Airship versus Submarine

[GrauGeist]

I was doing a search a little bit ago, and came across this interesting story. I know that Allied airships played a crucial role in spotting U-Boats while protecting convoys and shipping lanes, but I had never heard of an Airship actually engaging an enemy during the war.

This occurred off the coast of Islamorada in the Florida keys on 18 July, 1943.

German U-boats prowled U.S. shores and the "slot" of the Florida Straits was a favorite hunting ground and transit channel for them. Navy blimp squadron ZP-21 out of NAS Richmond, Florida, patrolled the straits to stop them. The silvery, nonrigid airships, graceful but enormous, were used for spotting and reporting surface ships and aircraft. The "K" ships were armed with four depth bombs and a .50-caliber machine gun mounted in the nose of the blimp car... not that these were expected to see much action. Blimp patrols were usually long, tedious and uneventful, until the night of 18 July, 1943, when the German submarine U-134 slipped into the straits.

At dusk on the mainland, the flight briefing concluded for the two blimps scheduled to patrol that night, during which two "friendlies", a tanker and a freighter, would pass through the straits in convoy. K-74 and sister blimp, K-32, would screen the slot. The destroyer Dahlgren out of Key West was on station in the straits. The two blimp crews readied for takeoff. K-74's crew consisted of Lieutenant Nelson Grills, pilot; Chief Aviation Pilot Jandrowitz, copilot; Ensign Damley Eversley, navigator; AMM2c Isadore Stessel and AMM3c Schmidt, mechanics/bombardiers; ARM3c Eckert, rigger/gunner; ARM3c Robert Bourne, radioman; ARM3cs Giddings and Rice, assistant radio operators; and SN Kowalski, assistant rigger.

The K-ships taxied and soared above the base. K-32 turned south by southwest to fly over Key West and sweep northward up the straits. Lt. Grills and his crew in K-74 headed straight over the Atlantic, then turned south and into the annals of Naval Aviation history!

Night fell and the U-134 rose from beneath the sea. It was a quiet evening. The sea was mild and the winds light. The sub's crew threw open the hatches to vent carbon dioxide and take in fresh air, then clambered topside. The long hours passed while 500 feet above, K-74 was approaching on an overhead course.

About 23:30, a bright spot appeared on the blimp's radar. The possible contact was encrypted and transmitted back to base. In the cramped gondola, the 10 Navy men took stock of their weapons and the impending situation. The blimp headed toward the radar contact.

K-74 sailed out of a cloud bank and found the U-boat cruising below. The blimp circled as her skipper weighed the realities: the sub was on a course heading right for the two merchant ships which were sailing down the straits, 30 minutes behind K-74. The merchant ships were at risk and K-74 had the element of surprise in her favor. Grills transmitted his intention to attack. At 23:50, K-74 dropped to 250 feet and began her bombing run.

As the distance closed, the watchstanders aboard the U-boat sighted the blimp. The Germans opened fire with 20mm machine guns located aft of the conning tower. AOM3c Eckert returned fire from the car's nose mounted machine gun. Then, the German 88mm deck gun commenced firing.

U.S. Navy tracers ricocheted down the length of the sub's deck, while enemy fire thumped into the airship bag. A round punctured the shield beside Eckert's gun. He slapped another belt in and continued firing prolonged bursts.

When the airship passed over the U-boat, antiaircraft fire hit the K-74's engines. The starboard engine burst into flames. As AMM3c Schmidt turned to extinguish the fire, ARM3c Bourne dashed off the squadron's mayday signal: "Urgent, Fired On." The airship was now directly over the sub. AMM2c Stessel pulled the bomb releases, but the bombs did not leave the rack.

With enemy fire punishing her undefended stern, K-74 limped out of range. Schmidt had extinguished the fire, but both engines were damaged. The airship was losing altitude. The crew dumped gas and jettisoned the tanks. No help. K-74 slowly descended. At 23:55, the tail of the airship touched the water and began to settle. The battle had lasted five minutes. It's harrowing aftermath began.

Wearing their "Mae West" inflatable vests, the crew entered the water through the doors and windows of the flooding blimp car. The life raft, tossed out without a tether line, immediately deployed and drifted away with the Gulf Stream. They were on their own.

