General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Who sunk it...
Posted by:
Terry Andrews
()
Date: June 11, 2001 07:48PM
<HTML>Hi Seth
Hope this is of some help to you!
Alarmed by the large number of ships being sunk off the eastern coast of the United States, the British Government in February, 1942, at the request of the United States, agreed to lend the US Navy twenty-four anti-submarine corvettes.
These ships were about half the size of a World War 2 type destroyer. They were 170 feet long, with a crew of four officers and thirty-three enlisted men. Their armament consisted of a four-inch, quick-fire deck gun and a 303-caliber Lewis machine gun. They also carried approximately 100 depth charges and sonar.
Among the twenty-four coal-burning corvettes leaving England in early March 1942 was HMS Bedfordshire. The Ships travelled through the North Atlantic to Newfoundland, then to Halifax, Nova Scotia and New York. At least one ship was lost during the winter gales on this trip. The others arrived in New York much in need of repairs.
Among the officers on board the Bedfordshire was Sub-Lieutenant Thomas Cunningham. The Bedfordshire spent April and part of May patrolling off the North Carolina coast between Morehead City and Norfolk, with Morehead City as its home port. because these ships were coal-burning, they required regular refueling.
In early May, Aycock Brown assigned to the office of Naval Intelligence, visited the ship to obtain British flags to use in burial of Englishmen at Cape Hatteras who had lost their lives in ship sinkings. Sub-Lieutenant Cunningham was the officer who procured these flags for Brown. The Bedfordshire then refueled at Morehead City and left to check out a submarine sighting report. As it turned out, a German submarine (U-353) had been sunk near Cape Lookout by the Coast Guard cutter Icarus. As a result the Bedfordshire stayed in that area for a day or so before proceeding on its patrol duty.
On the night of May 1, U-558, captained by Gunther Krech, was cruising between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Its mission to date had been uneventful. A lookout from U-558 sighted HMS Bedforshire and she gave chase.
U-558 made its attack on the surface. After missing with its first torpedo, the submarine\'s second torpedo hit the Bedfordshire squarely amid ships, catapulting the ship into the air and sinking it almost immediatly. No one survived the sinking.
The US Navy, to which the British ships were attached, was not very diligent in keeping track of these patrol craft, as evidenced by the fact that the navy was not aware of what had happened to the Bedfordshire for several days.
On May 14th, while patrolling the shore of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, a Coast guard discovered the bodies of Sub-Lieutenant Cunningham and telegraphist Stanley Craig. Later two other bodies, unidentifiable, were recovered. These were removed to a small plot next to a local cemetary at Ocracoke Village and, with Coast Guard assistance they were given a proper burial.
Ironically the flag used for Cunningham\'s funeral was one of the very ones given by him to Aycock Brown about ten days earlier.
In subsequent years, with the cooperation of the US Government and the citizens of Ocracoke Island, this small plot was deeded to the British Government and is now an official English cemetary.
It can be viewed today on Ocracoke Island. Permanent grave markers are present and a British flag flies continuously over the site to remind all who see it of the brave men who fought in World War 2 and died in defence of democracy.
information was drawn from three sources:
L. Vanloan Narisawald, In Some Foreign Field (The Story of Four British Graves on the Outer Banks) (Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair, publisher, 1972).
Articles appearing in The Times and Observer, published by The News and Observer Publishing Co., Raleigh, N.C.
James T. Cheatham, The Atlantic Turkey Shoot (U-Boats off the Outer Banks in World War II) Wentworth Printing Co, West Columbia, South Carolina, 1999. (7th Printing).</HTML>
Hope this is of some help to you!
Alarmed by the large number of ships being sunk off the eastern coast of the United States, the British Government in February, 1942, at the request of the United States, agreed to lend the US Navy twenty-four anti-submarine corvettes.
These ships were about half the size of a World War 2 type destroyer. They were 170 feet long, with a crew of four officers and thirty-three enlisted men. Their armament consisted of a four-inch, quick-fire deck gun and a 303-caliber Lewis machine gun. They also carried approximately 100 depth charges and sonar.
Among the twenty-four coal-burning corvettes leaving England in early March 1942 was HMS Bedfordshire. The Ships travelled through the North Atlantic to Newfoundland, then to Halifax, Nova Scotia and New York. At least one ship was lost during the winter gales on this trip. The others arrived in New York much in need of repairs.
Among the officers on board the Bedfordshire was Sub-Lieutenant Thomas Cunningham. The Bedfordshire spent April and part of May patrolling off the North Carolina coast between Morehead City and Norfolk, with Morehead City as its home port. because these ships were coal-burning, they required regular refueling.
In early May, Aycock Brown assigned to the office of Naval Intelligence, visited the ship to obtain British flags to use in burial of Englishmen at Cape Hatteras who had lost their lives in ship sinkings. Sub-Lieutenant Cunningham was the officer who procured these flags for Brown. The Bedfordshire then refueled at Morehead City and left to check out a submarine sighting report. As it turned out, a German submarine (U-353) had been sunk near Cape Lookout by the Coast Guard cutter Icarus. As a result the Bedfordshire stayed in that area for a day or so before proceeding on its patrol duty.
On the night of May 1, U-558, captained by Gunther Krech, was cruising between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Its mission to date had been uneventful. A lookout from U-558 sighted HMS Bedforshire and she gave chase.
U-558 made its attack on the surface. After missing with its first torpedo, the submarine\'s second torpedo hit the Bedfordshire squarely amid ships, catapulting the ship into the air and sinking it almost immediatly. No one survived the sinking.
The US Navy, to which the British ships were attached, was not very diligent in keeping track of these patrol craft, as evidenced by the fact that the navy was not aware of what had happened to the Bedfordshire for several days.
On May 14th, while patrolling the shore of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, a Coast guard discovered the bodies of Sub-Lieutenant Cunningham and telegraphist Stanley Craig. Later two other bodies, unidentifiable, were recovered. These were removed to a small plot next to a local cemetary at Ocracoke Village and, with Coast Guard assistance they were given a proper burial.
Ironically the flag used for Cunningham\'s funeral was one of the very ones given by him to Aycock Brown about ten days earlier.
In subsequent years, with the cooperation of the US Government and the citizens of Ocracoke Island, this small plot was deeded to the British Government and is now an official English cemetary.
It can be viewed today on Ocracoke Island. Permanent grave markers are present and a British flag flies continuously over the site to remind all who see it of the brave men who fought in World War 2 and died in defence of democracy.
information was drawn from three sources:
L. Vanloan Narisawald, In Some Foreign Field (The Story of Four British Graves on the Outer Banks) (Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair, publisher, 1972).
Articles appearing in The Times and Observer, published by The News and Observer Publishing Co., Raleigh, N.C.
James T. Cheatham, The Atlantic Turkey Shoot (U-Boats off the Outer Banks in World War II) Wentworth Printing Co, West Columbia, South Carolina, 1999. (7th Printing).</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Who sunk it...
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Seth | 06/11/2001 03:37PM |
|
RE: Who sunk it...
|
Marc Haldimann | 06/11/2001 05:15PM |
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RE: Who sunk it...
|
Frank_J | 06/11/2001 05:16PM |
|
RE: Who sunk it...
|
Terry Andrews | 06/11/2001 07:48PM |