Today in History ~ U-652 VS USS Greer
September 4th, 1941
The United States has not yet officially entered WWII …
A British bomber sights German U-boat U-652 in the North Atlantic near the US Destroyer USS Greer. The American Destroyer initiates a sonar search.
The USA was not involved in WWII as yet – at least not in the shooting side of the war. Convoys of supplies were flowing to England from the USA
The USS Greer detects the German submarine with sonar and moves in …
The Brits drop a few depth charges on the sub which may have been interpreted by the U-652 as being from the American ship. The German Navy later claims the USS Greer initiated an attack and they were justified to return fire.
The U-652 fires a torpedo at the USS Greer but does not hit it.
The USS Greer then answers with its own depth charges.
The U-652 fires again at the USS Greer and misses …
President Roosevelt later ordered US ships to “shoot on sight” any U-boat.
An undeclared shooting war now existed.
Category: Tony Rollo Blog
