U-Boats in the Hudson River

Once I believe I read of a report of a German submarine which supposedly had actually penetrated New York Harbor and sailed north in the Hudson to rendevous with Nazi spies at Ossining . Anybody else ever see anything like this? Allegedly, this was discovered after the war when German naval records were reviewed by Allies.

eugene brennan skrev i meddelandet

Interesting, but even if it is true (and it can very well be) I think it was superseeded by Günther Prien of U-47 when he penetrated the British naval base Scapa Flow on the night of the 13-14 okt 1939 and sank the battleship Royal Oak. He had to surface for most of the time and was once even illuminated by the headlights of a car passing by on the bank. The whole story can be read at U-boat Net: http://uboat.net/ops/scapa_flow.htm

Per Nordenberg

The closest I've seen are reports of agent landings near Baltimore, Norfolk, Nags Head, and the Georgia coast. The Baltimore and Nags Head reports are kind of shakey; hopefully, someone will have better info. Catbox

Apparently Jekyll Island off the Georgia coast was a favorite vacation spot for the wealthy and influential during the 20s-40s. When I vacationed there a few years ago I read that Roosevelt ordered it evacuated because of the possibility that some influential person(s) could be readily kidnapped and taken, presumably offshore to a waiting U-boat.

snip snip

I have seen a report in german TV about the history of U-boat warfare in WW II. I still remember a scene where they showed a part of a propaganda film ('Wochenschau', with the skyline of NEW YORK at night. I don't know if this was true scene filmed from a german submarine or a simple fake.

Cheers

At the beginning of Operation Drumbeat, U123 under the command of Reinhard Hardegan sailed to a point below the Verrazano Narrows. They could see the sky illuminated by the lights of New York City. He relaxed discipline momentarily to allow each crewman to come on deck and witness the view. A cameraman took some pictures. From this came such stories as submarines in the Hudson River and the myth that they were able to penetrate the harbor and see the skyscrapers of the city.

Anyone know how far out to sea you can see the New York skyline at night? Catbox

for the wealthy and influential during the 20s-40s. When I>vacationed there a few years ago I read that Roosevelt ordered it>evacuated because of the possibility that some influential person(s) could>be readily kidnapped and taken, presumably offshore to a waiting U-boat.

Hmmm...I remember reading a novel in HS, that had this mysterious Lon Chaney like German actor turned superspy, and cold blooded killer who was supposed to kidnap Rockefellers and such from Jekyll Island. Anybody remember this one? It was a weird novel...the hero chased this 'sleeper' spy with a thousand faces across US over 4-5 years. I think I remember the author's note saying the idea stemmed from Roosevelt's evacuation order.

I read about a fomer U-Boat captain who later emigrated to the US. He toured the US giving lectures about his 'war experiences'. He stated that it was the Potomac River & DC for his group. I heard he died a few years ago. How true this is, I do not know.

I'm not sure how much I trust reports of U-boats inside the Chesapeake. As remarked earlier in this thread, I find the report I read of a U-Boat off Baltimore pretty shakey. The thought of threading my way through the mouth of the bay with half the US Navy there gives me the willies. Catbox };- ******************************************************* ******************* *************************

So Gunny smiles his most fatherly smile at us and sez sweetly, 'Boys, I need couple of volunteers. . .'

While Uboats certainly operated in close proximity to the shoreline off Sandy Hook and did venture into extremely shallow water in the Gulf Of Mexico, tales of trips up the Hudson (through the Narrows) or up Chesapeake bay toward Baltimore ring of schnapps-induced exaggerate.

A look charts of both the Hudson alongside Manhattan and the Upper Chesapeake reveal depths inadequate for submerged operations, channels crowded with a variety of traffic from garbage scows to ferries to fisherfolk, underwater obstacles, and/or narrow channels with many turns, not the optimum conditions for even the best of submarine pilotage.