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Gulf camera reveals site of WWII sinking of SS Robert E. Lee, German U-boat
Houston Chronicle ^ | July 14, 2014 | Heather Alexander

Posted on 07/14/2014 12:50:31 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

click here to read article


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To: Cincinatus' Wife
This seems like a good thread to mention...

PT-305 Restoration Updates (WWII Museum - New Orleans)

21 posted on 07/14/2014 2:26:48 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: OldNavyVet

Residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks saw the same thing; according to historical records, almost 400 ships were sunk in U.S. waters from January to June 1942, and the area off Cape Hatteras was known as “Torpedo Junction.” The glow of burning tankers off-shore was bright enough (legend has it) that you could read a paper on the Hatteras beaches at night.

The Brits—who depended on our shipping as a lifeline— offered sound advice, which was largely ignored. We didn’t implement a convoy system until the middle of ‘42, and it took almost as long to enforce blackout policies along the coast. At one point early in the war, there was a single, antiquated Coast Guard cutter assigned to anti-sub patrols off the Carolina coast.

The results were predictable. A lot of merchant mariners paid with their lives for our lack of preparation early in the war.


22 posted on 07/14/2014 2:31:59 PM PDT by ExNewsExSpook
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To: SoCal Pubbie

I kinda figured that out myself. I was pointing out that submarines don’t drop depth charges, the patrol craft did.

The article says the sub immediately began dropping depth charges.


23 posted on 07/14/2014 4:43:07 PM PDT by Sequoyah101
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To: Sequoyah101

Yeah I saw that too. Writer left out “chaser” after “sub”.


24 posted on 07/14/2014 5:02:28 PM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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25 posted on 03/14/2016 2:46:18 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...
Note: this topic is from 7/14/2014. Thanks Cincinatus' Wife.
and from 2015:
Best of the E/V Nautilus 2015 Exploration Season | Nautilus Live 2015 took E/V Nautilus from the Gulf of Mexico to the Galapagos to the California coast and all the way up to Canada. E/V Nautilus is exploring the ocean studying biology, geology, archeology, and more. Watch http://www.nautiluslive.org for live video from the ocean floor. For live dive updates follow along on social media at http://www.facebook.com/nautiluslive and http://www.twitter.com/evnautilus on Twitter. For more photos from our dives, check out our Instagram @nautiluslive.

Best of the E/V Nautilus 2015 Exploration Season

26 posted on 03/14/2016 2:48:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; All

Of course, the S.S. Robert E Lee deserved to be sunk. After all, it was named after a Confederate hero, a defender of slavery. It matters not that it was on a humanitarian mission. All such vestiges of that part of our national history must be condemned and erased; zero tolerance is the only acceptable policy.


27 posted on 03/14/2016 8:13:17 AM PDT by tarheelswamprat
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To: tanknetter

I am really surprised Ballard was unaware German U-boats sank our ships off of our coast. I was taught that in junior high.

I had sailors on my ship that had fought in WWII as armed guard on merchant ships. They manned the mounted guns on merchant ships. The navy had what amounted to a hiring hall where the navy sailors (as opposed to the merchant sailors who had there own halls) would go to be assigned to merchant ships just before they sailed.

One of my sailors told me he saw a sailor, at the New York hall, assigned in the morning who then showed up in the evening soaking wet. His ship had been torpedoed, he was rescued and was then back waiting for his next assignment.


28 posted on 03/14/2016 9:02:52 AM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: ExNewsExSpook

Forgot his name but that failed policy was because of one admiral.


29 posted on 03/14/2016 9:04:51 AM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: ExNewsExSpook
"........"I didn't know World War II was fought in our backyard," said Dr. Robert Ballard"

I was a bit surprised that Ballard said this, isn't he aware of what was happening of the east coast of the US during WW2?
30 posted on 03/14/2016 9:25:43 AM PDT by jaydubya2
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To: ExNewsExSpook; Cold Heart; OldNavyVet
Admiral Donitz planned the operation and called it Drumbeat. He flooded the East Coast with U-Boats and it turned into a turkey shoot. They could come in close at night and fire at unescorted merchantmen silhouetted by city lights still not subject to blackout. The U-Boat sailors called it their "happy time."

The American admiral you were thinking of was King, who at the time commanded the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He has been severely criticized for failing to promptly organize submarine defenses and implement a convoy system. And for not getting blackouts organized faster. Some attribute his slowness to act to his hatred of all things English, who at the time were advising him what measures to take and even offered some patrol boats. Apologists claim that even if he wanted to act sooner King didn't have the resources, which were severely strained early in the war. In any event those were black days in a time of the war when it seemed every day was black.

31 posted on 03/14/2016 2:39:54 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: SoCal Pubbie

destroying a Corvette ? that’s a war crime!


32 posted on 03/14/2016 8:42:47 PM PDT by RitchieAprile
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