EASTERN SEA FRONTIER
WAR DIARY
APRIL 1942
  
     
 
CHAPTER IV
  
 
 
 
THE U-85
  
     
 
        The submarine U-85 left Germany for its fourth war cruise on March 21st. Two weeks later she was off the Great Bank of Newfoundland where the Gulf Stream joins the Labrador Current. In a smooth sea, on April 4th, the ship slid through the "abominable heat" while the crew tried to mitigate the tortures of hot weather by baking a large cake. Next day as the submarine approached the coast of North America the men, lying on the deck in magnificent sunshine, "had thoughts of home." Three more days of unbearable heat were followed on April 9th by a sudden fall of the mercury. The temperature reached six degrees above zero. On that day one of the sailors noted in his diary that the city of Washington was only 660 nautical miles away. Three days later, as the ship cruised submerged, he recorded the fact that his vessel was just "off Washington." Twenty-four hours later, April 12th, U-85 lay on the bottom and "all was quiet off New York."
  
     
          The following day the ship dropped down the coast as far as Wimble Shoals. There, late on the night of April 13th, she broke the surface of a calm sea that gleamed with phosphorescent light. Overhead in the clear sky many stars shone brightly. Off to starboard the men could see the light on Bodie Island.  
 
 
          That same light could be seen by the lookouts on USS ROPER patrolling on her assigned area. At 0006 April 14th the destroyer was proceeding on course 162° (T) at a speed of eighteen knots. Her position was  
 
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Latitude 35-55N; Longitude 75-13W. At that time, six minutes after midnight, the ROPER made a Radar contact bearing 190 (T) at a range of 2700 yards. It was of a type that might be a submarine. Immediately afterwards the sound man, echo ranging from bow to bow, heard rapidly turning propellers at a range and bearing that coincided with those obtained by the Radar operator. Then, almost dead ahead, the lookout picked up what appeared to be the wake of a small vessel running away at high speed. Range decreased very slowly, so ROPER raised her speed to twenty knots. The vessel ahead seemed to be a small coast guard cutter, but her speed made it possible that it was a submarine. The crew was called to General Quarters; orders were given to prepare the machine guns, the three inch battery, the torpedoes and the depth charges for action. As the chase began the Executive Officer went to the flying bridge to keep the Conning Officer informed of the movements of the leading ship.
  
     
 
        Up ahead the unknown vessel changed her course to port--to 175°, 155°, 135° and finally to 115°. All this time ROPER maintained a position very slightly on the starboard quarter on the fleeing craft to avoid a possible torpedo, fired from the stern tubes. When the range had closed to 700 yards the track of a torpedo was observed to pass close aboard the port side. Shortly after it slid by the ROPER, it crossed the wake of the destroyer.
  
 
 
          When the range had closed to 300 yards the leading vessel suddenly cut sharply to starboard. At this instant the 24-inch searchlight of the ROPER picked the fleeing ship out of the darkness. It was immediately identified  
     
 
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as a large enemy submarine. The U-boat continued her turn to starboard inside the turning circle of the destroyer, while the destroyer, following the directions of the Executive Officer, held the light on the German. Fire was begun by all the batteries that could be brought to bear. The No. 1 machine gun opened promptly and accurately to cut down the German sailors as they hurried to man their guns. The No. 5 three-inch gun, under a gun captain who had never been in charge of a gun during firing, got the range quickly and scored a hit on the conning tower. Damage must have been severe for soon after the submarine began to sink. Orders to fire a torpedo were immediately given aboard the ROPER but the U-boat disappeared before the order could be obeyed.
  
     
 
        About forty of the crew were left swimming about in the water, but the ROPER was more immediately concerned with the certain destruction of the enemy than with the rescue of personnel. Eleven depth charges were laid down at a position determined upon by eye estimate and an excellent sound contact. Then ROPER stood by until dawn broke. Twice in the night she passed close to the men in the water, but rescue was not undertaken because it was feared another submarine might be lying in wait for the destroyer.
  
     
          When day broke a PBY appeared to assist in the work. The plane dropped a depth charge over an oil slick and a mass of debris that was floating in the water. The ROPER added two more.  
 

 

  
 
        At 0700 two more planes arrived which, at 0706 dropped smoke floats in the sea. The ROPER, upon investigation, found that the floats
  
 
 
 
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marked the location of the dead bodies of German sailors. Boats were put off from the destroyer to pick up the men and any articles that could be found. An airship arrived at 0727 to cover the ROPER while the search went on, and to direct the boats by blinker and megaphone. During the next hour the number of aircraft increased to seven, while just before the ROPER left the scene a British Trawler arrived.
  
     
 
        By 0930 twenty-nine bodies had been taken aboard. The work had been interrupted about 0900 when the sound operator obtained a sharp contact over which four charges were dropped. "In view of the proximity of the bodies and debris, the sharp contact at 0900 upon an object which remained stationary, and the large air bubbles which rose steadily to the surface, it is believed that the buoy marks the location of the submarine." It was the first submarine to be sunk by an American ship in the waters of the Frontier.
  
     
 
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