Action of 27 March 1942
Action of 27 March 1942 | |||||||
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Part of the Battle of the Atlantic of World War II | |||||||
USS Atik, seen here as the SS Carolyn | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Germany | United States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Reinhard Hardegen | Harry Hicks † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Submarine U-123 | Q-ship Atik | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 killed U-123 damaged |
141 killed Atik sunk |
The action of 27 March 1942 was a naval battle fought between the United States and Germany during World War II in the Atlantic Ocean. While patrolling 300 miles off Norfolk, Virginia, an American Q-ship encountered a U-boat and a short surface engagement ensued.[1][2][3]
USS Atik
Action
It was about 5:00 pm on 27 March when
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 hitting the ship with another torpedo, Atik remained 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. A gale blew in, killing all of the 141 American sailors. The one German casualty was buried at sea ten minutes later and then U-123 departed. An SOS was received by three nearby American warships, Clemson-class destroyer USS Noa, Q-ship USS Asterion and fleet tug USS Sagamore—but when they arrived there were no survivors, only wreckage. American aircraft also searched for several days, finding nothing but debris and five empty lifeboats.[1][2][3]
See also
- Armed merchantmen
Footnotes
References
- Beyer, M. Kenneth (1999). Q-ships Versus U-Boats: America's Secret Project. U.S. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-044-1.