Part 1: Six Days in a German Submarine
Part 2: Six Days in a German Submarine

2 January 1944, we were ocean escort for Convoy GUS.63 bound from Gibraltar to Hampton Roads, Virginia. While still in sight of Spain as we formed up the convoy, a loud explosion was heard. I was on the bridge and could see the explosion. It was an empty tanker that had been carrying gas. It just blew to pieces with parts of the superstructure flying through the air. I was standing next to the radar P.P.I. (Plan Positioning Indicator). All of the rows and columns of ships were dots on the screen, except for one dot, now missing from the formation It was all over in seconds. Several subs were lying on the bottom where we could not spot them. After they heard the destroyer escorts go past, they rose to find the whole convoy neatly arrayed before them.

The whine of the two torpedoes indicated that they were headed right at us!

Seconds after the explosion, the Soundman ranged in on a sub broad on our starboard beam I stepped into the Sound Room (just ahead of the bridge) and found the Soundman tracking two incoming torpedoes They had the whine of electric torpedoes and although we were in a turn, the absolute bearing of the torpedoes did not change. That meant that they were headed straight for us. As the sound got closer, we all braced for the explosion we were sure would come -- but good fortune smiled again They went directly under us, too deep to trigger on our hull.

Its hard to see how those torpedoes could miss all those ships that were on our port side, but I could not see any of our ships hit by those two torpedoes

Now it was our turn! We turned directly onto the sub's course and laid down 13 depth charges set to 50 and 100 feet. We lost contact then regained contact and made another run with 13 depth charges set on magnetic_ Magnetic depth charges do not explode at all unless they come close enough to magnetically detect the sub. Nine of the charges detonated. About 30 seconds later, there was an underwater explosion followed by an oil slick. Sonar contact was regained and hedgehogs were fired. These charges do not explode unless they make physical contact with a sub. Four explosions were heard 20 seconds after firing followed by eight more explosions 50 seconds later.

I was on the Boat Deck by the time the depth charges were fired from the "K" guns and a string of charges were rolling off the stern racks. I believe I saw grating like deck plates in the blast of water from one of the depth charges. Sound contact was lost and we returned to our station at the starboard forward position of the convoy.

EDITOR NOTE - While this does indeed, appear to be a definite kill on a U-Boat, there were no German U-Boats lost on 2 January 1944. In fact, no German U-Boats were lost from Christmas Eve of 1943 unti18 January 1944.

The rest of the trip to Hampton Roads was uneventful. When we returned, our new assignment was to a Killer Group, to prowl the North Atlantic in search of weather subs and any other sub we could locate.

A Submarine with V-1 Rockets?

One day, while half the crew was ashore on liberty in Portsmouth, the ship received orders to put to sea in 30 minutes. So was every other combat vessel on the east coast of the United States. The panic was caused by one of our spies having observed a German submarine going out to sea equipped with a V-1 rocket launching rack mounted on the foredeck. The U.S. public never heard a word about it as far as I know. The War Department was in a full panic. What if submarines were to show up off our coast and launch V-1 rockets on our cities? At the time, the possibility seemed real enough and the consequences catastrophic. Every available warship was at sea to intercept and sink any sub that might launch rockets. We did not find a sub with rocket launchers.

We found out after the war, that a sub did put to sea with a V-1 rocket launcher, but it fired the rocket on a test range. In fact, this test was performed without Hitler's authorization and no other subs were ever equipped with the V-1 rocket launchers.

If one or more V-1 rockets had landed in New York City or Washington DC, think what the consequences would have been! Pearl Harbor had a horrible impact on the people of the United States - but what of direct attacks upon major East Coast cities?

While patrolling the Grand Banks and elsewhere in the North Atlantic, we located many submarines. With our sound gear, we knew just where they were until we got quite close but then we could no longer `see' them with the sound gear because the sound gear could not point down. The sound gear was like a searchlight that can be turned from side to side but when you get close enough, the sub would disappear. Of course, the sub captain knew this and would change directions at the last minute to avoid being sunk. Many times we would make a depth charge run and miss the sub because the soundman would lose track of the sub just before we could drop the depth charges. It really was a cat and mouse game. A deadly game, but a game nonetheless. 

What we did next was what made two destroyer escorts much more deadly than one. We had one destroyer escort track the submarine from a little way off to one side while we went in for the kill. The other ship could get a continuing range and bearing on our ship as well as the submarine and report both positions to us by radio. In that way, we could maneuver directly above the sub as it changed course. Then we could drop a string of depth charges directly upon him even though we could not spot his position on our own sound gear. We did sink this sub in American waters, so I can wear a Battle Star on the American Theater of Operations. This was U-518, a Type IX-C submarine.

EDITOR NOTE - PETER PETERSEN (1113-1989) was a crewmember of U-518 but had the very good fortune to be transferred off prior to their last patrol.

A trick the Germans used was to fire a 'pillenwerfer' from a torpedo tube when under attack. This was effectively like a giant Alka-Seltzer tablet. It would create a giant mass of bubbles that would reflect our sound waves and make us think we had spotted the sub. We'd thereupon bomb the heck out of the 'pillenwerfer' while the sub got away. The 'pillenwerfers' did cause a sort of mushy echo on the sound gear so, after some training, our sound men could identify the `pillenwerfers' and we would circle the area until we spotted the sub escaping.

The Germans soon discovered that we were onto the `pillernverfer' trick when we no longer depth charged the mass of bubbles and suddenly, we could no longer catch them leaving the scene. They would now shoot out a 'pillenwerfer' and back up into the bubbles while we ran around in circles trying to find them. It really was a cat and mouse game, but I am glad I was the cat The mice were plenty deadly too, but mostly they sank merchant ships, although they did sink a number of warships too.

EDITOR NOTE - The 'pillenwerfer' was used to simulate the sounds of the submarine's propeller while 'bold' a slug of iron filings, was used to appear like a submarine. Good sonar men could spot the trick when the echo did not move off.

Then the end of the war came and the men of the armed services were released according to their points accumulated. Well, I had more than enough to be released from the Navy right away. I got my "Ruptured Duck" (a pin signifying military service) and proceeded to travel across the country with my new bride in a steam train (the only kind then). Some of the railway cars had coal stoves and were built in the mid-1800's. Everything that could roll was used all through World War II.

We will leave this story now, as the balance concerns FRANK's memories of his life after the war. We thank FRANK sincerely for this great look into what it was really like in World War II.

Other Members - please come forward and tell us your memories. Put them on videotape, on audiotape, type it out or scribble it on an old traffic ticket - just get your memories here to this HQ one way or another so we may save them. Don't let your story fade away when you are no longer here to tell it.