U-BOATS OFF BERMUDA, PRELIMINARY SUMMARY OF STATISTICS
This research is based on very preliminary data and is not exhaustive. The author has just begun this project in November 2013 and suspects a margin of error of 20% should be built in. For example, the City of Birmingham survivors – 372 of them – may have been landed in the US and not Bermuda (it was sunk en route from the US to Bermuda and the survivors were rescued by a US Navy escort). There will no doubt be ships and perhaps even a lost sub added to this list, as more details become known.
Also the submarines and commanders listed are not exhaustive – they are simply those Axis subs which succeeded in actually attacking an Allied ship or being sunk while in the Bermuda region. There will be dozens – possibly more – new subs and commanders added once all the participants in Operation Paukenschlag (Drum Roll) are tallied to see whether they passed within 3-400 miles of Bermuda. Since Cape Hatteras was the object of “Torpedo Junction” attacks, every effort is made to be firm on the 300-mile boundary west of Bermuda, which is roughly halfway between Diamond Shoal Light and Gibbs Hill Light.
The net of Allied vessels is cast a bit wider – by over 200 miles in one case – to the north and southeast of Bermuda, where ships were nowhere near Bermuda but the survivors were landed on the island and thus play a role in the story. The general rule of thumb for including casualties was: “were they nearer to Bermuda than any other land mass?” if the answer is “Yes,” then more often than not they are included, if not then they were excluded as lacking a sufficient nexus to Bermuda.
It is an imperfect methodology in which one of the factors the author faces is “If I don’t write about this casualty, is the world likely to know about it otherwise?” In other words, is there a benefit to resurrecting the drama and human struggles for readers in this generation? If so, then, using poetic license, it may be included.
Below are breakdowns by Flag, Killed in Action (KIA), Distance from Bermuda, Tonnage of Ships, U-Boats & Commanders, Dates of Attack, and Survivors Landed in Bermuda:
SURVIVORS LANDED BERMUDA:
City of Birmingham | 372* |
Lady Drake | 256 |
USS Gannett | 62 |
STANBANK | 39 |
Fred W. Green | 36 |
Agra | 33 |
L. A. CHRISTIENSEN | 31 |
Oakmar | 30 |
Empire Dryden | 25 |
Robin Hood | 24 |
Modesta | 23 |
Empire Wildebeeste | 22 |
West Notus | 18 |
MALDONADO | 13 |
San Arcadio | 9 |
James E. Newsom | 9 |
British Resource | 5 |
Helen Forsey | 4 |
51 ships 0
*City of Birmingham was en route to Bermuda under escort when sunk. It is not clear to the author yet whether the escort proceeded to Bermuda or turned back to the US with survivors, but will be determined on location of the original “Survivor Statements” at the US National Archives (NARA).
