A bit more than 71 years ago, on August 7, 1943, a Lockheed
PV-1 Ventura aircraft took off from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn at 4.30 in
the morning to investigate a report of a u-boat sighting some 300 miles off the
Virginia coast around Norfolk, Virginia. Visibility was excellent and the sea was calm with
light swells. The Ventura and its crew belonged to the Navy’s Bombing Squadron
VB-128, and the squadron’s tasks included anti-submarine patrolling along the
Eastern Seaboard.
Following the United States’ entry into the Second World
War, German u-boats began attacking shipping along the Eastern Seaboard. The
United States was ill-prepared to defend its sea lanes against the Kriegsmarine, which conducted several
operations against targets in American waters from 1942 and onwards, including seven
attacks against targets anchored in the New York harbor. The u-boat men called
this the “Second happy time” (the first such time was had in the Atlantic in
1940-41) or the “American shooting season.” The results were convincing: between
January and August 1942, German u-boats sank 609 ships totaling 3.1 million
tons for the loss of only twenty-two u-boats. Thousands of lives were lost, mainly
merchant mariners, and the United States had to find a way to defend the vital
sea lines against the u-boat menace as burning ships dotted the East Coast sea
lanes. However, the U.S. response was slow, and it took several months before
even convoying was introduced, while cities refused blacking out their lights
due to business reasons. The U.S. Forces available to defend the sea lanes were
also initially inadequate in terms of training, organization, tactics, quantity
and technology.
As the war progressed, the U.S. defenses became more apt at
countering the u-boat scourge, and the defenses were also bolstered by British
air and sea units. The German operations were scaled down in July as the
u-boats sought easier targets further south. Nevertheless, u-boats were to
engage targets along the East Coast up to the end of the war. New York City had
also expanded the defenses of its waterways, and Naval Air Station (NAS) New
York Floyd Bennett Field was a very important part of these defenses, being the
base for several operational units. It was also en embarkation point for newly
manufactured naval aircraft. The build-up of Navy and Coast Guard forces based
at Floyd Bennett Field started even before the U.S. entered the war, and it was
officially dedicated as a Naval Air Station on June 2, 1941. Aircraft from NAS
NY saw action for the first time on May 1, 1942, when an aircraft sighted a
periscope and attacked the target off Fire Island.
As 1942 turned into 1943, Floyd Bennet Field was the base for
Squadron VS-34 with twenty-one floatplanes and Squadron VB-128 with twelve
Lockheed PV-1 Venturas as well as eleven Coast Guard aircraft. The United
States Army Air Force also operated patrol aircraft, albeit from Mitchel Field
in Hempstead on Long Island.
The Captain Marvel unit badge of VB-128. It was re-designated as VPB-128 on October 1, 1944
The Lockheed Venturas of VB-128 were bomber and patrol
aircraft developed from the civilian Lockheed Lodestar. It was a two-engined
aircraft that entered service in December 1942, and it was a fast and rugged
aircraft, although somewhat demanding for the pilot to fly. It had a crew of
six, a cruise speed of 230 mph, a range of 1,660 miles and it was armed with six
machine guns as well as bombs, torpedoes or depth charges.
Squadron VB-128 was established on February 15, 1943, and it
had been flying various anti-submarine missions throughout the year as part of
Fleet Air Wing 9, although without actually sinking an enemy vessel. This
particular Ventura (Aircraft P-9, BuNo 29909) was piloted by Lieutenant (jg) Frederick
“Ted” Cushing Cross, who was born on July 8, 1917, in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.
Cross had enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on March 22, 1941.
Following aviation training, Cross was posted to a bombing squadron at DeLand,
Florida, before ending up at Floyd Bennett Field with VB-128.
As Cross and his crew of two flew south, they used the air-to-sea
radar on board the Ventura to look for the possible enemy u-boat, and after
some time in the air an echo was noticed on the radar screen. They had found
their target, in this case the u-boat U-566.
