U-boats Off North Carolina's Coast

U-boats Off North Carolina's Coast. War on America's Doorstep. On December 11, 1942, Germany declared war on the United States and in doing so brought the Battle of the Atlantic to America's doorstep. By January of 1942, the glow of burning Allied merchant ships could be seen from our beaches, their oil and the carnage of war washed along our shores. Over the next three years, 81 merchant ships, nine Allied naval vessels, and five U-boats were lost off coastal Virginia and North Carolina. This condensed area of naval conflict is a World War II (world war two) battlefield, and this is where the clenched fist of Hitler's Germany touched America's shores., More than any other place in the United States, coastal Virginia and North Carolina serve as a uniquely accessible underwater museum and memorial to world war two's Battle of the Atlantic. Since 2008, NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and partners have documented and surveyed this unique collection of world war two Allied and German vessels. NOAA's goal is to protect these fragile historic resources for future generations, and to preserve the memory of the brave Allied service men and U.S. merchant mariners who fought to rid the world of tyranny., NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries works with state and local partners to protect and preserve America's maritime heritage., (captions) , U-123 attacked and sank the merchant freighter City of Atlanta. Of the 46 member crew, 43 were lost, resulting in the largest loss of life among the ships torpedoed off North Carolina’s coast. Multibeam Image Credit: NOAA/ADUS, The merchant tanker Dixie Arrow sank in less than a minute after being attacked by U-71. Of the 33 crewmembers only 22 survived. Credit: National Archives, The converted British fishing trawler HMT Bedfordshire sank when attacked by U-558 off Cape Lookout with the loss of all 37 crewmembers. Credit: National Archives, The German U-701, one of the most deadly U-boats operating off the mid-Atlantic in 1942, laid a minefield during its last cruise at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and sank four ships and damaged five others. Multibeam Image Credit: NOAA/ADUS