Black Sunday (2/3)
by Tracey Baker Wagner
The mission of Korvettenkapitan von Nostitz and the U-151's crew was to disrupt shipping along the northeastern US coast. Their record was impressive, with a total of 23 vessels successfully attacked in a month's time. The U-boat arrived near the end of May 1918, and immediately mounted several unsuccessful attacks with their deck gun. Mines were planted off the Delaware capes, and the crew even cut telegraph cables connecting New York with Nova Scotia. These acts marked the first time that the battlefield had been brought to American shores in a hundred years.
On May 25, the U-151 stopped three American schooners off Virginia, took their crews captive in order to keep the sub's presence a secret, and bombed all three ships. Only one, the Hattie Dunn sank; the Hauppauge and the Edna remained afloat and were eventually salvaged. After these attacks, von Nostitz lurked along the mid-Atlantic coast for a week, not launching any further attacks.
On June 2, "Black Sunday", just before 8:00 in the morning, the U-151 began the most productive day of its mission. Before the day was out, the Germans would send six American ships to the ocean floor and would continue on to do even more damage before eventually returning home at the end of June.
At 7:50 AM on June 2, sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey, von Nostitz spotted the American schooner Isabel B. Wiley as she sailed southward towards Newport News, Virginia. A single shell was fired by the U-151, and Captain Thomason brought his ship to. The captain and crew escaped in a motorboat, just as the Winneconne steamed into view.
At 8:10 AM, the German sub began firing at the new target until she also hove to, then boarded and allowed Captain Waldemar Knudson and his crew a half-hour to gather their belongings. Just over an hour after first firing on the Winneconne, German bombs ripped open the steamship's steel hull and sent her to the bottom. The three lifeboats from the Winneconne plus the motor launch from the Wiley took on the prisoners from the U-151's conquests of the previous week while the German boarding officer went after the drifting Wiley, setting off bombs to sink that vessel as well.
The Germans made sure the American sailors had adequate provisions before sending them off. The men in the Wiley's boat were picked up later in the afternoon by the Ward Line steamer Mexico. The ship sent a warning over the wireless; unfortunately, it was not understood. The men were transferred to another ship and landed at Hoboken, New Jersey, on the night of June 4. The men in the Winneconne's boats rowed an estimated 65 miles until they were picked up by the San Saba about 25 miles off of Barnegat Light. this group landed at New York a full day earlier than the men from the Wiley.
Around noon, the U-151 fired two shots across the bow of the Jacob M. Haskell. When the schooner was brought to a stop, the sub ordered the crew to abandon ship, and the Haskell's captain told his men to lower the boats. Once all were clear, the ship was sunk by setting off charges hung over the sides. The Haskell's crew were later rescued by the American steamship Grecian.
Later in the afternoon, the Germans came upon another American schooner, the Edward H. Cole, which was en route from Norfolk, Virginia to Portland, Maine. Without firing a shot, the U-151 stopped the Cole after circling her several times and then approaching with an order to abandon ship. Just after 4:00, bombs were set off, then a shell was fired into the schooner's wooden hull when she did not immediately sink. The Cole's captain, H. G. Newcombe, and 11 crew members escaped in one boat and were picked up at about 8:00 in the evening, but only after witnessing the destruction of yet another ship, the Texel.
The freighter Texel, carrying sugar from Puerto Rico to New York, was the U-151's next target. Captain Lowry initially attempted to evade the shots being fired at his ship, but was forced to give up after one shell hit the ship and exploded in the engine room. German explosives sent the Texel to the bottom in less than three minutes, at about 5:20 PM. The 36 men ( and one cat, the ship's mascot ) rowed all the way to shore, landing on Atlantic City's beach at midnight.
The U-151's final victim that day was the 5000+ ton passenger liner Carolina. The steamship was carrying 217 passengers from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York when the wireless operator intercepted a message about the sinking of the Isabel B. Wiley less than fifteen miles away. The captain was notified, and immediately ordered increased speed and an evasive, zig-zag course, but it was too late. The German submarine fired a shell through the Carolina's wake, then two more shots which came even closer to the ship. An SOS was transmitted, after which the Germans ordered the ship to cease transmitting.
Captain Barbour finally hove to, fearing for the safety of the women and children on board. Lifeboats were lowered as the captain destroyed all confidential papers, then he escaped in the last boat. Eight of the boats, all roped together, headed for shore. The U-151 fired shells into the Carolina's hull until she rolled onto her side and disappeared beneath the surface.
While the U-151 had caused great material and monetary loss, up until the sinking of the Carolina no lives had been lost. This was to change overnight as the 217 passengers and 113 crew from the passenger ship made their way towards shore. The eight boats under the command of Captain Barbour fared well, transferring about 250 people onto the Eva B. Douglas mid-morning the next day. The crowded sailing ship anchored off Barnegat Inlet, then was towed back to New York by the Submarine Patrol Number 507, arriving early on the morning of June 4th.
Not so lucky were Boat Number 5 and the Carolina's motor launch. Most of the passengers in Number 5 were dumped in the water when one end of the boat slipped as it was being launched. The two boats lost sight of each other, but then got back together and tied a rope between the boats so the motorboat could tow the life raft. The connecting rope broke twice during a nighttime storm, and the motorboat overturned during its search for Number 5, drowning thirteen passengers.
Those who made it back into the motor launch were eventually picked up by a British ship and taken to Lewes, Delaware. Boat Number 5 finally landed at Atlantic City after another full day and night. The final survivors of the Carolina, eight women and 25 men, were helped ashore by vacationing beachgoers.
