The Director’s Cut: The Capture of U-505 By Rear Adm. Sam Cox, USN (Ret.), Director, Naval History and Heritage Command
USS Guadalcanal (CVE60) Hunter-Killer Group vs. U-505 – 4 June 1944
fighters hit the U-boat with a deluge of gunfire. Lange was badly wounded on the conning tower, two others were wounded, and one was killed. Realizing the situation was he Submarine Tracking Room (F-21) of the hopeless, Lange ordered the sub abandoned and scuttled. U.S. TENTH Fleet was aware of the general However, in the haste to abandon, the crew neglected to set movements of U-505 throughout her patrol the charges. Two Avengers airborne were under orders not due to Ultra intellito drop depth charges if gence derived from the submarine surfaced, intercepted and as the Task Group decrypted German Commander Capt. communications and Daniel V. Gallery had a high-frequency direcplan to try to capture a tion finding. U-505’s U-boat. fruitless patrol off In accordance with West Africa was Gallery’s plan, the plagued by equipment screen commander breakdowns and poor ordered boarding teams morale. Based on away. The team from intelligence from F-21, Pillsbury was underway TENTH Fleet knew first and those from when U-505 started Chatelain and Jenks home and vectored were diverted to Guadalcanal (CVE60) rescue the 58 German Hunter-Killer group survivors. Although to intercept. After abandoned and settling several days of fruitless by the stern, U-505 searching, Guadalcanal was still churning in broke off the search to circles at six to seven head to Casablanca for knots. The leader of refueling. Ten minutes the boarding team, later, destroyer escort “Mustang” Lt. (j.g.) Chatelain (DE 149), Albert David, made commanded by Lt. Cdr. the first leap from the Dudley S. Knox, gained whaleboat, followed On U-505’s conning tower are, from right to left: Cdr. Earl Trosino, USNR; sonar contact on U-505, by two petty officers. Capt. Daniel V. Gallery, Jr., USN, Commanding Officer, USS Guadalcanal; between Guadalcanal Knowing that the and Lt. (jg) Albert L. David, USN, who was posthumously awarded the and the escorts. scuttling charges could Medal of Honor for leading the boarding party that captured the submarine Chatelain conducted go off at any moment and carried out initial salvage operations. an immediate and that the sub could Hedgehog attack with sink at any minute, and no result. U-505’s skipper, Oberleutnant zur See, Lt. (j.g.) not knowing if any armed Germans were still below and Harald Lange, put up his periscope and was dismayed to willing to fight, David plunged down the conning tower see the array of ships and aircraft around him. U-505 got ladder without hesitation into the dark U-boat, followed by off an acoustic homing torpedo that missed, just as ChatePetty Officers Knispel and Wdowiak. The petty officers set lain rolled in for a devastating depth charge attack. about rounding up codebooks and valuable papers, while When the crippled U-505 came to the surface, ChateDavid worked valves to keep the U-boat from sinking. lain, Pillsbury (DE 133), Jenks (DE 665), and two Wildcat Continued on page 23 22
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