From the book "Images of America:
Fort Miles" by Lee Jennings & Gary
Wray. Reprinted with
permission.
When U-858 appeared off the
Delaware coast on May 14, 1945, she
was the first enemy warship to
surrender to the United States since
the War of 1812.
Fort Miles was built to combat the
German surface fleet, but none ever
appeared off the coast.
Instead, what did appear was the
German submarine force.
Attacking the east coast beginning
in January, 1942, German submarines
destroyed hundreds of ships and
killed thousands of sailors.
The German Navy (Kreigsmarine)
called this Operation Drumbeat.
Many of the ships were destroyed
within sight of the Delaware coast,
so local citizens were witness to
the desperate survival efforts of
the stricken ships. The port
of Lewes became a port of refuge for
many sailors from torpedoed ships.
The Germans continued to attack the
East Coast throughout the war.
Even in the spring of 1945, when the
war was almost over, the
Kreigsmarine had several attack
boats off American shores. One
of these boats was U-858, commanded
by 27-year-old Kapitanleutnant Thilo
Bode, with a crew of 57 officers and
men. U-858 reached the
Canadian shore, along with several
other German submarines, in the
spring of 1945. On May 4,
1945, the Kreigsmarine announced
that hostilities were to stop on May
5. At that time
Kapitanleutnant Bode found himself
in Canadian waters. He decided
to direct the boat to American
waters and surrender. On May
9, she was ordered to surface,
broadcast her position, run up
either a white or black flag, and be
prepared to surrender. Bode
had his shower curtain painted
black, surfaced the boat, and threw
all of the ammunition and even the
barrels of the twin 20mm cannons
overboard so as not to appear
threatening.
On May 10, 1945, off the coast of
New Jersey, the submarine was
located by US Navy forces. Two
ships (Muir and Carter) carefully
approached the submarine in a fog
bank, barely able to see the black
flag. They then turned the
submarine over the the destroyer
escort (DE) Pillsbury. Along
with the DE Pope, the Pillsbury
placed a prize crew of Marines and
Naval personnel aboard, searched the
crew for documents and weapons, and
took her official surrender at sea.
It was decided not to take the
submarine to the nearest navy
facility at Cape May as that harbor
was too shallow. Rather, she
was instructed to go to the deeper
anchorage at Fort Miles. |
"Images of America: Fort Miles"
IOA: Fort Miles is an excellent
source of photos and information on
the lives and stories of those who
served at Fort Miles. Copies
are available from Amazon.com or
from the FMHA's website.
FMHA
(Signed Copy) |
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Amazon.com |
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The Ship |
U-858 was a Type IX-C/40, the state
of the art for the German
Kreigsmarine.
|
Laid Down |
11 December, 1942 |
Power |
4400 hp surfaced / 1000 hp
submerged |
|
Commissioned |
30 September, 1943 |
Speed |
19 knots surfaced / 7.3
knots submerged |
|
Command |
Kptlt. Thilo Bode |
Range |
13850 miles surfaced / 63
miles submerged |
|
Career |
30 Sep, 1943 - 30 Apr,
1944 4.
Flottille (training)
1 May, 1944 - 30 Sep, 1944 2.
Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct, 1944 - 8 May, 1945 33.
Flottille (front boat)
No ships sunk during service
period. |
Armamant |
Torpedoes:
Units on board: 22
Tubes: 6
4 bow
2 stern
Mines: 44
Deck Gun:
105/45
Rounds on board: 110 |
|
Fate |
Surrendered at Fort Miles,
14 May, 1945
Harbored at Fort Miles until
end of war, then transferred
to Philadelphia Naval
Shipyards. Held there
until sunk in 1947 in new
torpedo tests. |
|
Displacement |
1545 total tons |
|
Length |
76.76 overall meters |
Crew |
57 |
|
Beam |
6.86 overall meters |
Max Depth |
755 feet |
|
Draft |
4.67 meters |
Information source:
Uboat.net
http://www.uboat.net |
|
Height |
9.60 meters |
|
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