The action of 27 March 1942 was a naval battle fought between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. While patrolling 300 miles off Norfolk, Virginia, an American

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

encountered a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

and a short surface engagement ensued.Beyer

Action

Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MW-3983-23, Lorient, Einlaufen von U-123

, under

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Harry Lynnwood Hicks, was originally a merchantman named SS ''Carolyn'' which was converted to a Q-ship after America's entry into World War II. ''Atik'' displaced 6,610 tons with a crew of 141 men and an armament of four

naval gun Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firing weapons and excludes ...

s, eight

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s and six

K-gun A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

s. It was about 5:00 pm on 27 March when detected ''Atik''. Over two hours later at 19:37,

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...

Reinhard Hardegen ''Korvettenkapitän'' Reinhard Hardegen (18 March 1913 – 9 June 2018) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was credited with the sinking of 25 ships (2 were later refloated), at a total of 136,661 tons. After the war, he spent ...

fired a spread of G7e torpedoes from a surfaced position and one of them struck ''Atik''s bow on port side. The Q-ship caught on fire and started to list slightly. Lieutenant Commander Hicks apparently decided that the only way to lure the U-boat within range of his guns was by ordering a lifeboat to be lowered on the starboard side. The trick worked so when ''U-123'' was maneuvering to starboard, around ''Atik''s stern, she opened fire with all of her weapons, including depth charges. The first shots fell short of the U-boat and the others deflected. The American machine gunners were successful though and the U-boat's bridge was slightly damaged and one German midshipman was mortally wounded. Immediately after the Americans opened fire, Captain Hardegen ordered his deck gun into action and fled out of ''Atik''s range before diving but at 21:29 ''U-123'' attacked again to finish the Q-ship off. After firing and striking the ship with one more torpedo, ''Atik'' still remained mostly afloat with her bow slowly settling. The remainder of the American crew appeared to be evacuating their ship at this point so the Germans deemed her as no longer being a threat and they surfaced at 22:27 pm to watch ''Atik'' sink. Twenty-three minutes later at 22:50 ''Atik'' exploded and then a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).SOS was received by three nearby American warships, , Q-ship and

fleet tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

USS ''Sagamore''—but when they arrived there was nothing but wreckage. American aircraft also searched for several days though nothing but debris and five empty lifeboats were found.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:19420327 Naval battles of World War II involving the United States Battle of the Atlantic Naval battles of World War II involving Germany March 1942 events Germany–United States military relations

Action

See also

References