German Submarine U-853 - Last Patrol

Last Patrol

On 23 February 1945 Germany sent U-853 on her third war patrol to harass US coastal shipping. Under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Helmut Frömsdorf, U-853 did not sink any targets during the first weeks of her patrol. Her crossing of the Atlantic was slow because she used her Schnorchel to remain submerged to avoid being spotted by Allied aircraft. On 1 April 1945 U-853 was ordered to the Gulf of Maine. On 23 April she fatally torpedoed USS Eagle Boat 56 (PE-56) near Portland, Maine. The next day USS Muskegon (PF-24) made sonar contact and attacked U-853, but failed to destroy her.

Eagle Boat 56, a World War I-era patrol boat, was towing targets for a United States Navy dive-bomber training exercise 3 miles (4.8 km) off Cape Elizabeth when she exploded amidships and sank. Only 13 of the 67 crew survived. Although several survivors claimed to have seen a submarine sail with yellow and red insignia, a Navy inquiry attributed the sinking to a boiler explosion. The Navy reversed its findings in 2001 to acknowledge that the sinking was due to hostile fire and awarded Purple Hearts to the survivors and next-of-kin of the deceased.

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