops south of Nova Scotia. The first wave ended operation on February 6 and headed back to Germany. They sank 25 ships for a total of 156,939 tons. They were replaced by succeeding waves of U-boats without interruption. During the first six months of the U-boat offensive in North American coastal waters 397 ships totaling over 2 million tons were sunk with the loss of roughly 5000 lives. In the process only 7 U-boats were sunk. Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, Commander of the Third Naval District was given the command of the North Atlantic Coastal Frontier consisting of the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Naval Districts. This would later expand southward and become the Eastern Sea Frontier. At the beginning of January the surface craft available to him to combat the U-boats were 4 - PY boats, 4 - SC boats, 1 - 165 Coast Guard Cutter, 6 - 125 Coast Guard Cutters, 2 - PG boats, and 3 - Eagle Boats. The review of the aircraft revealed similar conditions. There were 51 - Trainers, 18 - Scouts (OS or OB) 14 - Utility, 7 - Transport, and 6 - Patrol aircraft. Of this number 18 were Coast Guard aircraft; all of them unarmed at this time. Once in the hunting grounds, German submarines would rest on the continental shelf from early morning until late afternoon. During the day the U-boat would rise to the surface for air and sunlight, usually during late morning, for a limited time, submerging again if sighting any object. Late in the afternoon they began the nights activity against the shipping lanes. Unbelievably the merchant ships ran with their running lights on and were silhouetted against the fully-lit coastal cities and resort towns. All navigation aids were still lit and the ships followed the established sea lanes. The surfaced submarine would lay in wait for an appropriate target to pass by. Surface attacks were preferred by the U-boat commanders. The Type IX boat had a surface speed of 18 knots. The submerged range was limited to 70 mile at 4 Knots. Periscope depth attacks were made if operations dictated. With the advent of submarine tankers the VII boat also began operating in American waters. An aerial patrol utilizing available aircraft was initiated. With the limited daylight operations conducted by the submarines and the effectiveness of aircraft limited by a lack of radar and darkness, the odds of locating a submarine were not good. What they did see were oil slicks where the tankers had been sunk, debris, lifeboats with survivors, people clinging to rafts, some in life jackets and dead bodies. This was the result of the previous nights U-boat activity. The aircraft would drop provisions to provide immediate help, find a ship or boat and direct it to the survivors. Many were wounded or badly burned and in great need of medical assistance. Others were beyond the point of endurance and slipped away into the sea. When evaluating the situation the lives of the survivors were balanced against the risks off an offshore landing. Many were made. Coast Guard records showed 95 landings in the sea and over 1000 rescued during the period Jan 1942-June 1943. see more at: uscgaviationhistory.aoptero.org/history02.html -------------------------------------- video: military/video/operations-and-strategy/second-world-war/ww2-aircraft-carrier-in-the-pacific/1568071298001/ -----------------------------------------
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 03:29:48 +0000
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