General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: U-Boats in the Delaware River
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: November 29, 2005 02:23PM
Joseph:
No. The story is not true.
Check out the recent discussion about U-boats in the Great Lakes.
U-boats were military assets under the control of their government. They did not go anywhere they pleased, but followed orders. For every motion of a U-boat, there was a written record of orders, acknowledgements, ships logs, and patrol reports, most of which have survived the war.
60+ years after the war ended, with full and complete access to all German war records and veterans, there is absolutely no evidence of any U-boat docking on the American coast in wartime. Shallow coastal waters were absolutely deadly to submarines and avoided at all costs.
German-Americans were, as a general rule, several generations removed from their immigrant roots and well integrated into American society. Sure there were many German-Americans (Eisenhower, for one) but there is absolutely no proof of any espionage or sabotage by Americans of German descent. Not a single case has come up in over 60 years.
The one time when German U-boats did land German agents onto American soil they were quickly caught - or turned in by their German-American relatives. And, in that action, as you would expect, we have historical documentation: orders, patrol reports, and logs from the submarines involved, as well as the arrest and interrogation records and captured sabotage equipment of the caught spies. We can prove it happened
There is a continual series of stories like this: German U-boats penetrated the Great Lakes, they went grocery shopping in Florida markets, etc etc ...all of which are not credible and have not one shred of evidence to back them up.
just another urban legend...
Regards,
Kurt
No. The story is not true.
Check out the recent discussion about U-boats in the Great Lakes.
U-boats were military assets under the control of their government. They did not go anywhere they pleased, but followed orders. For every motion of a U-boat, there was a written record of orders, acknowledgements, ships logs, and patrol reports, most of which have survived the war.
60+ years after the war ended, with full and complete access to all German war records and veterans, there is absolutely no evidence of any U-boat docking on the American coast in wartime. Shallow coastal waters were absolutely deadly to submarines and avoided at all costs.
German-Americans were, as a general rule, several generations removed from their immigrant roots and well integrated into American society. Sure there were many German-Americans (Eisenhower, for one) but there is absolutely no proof of any espionage or sabotage by Americans of German descent. Not a single case has come up in over 60 years.
The one time when German U-boats did land German agents onto American soil they were quickly caught - or turned in by their German-American relatives. And, in that action, as you would expect, we have historical documentation: orders, patrol reports, and logs from the submarines involved, as well as the arrest and interrogation records and captured sabotage equipment of the caught spies. We can prove it happened
There is a continual series of stories like this: German U-boats penetrated the Great Lakes, they went grocery shopping in Florida markets, etc etc ...all of which are not credible and have not one shred of evidence to back them up.
just another urban legend...
Regards,
Kurt
Subject | Written By | Posted |
---|---|---|
U-Boats in the Delaware River | Joseph Kazanjian | 11/29/2005 03:20AM |
Re: U-Boats in the Delaware River | kurt | 11/29/2005 02:23PM |
Re: U-Boats in the Delaware River | Rod | 11/30/2005 12:34AM |
Re: U-Boats in the Delaware River | Manfred | 12/03/2005 10:01PM |
Re: U-Boats in the Delaware River | Vince | 12/05/2005 08:55PM |
Re: U-Boats in the Delaware River | JOSEPH john MERENDA | 01/31/2020 07:08AM |
U-Boats in the Chesapeake Bay | Walt Mathers | 02/21/2008 01:13AM |
Re: U-Boats in the Chesapeake Bay | T.F | 02/24/2020 04:27PM |