DISTANCE IN NAUTICAL MILES FROM GIBBS HILL LIGHT BERMUDA:
0-100 MILES: 0 SHIPS
100-200 MILES: 9 VESSELS:
Modesta | 121 |
U-158 (sub) | 141 |
HARPAGON | 164 |
RAPHAEL SEMMES | 175 |
Westmoreland | 175 |
TONSBERGFJORD | 176 |
Ramapo | 183 |
Fred W. Green | 185 |
ASTREA | 194 |
200-300 MILES: 20 SHIPS:
Pleasantville | 203 |
Narragansett | 208 |
Lady Drake | 211 |
Ensis | 213 |
Anna | 215 |
STANBANK | 225 |
USS Gannett | 225 |
KOLL | 234 |
British Resource | 235 |
Empire Dryden | 245 |
Somme | 245 |
KOLLSKEGG | 255 |
Bris | 256 |
West Notus | 257 |
MALDONADO | 258 |
Victolite | 270 |
L. A. CHRISTIENSEN | 274 |
EVERALDA | 275 |
Leif | 275 |
Agra | 282 |
300-400 MILES: 34 VESSELS:
DERRYHEEN | 300 |
FAIRPORT | 300 |
MONTEVIDEO | 300 |
U-84 (sub) | 302 |
CLAN SKENE | 303 |
Montrolite | 305 |
Halcyon | 310 |
San Jacinto | 312 |
GUNNY | 315 |
Steel Maker | 315 |
Peisander | 320 |
Svenor | 320 |
Oakmar | 325 |
SANTA CATALINA | 327 |
Alcoa Guide | 335 |
Opalia | 335 |
USS ATIK | 338 |
Loch Don | 338 |
Victoria | 338 |
James E. Newsom | 340 |
Pipestone County | 341 |
Alcoa Shipper | 342 |
Empire Steel | 345 |
Muskogee | 345 |
City of Birmingham | 350 |
MOBILOIL | 360 |
Davila | 363 |
Empire Drum | 363 |
Rapana | 365 |
San Gerardo | 365 |
Eastmoor | 370 |
San Arcadio | 370 |
HARDWICK GRANGE | 377 |
Empire Prairie | 397 |
400-500 MILES: 6 SHIPS:
Tacoma Star | 405 |
Robin Hood | 407 |
Frank B. Baird | 415 |
YORKMOOR | 420 |
Helen Forsey | 450 |
Finnanger | 475 |
500+ MILES: 1 SHIP (survivors landed in Bermuda)
Empire Wildebeeste | 505 |
SUMMARY: 0 ships within 100 miles, 9 ships over 100 miles, 20 ships over 200 miles, the most (34) between 300 and 400 miles (not including waters off Cape Hatteras, in other words North, South and East), 6 ships over 400 miles and 1 over 500 miles from Bermuda. (All of them are too deep to make salvage economically viable).
DATE RANGE/ ATTACKS BY MONTH:
RANGE: 24 Jan. 1942 – 6 Sept. 1942
MONTHS: 8.5
Jan. – 2
Feb. – 8
Mar. – 15
Apr. – 20
May – 10
Jun. – 9
Jul. – 2
Aug. – 1
Sep. – 1
Busiest month: April, 1942
Busiest day: 20 April, 1942 (four attacks)
U-84 sunk 7 Aug. 1943, U-158 sunk 30 June 1942
FLAGS OF REGISTRY:
UK: 28
US: 16
Norway: 10
Canada: 5
Germany: 2 subs
Sweden: 2
Panama: 2
Uruguay: 2
Latvia: 1
Netherlands: 1
Argentina: 1
Total countries: 11
2 in North America
2 in South America
1 in Central America
6 in Europe or Baltic)
Most flagged: to the UK (28)
Second most: US (16)
Third most: Norway (10)
Military ensign: 4 – USS Gannett, USS Atik (both US), U-158 and U-84 (both German)
KILLED IN ACTION:
USS ATIK | 141 |
Tacoma Star | 97 |
U-158 | 56 |
U-84 | 55 |
Somme | 52 |
San Gerardo | 51 |
Narragansett | 49 |
Empire Prairie | 49 |
Victolite | 47 |
British Resource | 46 |
San Arcadio | 41 |
HARPAGON | 41 |
Davila | 40 |
Rapana | 40 |
Finnanger | 39 |
Empire Steel | 39 |
