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Piracy Warfare
l U-85 l
U-85 Background Briefing l
DD-147 Roper Briefing
 Mission
Background Information
U-85 Background Briefing
In 1942 the United States suffered one of its worst defeats of
WW II not in Europe or the Pacific but along the nation's
eastern seaboard. Besides engaging the enemy on two fronts (the
Germans in Europe, the Japanese in the Pacific), the Navy had to
fight a defensive war at home. Three hundred ninety-seven ships
were sunk or damaged and nearly 5,000 people were killed. Its
resources were severely strained; men, machines, and material
needed to protect shipping were in short supply. The loss of
lives, ships and raw resources represents one of the greatest
maritime disasters in history.
For six months, sixty-five German U-boats hunted Allied merchant
vessels practically unopposed within view of American coastal
communities. The greatest concentration of these attacks
occurred off North Carolina's Outer Banks. Ships were sunk by
German U-boats at a rate of one per day. Life boats and
wreckage ferrying forlorn victims floated out to sea and many
vanished without a trace.
On the Outer Banks, corpses washed up on the beaches along with
millions of barrels of oil. Thousand of servicemen appeared on
the tiny, sparsely populated islands.
But as the war entered its fifth month the fortification of the
East Coast eased into high gear. Blimps, airplanes, and a
mosquito fleet of small boats aided warships in pursuit of the
enemy. Training and tactical exercises sharpened skills learned
vicariously. Aggression became the watchword.
Meanwhile, the underwater snipers shot and submerged, torpedoed
and ran, skulked by night and cowered by day.
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In Kevin Duffus'
World War II documentary, "War Zone," about the
U-boat attacks off the North Carolina coast, Gibb
Gray gives one of the best interviews. He is
extremely articulate and provided great insights to
what it was like being a young boy in Kinnakeet
(Avon, NC) as the U-boat carnage took a high toll in
human lives those first six months of 1942. This
video is available in the Museum Gift Shop or
online. |
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