U-566 was a Type VIIC u-boat, the most common type in
service with the German Navy. The U-566 had been commissioned on April 17, 1941,
and she had conducted five war patrols before being taken over by her current
commanding officer, Kapitänleutnant Hans Hornkohl. On
August 7, 1943, Hornkohl was leading the tenth war patrol of the U-566, and he
may have had reason to feel somewhat satisfied: his crew had just sunk the
gunboat USS Plymouth off Virginia only two days before, on the evening of
August 5. Of the crew of 155 officers and men, 70 were killed by the single
torpedo that sent the gunboat to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Kapitänleutnant Hans Hornkohl
On August 7,
Hornkohl was still sailing in the same general area, in this case off the
Delmarva Peninsula, when Cross dove down to attack the u-boat. Hornkohl may
have been surprised, or he may have simply decided to slug it out with the
attacker, but instead of diving to escape the attacker, he ordered the crews of
his 20mm anti-aircraft guns to engage. The results were quite satisfactory, and
the Ventura dove into a steady stream of cannon fire. One shell hit and
shattered the right engine of the Ventura, causing a fire. Cross himself sustained
mortal injuries, probably as a result of being hit by splinters from exploding
shells, while his co-pilot and radio operator also were wounded. Yet, Cross
continued his attack, even he was in excruciating pain. He dropped four depth
charges across the bow of the U-566, although the charges failed to explode.
They were possibly not armed properly, or perhaps dropped from too low an
altitude. While Cross struggled to keep the damaged Ventura in the air, he soon
realized that he had to ditch the aircraft, and he made a Realizing that he
couldn’t keep the Ventura in the air, Cross made a perfect emergency landing in
the ocean “within 15 miles of 37-35N; 71-20W.” The
three wounded aviators managed to leave the Ventura, but Cross succumbed to his
wounds and slipped out of his life preserver. The co-pilot and radio operator
were rescued by a PBM aircraft some five hours after ditching. Frederick C.
Cross was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
The crew of U-566 must have been elated to fight off an
enemy aircraft (misidentified as a B-25 Mitchell, by the way), but they would
have yet another encounter with VB-128 that day, when Lieutenant (jg) Joseph H.
“Blackie” George, the son of a Georgia Senator, encountered the u-boat. George
was born on November 1916, in Vienna, Georgia, and he became an aviation cadet in
the US Navy Reserve as early as October 11, 1938 after having spent some time
in both the Georgia National Guard and in other positions within the US Navy
Reserve. He served with VP-83 when he was transferred to VB-128 on February 18,
1943. On August 7, 1943, George took off on an antisubmarine patrol flight.
After “several minutes”, the aircraft was ordered to 37-35N; 71-20W to “investigate
the area and stand by a plane which had landed to pick up survivors of another
plane which had been shot down by an enemy submarine.” The last report from
George simply acknowledged receiving this message. It may seem odd that there
are no further reports from George, but if this was due to atmospheric
circumstances, procedures or just negligence is impossible to know.
What happened was that at 6.15 pm, George’s crew spotted the
U-566. He dove down to attack, and once again the u-boat crew responded with
anti-aircraft fire, hitting the Ventura repeatedly as the aircraft dropped a
stick of four depth charges. One actually hit the U-566, but it bounced off the
u-boat before exploding. By then the Ventura was burning, and it crashed into
the ocean some 1,200 meters from the u-boat. There were no survivors.
The U-566 did speed towards the crash site, but a Ventura
from VB-126 and a Mariner from VB-211 appeared, forcing the u-boat to dive away
from the scene after an exchange of gunfire for depth charges. Back at Floyd
Bennett Field and VB-128, the evening must have been quite somber.
Sources
Michael Gannon. Operation Drumbeat:
the dramatic true story of Germany's first U-boat attacks along the American
coast in World War II
John C. Stanaway. Vega Ventura. The Operational History of Lockheed’s Lucky Star
The Veteran’s Memorial Hospital’s report
on Marcus George (Report 80-6)
uboat.net
vpnavy.com
My father CDR William A. Prescott USNR knew Frederick (Ted) Cross when they were stationed at NAS Pensacola in 1941 & 1942 as cadets. My father credits Ted for helping him in his studies in Celestial Navigation. I have photos of Ted Cross on my historic aviation web page: http://mrbill2.smugmug.com
ReplyDeleteDear Bill, it was really interesting to see a photo of Frederick Cross. I would gladly cross-post a link to your eminent web page on my blog if that is ok by you.
ReplyDeleteKind regards, Frederick