By Belvin M. Wells
The USS Fessenden in action "From Dictionary US Fighting Ships" Page 14 DESA NEWS March - April 1998 USS FESSENDEN (DE 142 "A Very Lucky Ship" This is a true account about one of the voyages of the USS FESSENDEN (DE 142). The ship’s crew as of this date does not know some of the following facts. On or about April 1, 1944, Convoy USG 38 left Norfolk, VA. it's destination, Bizerte, Tunisia in north Africa. The crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was made in good time, nothing more than a few submarine alerts no real contacts. The convoy entered the Mediterranean Sea about April 17, 1944. From then on things started to change.
On the night of April 19, a surface radar contact was made. Radar showed it to be ten miles in front of the convoy. The FESSENDEN'S position in the convoy was located on the left front comer. The Task Force Commander directed the FESSENDEN to leave the convoy and investigate the contact. As the FESSENDEN closed the distance to the target, it broke into two radar blips. Radar also indicated that they were going away at a high rate of speed and were probably German U-boats.
The 142 was not fast enough to gain on them so turned 90 degrees and slowed down. This brought all her main batteries to bear and she fired a star shell pattern to illuminate the targets. Nothing was seen so search lights were turned on but still nothing was seen. After a short search the ship returned to a different position in the convoy.
In 1967 my son turned 17 and we were fighting an undeclared war in Vietnam He enlisted in the U.S. Army much to my dislike. But the best part of it all was he was sent to Germany and not to Vietnam While on leave in Frankfort with some of his buddies, they visited a couple of beer halls. An ex-German Navy man ran the beer hall. The hall catered to the military class of people from all of the services. While talking to some of the local people they met a man who said that he had been a U-Boat Captain in the German Navy in WWII. He also said that his submarine had been sunk in the Mediterranean in 1944, in the month of May. After a few drinks he said that he had sunk quite a few WWII ships and that he had been taken prisoner of war after his U-Boat was sunk. His name was Mr. Finski. After a few more drinks he started telling sea stories. He was a good storyteller and very interesting. My son became very interested because he knew that I had served in the Navy in the Mediterranean.
NOW HERE IS WHERE IT BECOMES VERY INTERESTING! On the night of April 19, 1944, Capt. Finski's U-Boat the U 371 rendezvoused with two motor torpedo boats. They met about 10 miles in front of the ship train, which is what they called a convoy. Their intention was to hire one or two of the escort ships away from the convoy. Ibis would create a gap in the sonar screen through which a U-Boat might slip into the convoy. If he could make it past the screen he could have a field day.
As the convoy closed the distance his radar showed that only one of the escorts had left the screen. Only one had taken the bait. Too bad --- but now Capt. Firiski changed his plan. He would torpedo the Destroyer Escort. It was here that the torpedo boats dumped a sonar absorbing compound into the water around the submarine and Left at high speed. The trap was now set. If the submarine could sink or damage the DE, the convoy would probably change course and cause some confusion. There was a second U-Boat, the U 616, not very far away, which could also do damage to the convoy. Captain Finski decided that he would use an acoustic torpedo as they seldom missed. The torpedo boats running at high speed could by turning left or right, lure the escort right into the U-boat trap. A Destroyer running at high speed trying to gain on a target it could not catch would lose effective help from sonar. On the other side of the picture, the acoustic torpedo worked better when the target went faster and left a bigger wake. When the DE came into Capt. Finski's view it was headed straight at him He would wait until the ship passed and would take a shot at the stern. It was an easy shot, but it was a little closer than he liked. The DE passed and the torpedo was launched. The DE turned and slowed down, which must have confused the tracking device in the torpedo. As the torpedo missed and the DE turned and slowed down, the U-Boat Capt. assumed he had been picked up by sonar. He dived deep expecting a depth charge attack, but none came and the DE went away. The German Captain related that he should have used either a standard or and electric torpedo which he was sure would have hit the target.
The U 371 dove down deep and hid under a protective thermal layer until the convoy and her escorts had passed. He then surfaced and reported the convoys position and speed. This set the convoy up for an air attack the next evening on April 20, Adolf Hitler's Birthday.
All of this information came to light in a beer hall in Frankfort, Germany in 1960. The rest of the story is documented in the DESA newspaper Jan./Feb. 1993 issue under unusual U-boat action in the Mediterranean. Captain Finski said that the missed target was an American Destroyer Escort. All indications are that it was the FESSENDEN.
CONSIDER THIS!
WHAT IF:
(1) The FESSENDEN had continued on for one more minute.
(2) The ship bad not turned and slowed down. ,
(3) Capt. Finski had used a standard or electric torpedo.
(4) The LANSDALE (DD 426 had not taken our
position in the convoy that we had occupied fir many days. She was sunk only
hours after taking our position. This was not the last of Capt. Finski or the U
371. They went on to torpedo the USS MENGES (DD 320), the French DE Senegalese
in May, before be was sunk. Also on the return trip the USS FECHTELER (DE 157)
was sunk right ahead of the FESSENDEN.
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-371INT.htm
Morale was said to have been kept high by long leaves for the crew. Fenski was apparently very popular with his crew, who regarded him highly. Upon interrogators he made a poor first impression, being arrogant and demanding. But he later proved more pleasant and can be rated one of the better types of U-boat commanders seen by interrogators in this war.
A complete history of the U 371, Captain Finski, and a fascinating account of the boat and its 16 patrols is on the Internet.
I thought I had to write about this just to let you know how close we came to not returning home. My daughter also served in Germany, but had no luck in finding Mr. Finski. Belvin M. Wells 451 Headquarters Road Erwinna, PA. 18920
Additional comments by Neil M. Beckwith. All of us on those ships will always remember Hitler's Birthday and remember Axis Sally commenting that the attack by Junker 88's was to celebrate his birthday. She also named all the ships that were sunk including the cargo munitions and troop ship, Hamilton. which disappeared with all hands in one vast explosion. A picture of the explosion was shown in one of the DESA newspapers.