Grills swan back around the sinking car to make sure all crewmen had escaped. In so doing, he separated from the others and the same strong current carried him away. When he got his bearings, the blimp was nowhere in sight. Instead, a dark shape was bearing down on him at flank speed. It was one of the merchant ships coming down the slot, oblivious to the battle that had occurred. Grills recalled, "It was coming right at me and I was frantic to get out of the way, shouting and waving my hands. I saw the watch on the fantail, smoking a cigarette." The ship passed in the night, leaving Grills alone in the water.

The rest of the K-74's crew stayed together beside the settling blimp bag. They held on to each other in two bobbing masses adrift at sea. Through the long night they did not know if the U-boat would return to capture them as prisoners or finish them off. They had no idea how much damage Eckert's marksmanship had done. Nor did "Sparks" Bourne realize his Mayday transmission was picked up by K-32's ARM2c Turek, who realized it must be K-74 in trouble and relayed the message to NAS Richmond.

At first light, a Grumman J4F Widgeon amphibian from ZP-21, took off to begin the search. At 07:49, the aircraft was over the scene. The sea was getting rougher, while nine men splashed and waved. The aircraft saw them and dipped its wings, but it was too choppy to land. The aircraft flew off to find the Dahlgren and lead her to the scene. Rescue was on the way.

Stessel had become separated from the rest when the men had let go of each other to wave. The others saw the shark fin break the surface and head straight for him. There was no time to warn Stessel before the shark attacked. The sailor went under. Momentarily, he reappeared, bathed in crimson. The water frothed as he went under a last time, spreading a red cloud on the surface. The rest of the crew positioned themselves, back to back, and drew their knives.

At 08:15 on 19 July, K-74 finally sank; the only airship lost to enemy action in World War II. From under the sea came somber volleys fired in requiem for Petty Officer Stessel. K-74's armed depth bombs detonated, exploding in a mournful salute, as if, paying homage to this Navy hero lost in battle.

Dahlgren soon arrived and the Jacob's ladder was thrown over the side for the survivors. Small arms fire kept back the circling sharks while the crew of K-74 climbed to safety. A launch of bluejackets, with a Thompson submachine gun in the bow, searched in vain for any sign of Stessel.

Meanwhile, the K-74 pilot continued to drift miles away. Grills struck out towards the Florida keys on the horizon. It was late in the day and the aviator was severely sunburned and nearing exhaustion when K-32 passed over. Keen-eyed AMM3c Max May, saw the struggling swimmer, and the K-32 dropped flares. Grills had swum six miles before he was sighted, picked up by a launch from a local rescue unit and transported to Dahlgren. He had been in the water for 19 hours.

After the war, German Submarine Command records revealed U-134 reported downing a U.S. Navy airship. The sub cited sustaining battle damage to her No. 5, main ballast tank and No. 4 diving tank. After surviving two more attacks, U-134 was ordered to return to base in France for repairs. Enroute in August, her luck ran out when two Royal Air Force bombers intercepted her in the Bay of Biscay and sent her to the bottom. A blimp for a sub: the wages of war.

If the airship had not joined the battle, the U-boat would have come upon the tanker and the freighter before Dahlgren or shore based aircraft could have intervened. Because of the blimp crew's actions, the merchant ships got through.

Grills and Bourne were awarded the Purple Heart. After their release from active duty, radiomen Bourne and Turek received Letters of Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for their quick actions as did AMM3c May his sharp lookout. Grills was initially reprimanded for engaging the enemy sub, but twenty years after the event, Grills was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Isadore Stessel was posthumously awarded a commendation medal 40 years later, which was given to his surviving family members.


Sources:
U-boat Archive
Naval Airship Association, Inc. - Home

 

[Glider]

Why on earth did they reprimand Grills for attacking an enemy U Boat. What did they expct him to do with four bombs, save them for Thanksgiving!!

 

[renrich]

Many thanks for your post GG. Very interesting. One of the singular things about this story is the shark attack. "Experts" today tell us that sharks only attack humans by accident, thinking they are marine mammals. Yet over and over we hear of humans being attacked and killed during marine disasters and many are far from shore where marine mammals are not common. Could the "experts" be wrong?

 

[bobbysocks]

sharks usually recon by the mouthful and most likely they will hit in the dusk or dawn where visibility isnt the best. they hit and take a bite...then find out its not a seal or turtle, etc and usually just let it go. but that is of little comfort or solice since a tremendous amount of damage is already done. their method is to hit hard and then let the prey bleed out. that way there is no chance of it fighting back. experts can be right but these are still wild creatures and will do what they think they have to for a meal or to survive.

its a great story....i wish they were able to pin point where the blimp went down. might make for a great dive if its in shallow enough water. that part of the keys is pretty warm and clear.