Ramapo | 38 |
Muskogee | 34 |
Montrolite | 28 |
Empire Dryden | 26 |
RAPHAEL SEMMES | 19 |
Modesta | 18 |
Eastmoor | 16 |
Leif | 15 |
Robin Hood | 14 |
San Jacinto | 14 |
MONTEVIDEO | 14 |
GUNNY | 14 |
Lady Drake | 12 |
STANBANK | 9 |
City of Birmingham | 9 |
Empire Wildebeeste | 9 |
CLAN SKENE | 9 |
Svenor | 8 |
Alcoa Shipper | 7 |
Agra | 6 |
Oakmar | 6 |
Alcoa Guide | 6 |
Fred W. Green | 5 |
Bris | 5 |
KOLLSKEGG | 4 |
West Notus | 4 |
KOLL | 3 |
HARDWICK GRANGE | 3 |
Westmoreland | 3 |
Loch Don | 3 |
Halcyon | 3 |
Pleasantville | 2 |
Helen Forsey | 2 |
Steel Maker | 1 |
20 ships 0
AXIS SUBMARINES AND SKIPPERS:
GERMAN: 33
ITALIAN: 1 (Carlo Fecia di Cossato of the Enrico Tazzoli)
# OF ATTACKS PER SKIPPER:
TAZZOLI/Di Cassoto: 4
U-123/Hardegen: 4
U-109/Bleichrodt: 4
U-201/Schnee: 4
U-108/Scholtz: 4
U-158/Rostin: 3
U-404/von Bülow: 3
U-129/Witt: 3
U-653/Feiler: 3
U-71/Flaschenberg: 3
U-654/Forster: 3
U-105/Schuch: 2
U-564/Suhren: 2
U-572/Hirsacker: 2
U-202/Linder: 2
U-506/Würdemann: 2
U-106/Rasch
1 EACH:
U-136/Zimmermann
U-103/Winter
U-124/Mohr
U-332/Liebe
U-510/Nietzel
U-754/Oestermann
U-135/Praetorius
U-575/Heydemann
U-571/Möhlmann
U-107/Gelhaus
U-69/Gräf
U-126/Bauer
U-333/Cremer
U-566/Borchert
U-161/Achilles
U-514/Auffermann
SUMMARY: 5 commanders with 4 ships each, 6 with 3 each, 6 with 2 each and 16 with 1 each
SHIPS BY GROSS REGISTERED TONNAGE (GRT, or what the ship would weigh)
San Gerardo | 12,915 |
Davila | 12,053 |
Victolite | 11,410 |
Montrolite | 11,309 |
Narragansett | 10,389 |
KOLL | 10,044 |
MOBILOIL | 9,925 |
KOLLSKEGG | 9,858 |
Finnanger | 9,551 |
HARDWICK GRANGE | 9,005 |
Westmoreland | 8,967 |
Empire Steel | 8,138 |
Rapana | 8,017 |
Lady Drake | 7,985 |
Tacoma Star | 7,924 |
Svenor | 7,616 |
San Arcadio | 7,419 |
Victoria | 7,417 |
Empire Drum | 7,244 |
DERRYHEEN | 7,217 |
British Resource | 7,209 |
Empire Dryden | 7,164 |
Muskogee | 7,034 |
Empire Prairie | 7,010 |
Robin Hood | 6,887 |
Agra | 6,666 |
SANTA CATALINA | 6,507 |
Peisander | 6,225 |
Ensis | 6,207 |
Opalia | 6,195 |
Steel Maker | 6,176 |
FAIRPORT | 6,165 |
San Jacinto | 6,069 |
RAPHAEL SEMMES | 6,027 |
STANBANK | 5,966 |
City of Birmingham | 5,861 |
Eastmoor | 5,812 |
MONTEVIDEO | 5,785 |
Oakmar | 5,766 |
HARPAGON | 5,719 |
Empire Wildebeeste | 5,631 |
West Notus | 5,492 |
Alcoa Shipper | 5,491 |
MALDONADO | 5,285 |
Somme | 5,265 |
Loch Don | 5,249 |
CLAN SKENE | 5,214 |
Pipestone County | 5,102 |
Alcoa Guide | 4,834 |
Pleasantville | 4,549 |
YORKMOOR | 4,457 |
L. A. CHRISTIENSEN | 4,362 |
EVERALDA | 3,950 |
Modesta | 3,849 |
Halcyon | 3,531 |
ATIK | 3,209 |
TONSBERGFJORD | 3,156 |
Ramapo | 2,968 |
GUNNY | 2,362 |
Fred W. Green | 2,292 |
Bris | 2,027 |
Frank B. Baird | 1,748 |
Leif | 1,582 |
ASTREA | 1,406 |
Anna | 1,345 |
USS Gannett | 840/yacht |
James E. Newsom | 671/sail |
Helen Forsey | 167/sail |