While spending a couple days in Cape May, NJ, I came across a well-written and pleasant paperback entitled Shipwrecks and Legends 'Round Cape May. One of the chapters dealt with U-151 under KK Von Nostitz during WWI. What's interesting is the way in which U-151 went about sinking ships, and the resulting panic--even though the US had entered WWI over a year prior to these events. U-151 arrived in the Cape May area, appropriately enough, in May of 1918. Starting on May 25, the submarine surfaced and caught unarmed ships--sending over a boarding party with time bombs. The Hattie Dunn, Edna, and Hauppage were sunk, but the Nyanza, Johancy, JC Donnell, and Cheyenne escaped. Evidently, these ships were not large enough to warrant a torpedo. On May 28, U-151 planted mines in the Bay between Cape May, NJ and Henlopen, DE. According to survivors, Von Nostitz spoke fluent English and would often apologize for having to sink the ship, adding that he was interested in eliminating shipping tonnage, not lives. The US Navy responded to reports of sinkings and random spottings of submarines. June 2 proved to be a banner day for Von Nostitz. U-151 sunk the 5,000 ton liner Carolina and four other ships, and the tanker Herbert L. Pratt sunk after striking one of the newly-laid mines--a total of 14,517 tons. On June 3, U-151 left for more southern waters, but that was not the end of its impact. June 3 is also the day Cape May was placed under martial law. Rumors of German spies were everywhere. A Cape May man was arrested for allegedly sending signals at night to U-boats. He was released when his "signals" turned out to be a defective porch light than flickered. A woman was accused of sending signals in the daytime with flags--although the "flags" turned out to be newly-washed colored sheets she hung on a clothesline to dry. In August, an armed merchant ship fired at a U-boat as it rose to the surface, but it escaped. Later, US Navy destroyer Paul Jones found the damaged submarine and raced to capture it. As the hatch opened, an officer stepped out frantically waving and screaming "Don't shoot! We're Americans!" The U-boat turned out to be the US sub O-6. U-151 returned to Germany by July 31, 1918, having sunk 23 ships totaling over 50,000 tons, and causing a bit of a panic not only in the waters around Cape May, but in the town itself. More on U-151 According to Submarines of the World, which had a page on U-151, U-151 and U-155 were converted to cargo-carrying capabilities to beat the British blockade. They had names: Oldenburg (U-151) and Deutschland (U-155). Upon the US entry into the war, they were converted back to naval use as heavily-armed submarine cruisers, two of the seven (U-151 to U-157). U-151 survived the war, surrendering on November 24, 1918 and subsequently used as a target off Cherbourg, sinking June 7, 1921. U-155 was scrapped in England in 1922. According to the specs, U-151 was armed with 2 torpedo tubes, two 150mm guns, and two 86mm guns. It carried a complement of 56 and had a range of 11,284 nautical miles at 10 knots. Top speed was 12.4 knots surfaced and 5.2 knots submerged. References Shipwrecks and Legends 'Round Cape May by David J. Seibold and Charles J. Adams III. Seibold Publishing, ISBN: 0-9610008-5-6, 1987. Pgs 57-60. Submarines of the World by Robert Jackson. Friedman/Fairfax Publishers, ISBN: 1-58663-294-9, 2000. Pg. 255. Back to War Lore: The List Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Russ Lockwood. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com