On July 18, 1943, off the coast of Florida, the only battle between an airship and a submarine took place. She is (sorry for the spoiler) - the only battle of the Second World War, during which an airship was shot down. The crew members of the aircraft showed themselves to be desperate, but not very successful brave men.
Participants in the battle
K-74 is a soft airship that does not have a metal frame. Length - 76 meters. The only thing that prevents him from being defenseless is the M2 Browning machine gun and Mark 17 depth charges. It can stay in the air for 24 hours. Crew - 10 people.
U-134 is a medium-sized German submarine. Length - 67 meters. Crew - 48 people. Navigation autonomy - 15,170 kilometers. The maximum depth is 295 meters. She has 7 military campaigns and 4 sunk ships (of which one is her own).
Before meeting with the airship, the U-134 submarine was going through hard times
Promotional video:
It was a warm tropical night. The crew of the German U-134 submarine peacefully enjoyed the sea breeze. Their ship came to the surface, the sailors threw on the upper deck for a breath of fresh air. Although, in truth, it was not a completely peaceful vacation: earlier the submariners noticed the approach of two American ships - a dry cargo ship and a tanker. The night promised to be stormy, and the sailors allowed themselves a respite before the storm. Moreover, recently they have been haunted by failures and bad omens: once U-134 distinguished itself by sinking its own transport ship, and recently a suicide occurred on a submarine - not the best omen.
Suddenly an eye appeared in the night sky - a bright flash, a searchlight. An American aircraft was approaching the boat at a decent speed - the same K-74 airship. The sailors pushed in, the noise of machine guns was already heard from behind. U-134 began reciprocal firing from anti-aircraft guns and deck guns.
K-class airship gondola.
The K-74 airship was patrolling the Florida coast. There was a good reason for that: soon important units - a bulk carrier and a tanker - were to pass here, and the Americans feared surprise attacks. Therefore, a small combat airship was launched along the route of the ships. There was never much use from them, but at least they scared the Germans away.
Scanning the sea surface with a searchlight, the K-74 crew stumbled upon a submarine. According to the instructions, the commander, Nelson Grills, was supposed to report her to the leadership, and the airship should just hover nearby, waiting for help. No heroism: no one in their right mind imagined that this sluggish bubble would be able to fight enemy ships.
The airship attacked the submarine contrary to instructions
It didn't work out peacefully while waiting for help. Nelson Grills, the airship commander, violated the regulations, probably realizing that he was threatened with a tribunal. But it was impossible to stay idle: the tanker and the bulk carrier were too close - just a little more, and the Germans would send them to the bottom.
K-74 Heavy Garnet Eckert shows how it was.
Grylls made a stupid and at the same time heroic decision - to attack the submarine. This, of course, is not a kamikaze attack, but not that far in recklessness. At a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour, the inflatable fat K-74 began to dive towards the enemy ship. It is dark all around, not a damn thing is visible, and flares of anti-aircraft guns are already beginning to flash from below; but the airship flies straight towards the sub, firing at it with an M2 Browning machine gun.
K-74's desperate attack could have been victorious, but the bomb release mechanism is jammed. The bombs remained hanging on the gondola, and the airship, perforated by German guns, gently landed on the water. All 10 crew members got out, wearing life jackets. They still had a chance to survive: the command knew about their whereabouts, and the frightened German submariners went under water out of harm's way.
The crew of the airship waited for help on the water for 8 hours
During this time, they had no less dangerous opponents than the German submariners - the Florida sharks. And if the U-134 guns did not manage to touch any of the Americans, then the sharks annoyed them all night and devoured one - the mechanic Isador Stressel.
In the airship gondola.
When two American destroyers arrived to the aid of the K-74 crew in the morning, the sailors from the ships had to go down to the water with Tommy-guns in their hands and desperately dribble in the water, scaring off the sharks that were preparing for a new attack. On the shore, the commander of the airship Nelson Grylls was waiting for a tough pull from the authorities: he acted contrary to the prescribed instructions and destroyed the airship. However, decades later, he was nevertheless cleared of the guilt, having heeded adequate arguments: by sacrificing a relatively useless aircraft, he saved two large and really important ships. In 1961 he was awarded the Flight Merit Cross - "For special courage displayed in flight." So justice was done.
After the "victory" over the airship, a real hunt began on U-134
Less than a day after the meeting of the two leviathans, U-134 was attacked by the American Ventura aircraft, which dropped three depth charges on it, damaging the boat's batteries. On August 21, the Germans faced fierce resistance from another American convoy and barely escaped pursuit. The boat was able to escape, but was forced to go to its native shores for repair.
The shelling of U-134 - view from an American plane.
On August 27, 1943, U-134, which by that time was barely under way, collided with the British frigate Rother in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. This meeting turned out to be fatal for her, and the only submarine that accepted the battle with the airship sank just 40 days after this strange and ridiculous battle. It seems that only the Florida shark really won from the battle between the submarine and the airship.
Vladimir Brovin
