General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Werner Henke, shooting survivors
Posted by:
Jerry Mason
()
Date: March 11, 2001 05:08AM
<HTML>Steve, I have the records from the Roper\'s attack and it is clear they had no thought in mind except sinking a dangerous enemy and not being sunk themselves. Earlier in the attack while U-85 was trying to escape on the surface she fired a torpedo which passed close aboard Roper. At the time Roper fired the depth charge salvo that killed the U-85 survivors in the water Roper held sound contact which the crew assumed was the U-boat escaping under the water. In hindsight this contact was probably the U-boat on the bottom or the disturbance in the water caused by the sinking of the boat. After the attack, Roper did not stop to pick up survivors citing the belief that U-boats worked in pairs. You have to remember that this was one of the first attacks by the Americans. They were inexperienced and took no chances. The captain was justified in his actions. War is tough.</HTML>