(Steve Kramer wrote) Wasn't there a German u-boat that supposedly sank of the
North Carolina coast also?

You're probably thinking of the U-352, which is (I think) about 26 miles out
from (I think) Morehead City, NC. The sub lies in about 130' of water and when
I dove it back in 1978, there were still live torpedoes in the tubes and
remains inside and it was still in pretty good shape (other than being sunk and
shot up, of course). The outer skin was gone but the skeleton and the inner
pressure hull were intact and it certainly looked like a sub, sitting there on
the sandy bottom. (Since then, the Navy cleaned it all up, removing the
torpedoes and the remains.)

If I recall the story correctly, the U-352 had a very unsuccessful patrol of
the East Coast and one night in 1942 (?) surfaced to fire a torpedo at what she
thought was a freighter. Unfortunately (for the U-352), it was the USCG frigate
Icarus who promptly gave chase. The U-boat settled to the bottom and stayed
silent while the frigate searched for her. Unable to find the sub, the frigate
lobbed a couple of depth charges into the water for good measure. At least one
of them scored a direct hit on the submerged U-boat. She was forced to surface
and the frigate sprayed her with 50-caliber shells, sealing her fate. The crew
abaondoned ship, though some went down with her trying to destroy secret papers
and files.

There was also a controversy after the battle as the Icarus did not pick up the
survivors right away, but went off to another engagament and returned much
later. By then some of the initial survivors had either drowned or succumbed to
exposure and the Germans accused the US of not abiding by wartime convention in
dealing with the surviviors immediately. The US countered that we had a right
and duty to enagage the other battle first (turned out to be a false alarm) and
then come back for the survivors.

As best I recall, there are a total of six known U-boats sunk up and down the
East Coast (I think there's another one in NC) but I'm sure someone who's much
more familiar with these wrecks than I can set the record straight.

All I can say is that 22 years ago, it was a pretty exciting dive and I'd love
to get a chance to see what the U-352 looks like today.

Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instructor #5936
Co-owner --- Reef Seekers Dive Co.