The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-11-07
This Is the second Of q series
Of four stories on German u
boat activity against American
shipping during the World War.
BY SAMUEL TAYLOR MOORE
Written for NEA Service

VkAgtCAA Ava ANASEA OSA NASO
Fishermen on Cape Cod still
chuckle when they tell you the story
of a raiding U-boat's comic opera
engagement with railroad tug and
four barges off Orleans the morn
ing of July 81, 1918.
Whether Kapitan-leutnant Won
Oldenburg Of the U-156 was drunk
with beverages, or merely with sue
cess, they cannot say. No submarine
commander in his senses would have
wasted three torpedoes on the I'M
impressive targets this one selected.
Navy crews had been fruitlessly
seaching for U-boats by sea and by
air, but 1t was the privilege of Cape
Cod natives and summer visitors to
see one in action. Most of the latter
were still In bed when the U-156
sent its torpedoes shutting across
the water towards the ASHTON tug
Perth Amboy with its four barges
in tow.
All three charges missed, so Won
Oldenburg popped his vessel to the
surface. For the next hour and a
half his crew demonstrated the
poorest craftsmanship seen since
Aunt Tillie tried to ring the big
gong in the Coney Island shooting
gallery.
Just as Aunt Tillie finally climb
ed over the counter to make sure
she wouldn't miss, so the submarine
closed in on Its targets. 1t finally
sank the four barges and set the
tug on fire.
Attracted by the shooting, people
lined the shoreline like fans at a
softball game. Coast guardsmen fired
with rifles from the shore, but the
sub was just out of range.
SEAPLANES ADD
THEIR BIT
From Chatham naval base, four
seaplanes joined the attack. Their
bombs failed to go off. 1t was said
German spies had tempered with
them.
Six seamen were wounded by the
guns of the U-156, but the tug it
self still floated and was salvaged.
After this opera bouffe, Won Olden-
burg sailed for the fishing banks.
He captured a trawler, armed 1t
with q deck gun and sent 1t out
to destroy unsuspecting fishermen.
If Won Oldenburg or his crew were
drunk at the time Of the attack on
the barges, they had reason for cele-
bration. During the week preceding
the U-156 had been laying mines
along the lanes to New York harbor.
Two days before the Cape Cod
farce, one of these mines claimed
the armored cruiser San Diego, only
U. s. Navy fighting ship sunk on
this side of the Atlantic. Only six
lives were lost among the crew Of
1889 officers and men when the a..
000-ton vessel with 30-odd guns,
went down off Fire Island.
LONE U-BOAT
SANK "a SHIPS
The U-156 had left Germany
about June IS. Ten days later she
sank the 4l75-ton British steamer
Tortuguero, first of this U = boats
bag" Of 81 vessels aggregating $4,000
tons.
Disguised as a steamer, she crept
UP on the U. s. s. Lake Bridge In
mid-Atlantic July 5. The Lake Bridge
returned fire and outdistanced the
raider after a hot fight.
Two days later the U-156 sank the
1987-ton Norwegian bark Marosa.
The crew was permitted to load
boats before the vessel was shelled.
The captain Of the Norwegian
schooner Manx King, 1879 tons, pro-
tested that she was neutral when
stopped by the U-156.
II am sorry" replied the German
boarding officer but she carries
contraband. will give you ample
time to provision your boats; then
I must sink your ship"
FISHING FLEET
SUFFERS FROM RAIDS
After the barge affair, Won Olden-
burg turned to the fishing fleets near
Seal Island, Nova Scotia. There the
U-156 destroyed several small motor
schooners.
On August 5, after sinking two