 

[GrauGeist]

I suspect that Stessel may have been wounded during the U-Boat's return fire...that was alot of firepower the Germans were hurling up at the airship, and the crew aboard the airship had almost nothing in the way of protection.

The fact that no one was killed during that exchange is nothing short of a miracle...

Also, as far as shark attacks go, my Uncles told stories about sharks attacking shipmates in the water during battles (Pacific Theater) and they all carried "shark knives" at all times for that reason. (Shark Knife = K-Bar)

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Very interesting story Dave. Thank you for sharing, and I had not heard of that either. You would think with as odd and rare as this happening is someone would have made more of this by now.

 

[Thorlifter]

The shark attack stories always give me the willies! But its a great story. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Gnomey]

Interesting story, thanks for sharing.

 

[renrich]

I have read a lot about shark attacks and am aware that "experts" say all the stuff about how a shark bites something and may not like the taste and then leaves. That may be true with some species like the Great White but I wonder about the mid ocean species like the Oceanic White Tip that seem to be responsible for the problems like the Indianapolis disaster. A recent book published about a B24 crew that spent 45 days in a raft before being "rescued" by a Japanese ship tells of sharks that continually tried to climb into the raft and had to be beat off with paddles. Does not sound as if they were intent on "sampling" the meat in the raft but rather knew what they wanted to eat.

 

[GrauGeist]

I've heard that a number of species, White Tip included, are just aggressive, period.

The Bull Shark and Tiger Shark are the most dangerous followed by the White Tip and Black Tip Sharks...the Lemon and Hammerhead are in there as well. All are big and most aren't interested in tasting...they simply eat whatever's in thier path...

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Thanks for the article GG. It was a new one for me. Shark stories do give me the willies though.


Wheels

 

[Nikademus]

Then you definately won't want to read about the fate of many of the crew of the USS Indianapolis.

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Then you definately won't want to read about the fate of many of the crew of the USS Indianapolis.

Read it already. That's why shark stories give me the willies.


Wheels

 

[renrich]

The Indianapolis story is pretty well known, perhaps possibly because of the mention in "Jaws" I have also read that at Leyte Gulf survivors in the water suffered badly from sharks and also the survivors of the Juneau. Over the years I have developed a bit of a phobia about sharks, although as a youngster I used to swim a lot pretty far out in the Gulf of Mexico. I feel pretty safe here in Arizona at 5000 feet above sea level.

 

[GrauGeist]

Both of my Mother's older brothers served in the USN Pacific Theater during WWII (one submarines, other Destroyers) and had quite a few stories regarding sharks and why they always carried thier "shark knives" on them.

 

[bobbysocks]

what you have in those instances is a lot of blood in the water from dead and wounded. and that is a dinner bell for sharks. they can smell it for miles and miles away which brought hundreds of them to that site. that is a recipe for a feeding frenzy and when that happens sharks will eat a goodyear tire and go for the spare. it would be a horrific thing to be in or even near. the history or discovery channel had a show about the indy tragedy....it may have even been on "shark week".

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

what you have in those instances is a lot of blood in the water from dead and wounded. and that is a dinner bell for sharks. they can smell it for miles and miles away which brought hundreds of them to that site. that is a recipe for a feeding frenzy and when that happens sharks will eat a goodyear tire and go for the spare. it would be a horrific thing to be in or even near. the history or discovery channel had a show about the indy tragedy....it may have even been on "shark week".

I think you might be remembering In Search of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (TV 2001) - IMDb


Wheels

 

[renrich]

In the newly published book, "Unbroken" which is basically a biography of Louis Zamperini, he was in the crew of a B24 which ditched in the Pacific. He and another crew member were on a raft for 47 days and previously I mentioned their experiences with sharks. These sharks were actually trying to get in the raft by coming over the sides of the raft and the two men were pushing them back in the water with paddles. I only read an excerpt from the book and I don't believe there was any blood in the water during the period when the sharks were attacking. Fascinating story. Zamperini ran the 5000 meters in the 1936 Olympics. After he was "rescued" by a Japanese ship he spent the rest of the war in a POW camp and when brought home he was skin and bones. Perhaps he exaggerated the shark story or maybe was hallucinating. He is still alive and I saw him interviewed for the book on TV. He did not write the book.