Attack on Orleans

Attack on Orleans
Part of the U-boat Campaign of World War I

A view of Cape Cod, the location of Orleans, from space.
Date21 July 1918
Locationoff Orleans, Massachusetts, United States, Atlantic Ocean
Result German victory, raid completed.
Belligerents
 United States  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
unknown German Empire Richard Feldt
Strength
Sea:
1 tugboat
4 barges
Air:
9 Curtiss HS seaplanes		 1 submarine
Casualties and losses
1 tugboat sunk
4 barges sunk, no human casualties		 none

The Attack on Orleans was a naval and air action during World War I on 21 July 1918, when a German submarine fired on the American town of Orleans, Massachusetts, on the eastern coast of the Cape Cod peninsula, and some nearby merchant vessels.

The submarine was SM U-156 of the Imperial German Navy, captained by Richard Feldt. On the morning of 21 July, U-156 surfaced three miles off Orleans, and fired its two deck guns at the town and at the passing tugboat Perth Amboy, which had four barges in her tow. Perth Amboy was sunk, causing the barges to capsize as well, and founder later; the shells fired at the town landed harmlessly in a marsh and on Nauset Beach, giving the town of Orleans the distinction of being the only spot in the United States that received enemy fire during World War I. There were no fatalities.

Nearby Station No. 40 of the United States Life-Saving Service launched a surfboat under heavy enemy shellfire and rowed out to rescue the thirty-two sailors trapped aboard the tug and barges.

US Navy HS-1L flying boats and R-9 bombers from Naval Air Station Chatham responded; they dive-bombed U-156 with payloads of TNT. It was the first time in history that American aviators engaged an enemy vessel in the western Atlantic. Local history reports that one citizen of Orleans armed himself with a double-barreled shotgun and fired back at U-156 from the shore.

Today, a sign above the beach commemorates the historic engagement. It reads:

"Three miles offshore, in the direction of the arrow, was the scene of attack of a German submarine on a tug and barges July 21, 1918. Several shells struck the beach. This is the only section of the United States’ coast shelled by the enemy during World War I." [1]

Aftermath

U-156 got away and headed north, where it continued to attack other Allied ships. Back in Orleans, a few shells and craters were found on shore; some also were found in the nearby marsh. The area sustained minor damage. The psychological effects on the population of Orleans were immediate, as people began reporting hearing naval battles off the coast.

Others talked about the supposed "mother ship" for U-156. Newspapers dubbed the engagement as the "Battle of Orleans" and offered a reward for the discovery of submarine supply bases in the Bay of Fundy. Towns also banned lights for fear that German spies would use them to signal U-boats. The attack on Orleans was the only Central Powers attack on the contiguous United States during World War I.

It was also the first time the contiguous United States was shelled by a foreign power's artillery since the Siege of Fort Texas in 1846. [2] The contiguous U.S. would be shelled again twice in 1942 by Japanese submarines during the Pacific War. These two engagements are known as the Bombardment of Fort Stevens along the northwest Pacific coast of Oregon, and the Bombardment of Ellwood near Santa Barbara, California.

Notes

  1. ↑ Klim, Jake (2014). Attack on Orleans: The World War I submarine raid on Cape Cod. The History Press. ISBN 9781625850348. OCLC 883673275.
  2. ↑ Larzelere, Alex (2003). Coast Guard in World War One. Naval Institute Press, p. 135. ISBN 1-55750-476-8

References

Coordinates: 41°47′23″N 69°59′25″W / 41.78972°N 69.99028°W / 41.78972; -69.99028

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