Evening star., 1941-09-22
BY HUGH ALLEN.

In the last six months of the
World War, Germany sent six SUBJ
marines to America, at intervals
starting in April, to lay mines along
our shipping lanes, attack mer-
chantmen, drive the fishing fleet
ashore, try to force this country to
call back part of its European fleet
for home defense-and in any case
to give America, geographically
aloof from the war, taste of what
war was like.
These activities were overShad-
owed at the time by graver events,
or hidden by military secrecy. Few
people even today remember that
ships were sunk and men killed by
German U-boats within sight of our
coast.
1t was in no sense an all-out
effort. Only a handful of subma-
rines were used. The attack was
launched late in the war, in fact one
of the six didn't even reach Ameri-
can waters, was called back by news
of the armistice. Submarines of
that day had a cruising range of
some three months, could spend
only three weeks in our coastal
waters, used the rest of the time
getting over and back.
Destroyed 100 United States Ships.
But in those few weeks six subma-
rines destroyed exactly 100 ships, of
all sizes, types and registry. Most
of them were peaceful, unarmed
merchantmen, coastwise from the
West Indies and South America,
tankers from Galveston, fishing
ships heading back from the Grand
Banks, supply ships carrying guns
and war materials to England, a few
stragglers from conveys.
The subs biggest catch was the
q. S. S. San Diego, a cruiser, sunk by
mine off Fire Island, just outside
New York Harbor, July 10, 1918, with
1,180 officers and men aboard. Only
six lives, fortunately, were lost. The
battleship Minnesota, escorted by a
destroyer, struck mine off FenWlck
Shoals nghtship. early in the morn
ing of September 29 but made tenn
porary repairs and limped back into
philadelphia Navy Yard 18 hours
later. A fragment of the mine was
found embedded IN her framework.
Mines were laid at strategic points,
one field, with mines 500 to 1000
yards apart, off Cape Hatteras, one
at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay,
one across Delaware Bay, two be-
tween these key inlets, another of
Barnegat, and the last off Fire
Island. Some of the mines drifted
ashore. others were found and de-
stroyed-the last ones not till the
following January. But mines &C
counted for six of the ships lost.
Navy Couldn't Stop Them.
One of the submarines, the U-117,
built as a mine layer, planted 46 of
the So mines laid along our shores;
four others were merchant subs of
the Deutschland type, including the
Deutschland itself, which had twice
previously visited this country on
ostensibly friendly missions.
Though the subs encountered
few victims on the way over or back,
most of the ships were destroyed in
the shallower waters within 100
miles of the American and Cana
dian coast. The fishing was better
close in.
Naval intelligence knew, through
Admiral Sims Office In London, just
when each submarine left Kiel,
what its probable destination was,
and its approximate arrival date.
The Navy could not broadcast this
information, lest U-boat captains
learn they were expected, but took
appropriate defense measures. Even
so, each submarine travelled directly
to its destination, carried out its as
signed mission.
Operated With Impunity.
U-boats operated almost with i'm
punity from Newfoundland to the
Virginia Capes. Twice American
men of war passed over submerging
craft so close as almost to ram
them. The U-151 worked at cutting
cables for three days near enough
TO New York City that the crew