U-Boat's Wrath Creates Dive-and-a-Half:
YouTube Videos Let Everyone Explore

DURING WORLD WAR II, the North Carolina coast was a harrowing hunting ground for German U-boats. Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat in English) began in January 1942, bringing U-boats their easiest pickings of the war. More than 300 allied vessels were sunk during the Paukenschlag along the US East Coast. U-124 was responsible for the sinking of 48 of these ships for a total of almost 225 tons from August 1940 to February 1943.
           

The U-124’s commander, KRVKpt. Johann Mohr, was determined in dooming vessels. He even took time to compose a haunting verse on his return from plundering in North Carolina waters: “The moon night is as black as ink/off Hatteras the tankers sink/while sadly Roosevelt counts the score/some fifty thousand ton…”

Within five days between March 18 and March 23, 1942, U-124 sent three American tankers to the bottom of North Carolina’s coastal waters: the SS Papoose, SS Naeco and W.E. Hutton, and damaged the steamer Atlantic Sun.            

There is yet another American tanker that makes the fifth victim of U-124 during these five days. The Esso Nashville is now a popular dive site between Cape Lookout Shoals and the Frying Pan Shoals. But divers only find a little more than half of the 463-foot, 13,000 deadweight-ton ship which rests upside down on the ocean bottom. Where is the other half, you ask? It got away....

On March 16, the Esso Nashville left Port Arthur, TX for New Haven, CT carrying approximately 78,000 barrels of fuel oil. On the 20th, the vessel reached Frying Pan Shoals, passing about a mile off the buoy around 11pm. There was no moon and a cold drizzle dimmed the stars. The ship had blacked out for the night with most of the men asleep.

The vessel had made it about 16 miles northeast of the shoals when Captain Edward Peters was roused from his bed by a tremendous thud. “As I reached the bridge,” he wrote later, “a terrific crash occurred on the starboard side abaft the midship house, raising the vessel up bodily and throwing her to starboard and then keeling her to port so violently that I feared she was going to turn over. The entire ship was flooded with oil which spouted as high as the foremast.”

Third mate John Kerves saw the torpedo from the U-124, “It struck within three seconds. Flames shot in the air and oil was thrown everywhere.”

Some crew stood in oil up to their knees trying to assess the damage in the dark of night. But because of Captain Peters’ affinity for lifeboat drills, all the lifeboats were launched quickly and an orderly abandon ship was underway.

Most aboard were safely in lifeboats with the exception of the captain. Going to lifeboat No. 2, he mis-stepped and fell between the ship and the boat. Noting that the oil-covered men aboard were having difficulty handling the boat and escaping the ship’s rigging, the Captain feared the lifeboat be sucked down into the ocean should the ship begin to sink.

He ordered them to steer clear from the 13,000-ton vessel as quickly as they could and leave him for a later rescue. After about ten minutes, the lifeboat made its way from the Esso Nashville, but Captain Peters could not be spotted in the dark sea. He had returned to the ship where he fastened a white sheet to the rail and tried to bandage a wound in his leg.

Coast Guard cutters Agassiz and Tallapoosa, along with the allied destroyer McKean, would the next morning rescue the Esso Nashville’s entire crew, including the captain. Those aboard the Agassiz were taken to Southport for kerosene baths to remove the oil from their bodies. The captain was taken to a Wilmington hospital. Those aboard the McKean were taken to Norfolk; those picked up by the Tallapoosa remained on ship as it continued on its intended patrol for three days before docking in Savannah, GA.

On March 23, the Navy tug USS Umpqua came to the rescue of the final survivor, the after-section of the Esso Nashville. The rest of the ship was now on the bottom of the sea. The remaining half, listing 40 degrees to port, was taken to Morehead City. On March 26, arrangements were made to pump water from the half-ship to make it safe for towing.

On May 28, two tugs took the remaining section of the Esso Nashville to Baltimore, MD, where Bethlehem Steel, the ship’s manufacturer, would replace the front half. Approximately two-thirds of the length of the original vessel had to be refabricated from the original drawings. Replacing the forward section at a length of 300 feet and 2,100 tons, was practically rebuilding the ship. But in March 1943, the Esso Nashville was rechristened and completed seven new voyages by year’s end. She would be scrapped 20 years later in 1963.           

Captain Edward Peters was awarded the American Legion Medal for outstanding heroism for his actions on the night of the Esso Nashville’s attack. After recovering from his injuries, he became the master of another Esso tanker.

Five survivors of the Esso Nashville attack went on to other tankers that were lost or damaged in World War II. Ordinary Seaman Albert Byrd survived the torpedoing and heavy loss of life during the sinking of the SS Benjamin Brewster July 9, 1942. Oiler James Mitchell survived the U-boat sinking of the Esso Harrisburg July 6, 1944. Meeman Eddie Borges survived the U-boat sinking of the Esso Houston May 12, 1942. Messman Lee Osban survived the torpedoing of the Paul H. Harwood on July 7, 1942. Oiler Leonard Mills was lost on the R.W. Gallagher near the southwest passage of the Mississippi River July 15, 1942.

The U-124 finally met its fate on April 2, 1943 near Oporto, Portugal. It was sunk by depth charges by the British HMS Stonecrop and HMS Black Swan. All 53 men aboard were killed, including commander KRVKpt. Johann Mohr.

Dive notes: The forward section of the Esso Nashville lies upside down in approximately 100 to 120 feet of water, making it an advanced dive. The wreck is home to an abundance of sea life including nudibranchs, lobster, frogfish, angelfish, damselfish and sharks. The wreck can be circumnavigated in a single dive. (Information for this article comes from the WWII US Navy Armed Guard/Merchant Marine website, www.armed-guard.com.)

Can't physically dive this shipwreck? Dive videos from the Esso Nashville have recently surfaced on YouTube. Click here to watch a June 2007 dive of the shipwreck or click here to watch an incredible May 2006 dive.

Read more feature articles in the print edition of Waterfront Magazine.