John..

Thanks for posting the photos.....thought these references might be of use:


U-984 (Sieder) fired a spread of two LUT torpedoes which hit the Henry G. Blasdel and the Edward M. House - a coup de grace which did not hit the damaged ships but instead struck the John A. Treutlen and one GNAT torpedo which hit the James A. Farrell.

The attack date and positions for all four Liberty ships (part of Convoy EMC-17) is 29 June 1944 and 50 07N, 00 47W (BF3532) respectively.

Henry G. Blasdel - Hit at 1332 hours GMT
Edward M. House - Hit at 1335 hours GMT
James A. Farrell - Hit at 1337 hours GMT
John A. Treutlen - Hit at 1338 hours GMT

Ref: Page 182 - Axis Submarine Successes Of World War Two by Jurgen Rohwer (1999)

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Four days later, on June 29, Sieder came upon a loaded Allied convoy, EMC 17, and shot two torpedoes at the port column. One hit and damaged an 8,000-ton freighter that Sieder later thought he put under with a finishing shot. The other missed the port column but hit in the starboard column a 7,000-ton freighter that sank slowly, Sieder claimed. He then shot a T-5 at another freighter of 9,000 tons and got a hit in the stern. A finishing shot at this vessel missed, Sieder reported.

Allied records showed that Sieder did better than his claims and in so doing, delivered the only really significant blow to the Neptune invasion forces in June. Apart from the damage to the frigate Goodson, his torpedoes hit four 7,200-ton American Liberty ships, some carrying troops. One, Edward M. House, reached England and was repaired. The other three, Henry G. Blaisdel, James A. Farrell, and John A. Treutlen, had to be scrapped. Seventy-six American soldiers were lost on Blaisdel, manned by Coast Guard personnel.

Upon the arrival of U-984 in Brest on July 4, Donitz awarded Sieder a Ritterkreuz, the first of four such awards presented to U-boat skippers engaged in attacking Neptune invasion forces.

Ref: Page 586 - Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted: 1942-1945 by Clay Blair (1998)

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F.d.U./B.d.U.'S War Log

Ref. Page 419 - IV. Current Operations at:

[www.uboatarchive.net]
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-- Regards,
Ken Deshaies
Newton, New Hampshire