In trying to gain victory over England, the German powers had set about to starve the country out by sending submarines out in ‘Wolf Packs’ to sink as many  ships as possible to keep England from getting the supplies it needed to continue the war effort and to support its civilians at home. The United States was one of their main sources to fill these needs. Trans-Atlantic shipping became  a hotbed of German submarine activity.

            In early 1942, Germany initiated ‘Operation Drumbeat’. In this phase of operations, the German submarine fleet initially sent 6 submarines, known also as U-boats, to the eastern seaboard of the U.S. in an attempt to cut off the supplies heading for England at their source. With a much larger coastline to guard and having just entered the war, the thought was that it would be more successful at stopping the flow of logistics here with less casualties to the U-boat fleet. It almost worked.

Because of this fact, in 1942,  LV - 115 (WAL - 537) was replaced by buoy and reassigned as an examination vessel. Contained in the information below is a PARTIAL list of vessels that were attacked in the coastal waters of North Carolina alone. There were many others. Dates and pictures along with any other facts that have been located are included.

This page is dedicated to the memory of ALL the persons and vessels that fell victim to the U-boat wars internationally.