Sunken German U-boat search to begin off Newfoundland

Jerry Eliason from Minnesota said he's searching for the U-656, the first U-boat sunk by U.S. Forces based out of Argentia at the time.

According to Eliason, he's found data indicating the vessel was destroyed by an American plane about 24 kilometres off Cape Race on March 1, 1942.

"We were able to acquire the logbooks of two destroyers that were sent out the following day after the original attack by the Lockeed Hudson aircraft out of Argentia," he said. "They sent two destroyers out there and they found the oil slick and spent a full day dropping depth charges in and around the oil slick, and those logbooks are the key."

Sunken German U-boat search to begin off Newfoundland

The U-boat threat around Newfoundland (then a Dominion of the British Empire and under blockade by the Nazis) is a mostly forgotten aspect of WWII. I was thrilled to read the news that a well respected underwater archaeologist was looking into U656, which was sank by an American aircraft off the community of Trepassy.

The Germans sank not only military vessels, but also fishing vessels (which were the lifeblood of industry in Newfoundland at that time) as well as passenger ferries carrying women and children as well as young soldiers heading to and from training in mainland Canada.

Their worst atrocity in Newfoundland waters was the sinking of the SS Caribou, a passenger ferry shuttling civilians to and fro between Newfoundland and Canada. 136 Newfoundlanders were lost, including 10 innocent children.


www.heritage.nf.ca...

On a fairly recent anniversary of the disaster, I saw an interview from a gentleman who was at the time little more than a young boy, a survivor from U-69's cowardly sinking of the SS Caribou and he recounted how himself and a group of other survivors would try and gather 'round as best they could, clinging to wooden wreckage singing traditional Newfoundland folks songs to keep their morale up in the unforgiving and bitterly cold North Atantic as they awaited an uncertain rescue.

One in particular he mentioned was Squid Jiggin Ground, which is nearly as popular around here today as it was then. I'll see if I can find a YT link, but I don't know how to embed.

www.youtube.com...

You may well recall a fairly recent but fruitless search from a U-boat in Labrador's Churchill River, on the mainland portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. This search is different is that this is a) at the site of a known, historical U-boat wreck and b)is in the ocean, and not a river where a U-boat would have had little business being in the first place.

I think Germany would rather people look for there missing gold than sunken U boats

But really interesting for us history buffs if they find it.

a reply to: crazyewok

It's actually a marine archaeologist from Minnesota whose spearheading the search, he's had a few successes on finding wrecks in the Great Lakes but doesn't have a lot of experience working in the sea. There will be different challenges but I'm sure he has an Atlantic Canadian crew with him who know the waters.

Many years ago in the sixties we were watching a WWII submarine movie and she told me a story of when she was in high school during WWII. She grew up in Bridgeport CT. on the shores of Long Island Sound. One day her and her friends were at the beach and saw planes dropping depth charges and exploding.
In the paper the next day was a story of a U-Boat being sunk off Rhode Island off of Block Island.
I have been on a boat and it can still be seen.

originally posted by: Monger
The U-boat threat around Newfoundland (then a Dominion of the British Empire and under blockade by the Nazis) is a mostly forgotten aspect of WWII.

I beg to differ. The Battle of the Atlantic is not a "mostly forgotten aspect" of WW2. I think it is well known. The Germans lost upwards of 800 boats in a battle that spanned WW2. At the end of the day, once the allies had advanced the technology and doctrine the U-Boat menace was countered. In between times, every ship sunk was a tragedy - approaching 3,700 merchant ships and warships. The life of a German submariner was precarious as upwards of 30,000 died, so not much fun for them.

U656 from U-Boat Net shows that this particular boat was lost with all hands, having sunk no allied shipping.

Regards

a reply to: Monger
Star and flag op, I love hearing about this sort of thing!
On a side note, whereabouts on the island are you from? I'm a townie

a reply to: Armadall

West coast of the island originally, was born in Corner Brook. Currently living in the Burin Peninsula area, hoping to meet my future fortune, as going back to the mainland is out of the question for this salty feller. Loves the South East Shore almost as much as I loved the Bay of Islands or Gros Morne Park back on the west of the island.