Vast Selection of Royalty Free Images and Historical Information

Title: USS Guadalcanal, June, 1944

Description: American escort aircraft carrier USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60) with the captured German submarine, U-505, 150 miles off the coast of Rio de Oro, West Africa; the Guadalcanal, along with five escort destroyers, had tracked the submarine by sonar and by Wildcat fighters from the aircraft carrier, the USS Chatelain (DE-149) dropping depth charges that ruptured the U-505's oil lines, jammed its rudder, shut down its electrical equipment and caused water to begin to fill its compartments; the sub surfaced and came under fire from the destroyers and Wildcats; the German U-Boat captain, believing his vessel was sinking, hastily ordered his crew to abandon ship; eight men from the USS Pillsbury (DE-133), led by Lieutenant Albert David (1902-1945), leaped from the Pillsbury's launch, which had come alongside the sinking sub, went down the hatches, disconnecting demolition charges, closing leaking valves and plugging water-gushing holes, while gathering up all the ship's codebooks, charts and papers; David, for this extraordinary hazardous feat, would later receive the Congressional Medal of Honor; all of the crew, except one man, who had been killed on the conning tower during the brief exchange of surface fire, were rescued by the U.S. ships, while the U-505 was towed to Bermuda; the U-505 would later become a permanent exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry;

Date: June 4, 1944

Category: World War II

Keywords: captured enemy boats, German submarines, German U-Boats, Second World War, submarines, subs, underwater boats, U.S. Navy, World War II, WWII