by Michael G. Walling

Published by McGraw-Hill

Table of Contents

  Loomings, September 1939 through October 1941

        Within days of Germany’s attack on Poland the Coast Guard is drawn into the conflict.  Starting with Neutrality Patrols, protecting Greenland, diplomatic missions to Portugal, and escorting convoys this chapter covers the events of the United States’ undeclared war in the Atlantic.  

        This still undeclared war turns deadly when the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Kearney is torpedoed and the destroyer USS Reuben James sunk.  The reaction to these attacks and their effect on the Coast Guard is related through quotes from crewmen on Campbell, Ingham and other cutters.

  Chapter 1.  On the Edge, November 1941 through January 1942

          Coast Guard cutters and U.S. Navy ships begin escorting convoys and actively hunting U-boats.   Ingham and Campbell conduct attacks on U-boats prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S.’s officially entry into the war.  In November, the Coast Guard’s identity is subsumed when it is transferred to the Navy.   

           Through December and January the Atlantic savages the U.S. escorted convoys more than the U-boats.

  Chapter 2.  Then There Were Six, January 1942

   Alexander Hamilton is equipped for escort duty and dispatched on convoy duty with only minimal training.  After turning the convoy over to British escorts, Alexander Hamilton is ordered to the aid of a disabled Navy freighter.  Battling storms and ice, she tows the freighter 600 miles, but within reach of safety, a torpedo strikes.  The full story of the crew’s heroic fight to save their shipmates and their ship is told for the first time. 

Chapter 3.  Into the Abyss, February through August 1942

          By February the cutters are based in Iceland and Newfoundland as part of the U.S. escort groups and they begin a deadly convoy shuttle across the Atlantic.  This chapter details life onboard with eye-witness accounts of convoy battles fought during these first months of war.  Descriptions of the Navy bases, convoy set-up, and the tactics used by the escorts and U-boats are presented.  

Chapter 4.  Torpedo Junction, September through December 1942

            As the sea marshals its forces for the coming autumn offensive, so do the human antagonists.  The sea and the Germans strike first, devastating three Coast Guard-led convoys.   

Chapter 5.  Perdition, January and February 1943

            There is no respite for the crews as massed wolf-pack attacks mark the ascension of the U-boats.  

Chapter 6.  The Tales of February

            Two ships, one U-boat, and too many dead men.  The sinking of two troopships results in a great loss of life accompanied by untold heroism. 

       U.S.A.T. Dorchester, February 3, 1943

      In freezing seas, cutters Tampa, Escanaba, and Comanche rescue the survivors of the S.S. Dorchester. 

No Time for the Dead, February 7, 1943

         Bibb and Ingham, and the S.S. Henry R. Mallory

Retribution, February 22, 1943

        Campbell and U-606 meet in a deadly embrace. 

Chapter 7.  Götterdämmerung, March and April 1943

         Starting on February 26th, the fight becomes one encounter after another as thinly stretched escorts and exhausted crews draw upon unrealized reserves of strength to again and again face a superior enemy.  

        March witnesses the penultimate confrontation between the antagonists with the fate of the war in Europe hanging in the balance.  

Chapter 8.  3 Dead Men, April 17, 1943

        Spencer, Duane, and their consorts deftly apply their hunting skills one more time.  During an attack, U-175 is blown to the surface by depth charges and Spencer sends a Boarding Party to seize her.  Coast Guardsman Mike Hall becomes the first man since the War of 1812 to board an enemy warship on the high seas.  

Chapter 9.  Sea Change, May 1943 through December 1944

        After two and a half years of brutal skirmishes and weather in the North Atlantic, the cutters are assigned the responsibility of escorting convoys to the Mediterranean.  Death from below has been a longtime companion, now death from bombs dropped from above threatens.

        Four years of battling the Atlantic and the Germans ends for the six cutters and they move on to fight other battles, serving as flagships for the invasions of Southern France, the Philippines, and Okinawa.  

Chapter 10.  Final Duty  

The cutters served through the 1980s and their legacy lives on in today’s Coast Guard.  An overview of their assignments on Weather Patrol, Search and Rescue missions, drug interdiction and deployments to Vietnam is included.  The careers of some of the men quoted and the fates of the six cutters are also covered.   

One Last Question

         This question was asked of all the cutters’ crewmembers contacted.  One colorful vet’s answer succinctly reflects the feelings of the vets about their experiences. 

Footnotes 
Appendices

A. Terms and Abbreviations

B. U.S. and German Kreigsmarine Military Ranks

C. The Convoy System and Abbreviations

D. Convoys Escorted Summary

E. Secretary Class Cutter Design History

F. Alexander Hamilton Meritorious Unit Commendation

G. United States Coast Guard History and Present Role  

Sources and Bibliography

Unpublished Sources

Books

Articles

Websites 

Index

 

Note: The book published by McGraw-Hill, June 4, 2004.

by Michael G. Walling

(See: The Bloodstained Sands)