Propulsion: Fuel/Oil - Electric Motor

Type: Tug - Tender & Recovery

Tonnage: 427 Gross Tons

Length: 147 Feet

Width: 27 Feet

Armament: Unarmed

On wednesday July 15th, 1942 convoy KS 520 is attacked by the U-576, the U-boat drives the convoy into a nearby allied minefield after firing and hitting 3 merchant vessels with torpedoes. One of those vessels was the Panamanian freighter J.A. Mowinkel which had sustained both torpedo and mine damage during the assault but remained afloat. Four days later the Keshena and another tug were sent to recover the Mowinkel as quickly as possible. During towing manuevers however the Keshena strikes another mine and sinks just east of Ocracoke. Two crew members are killed by the mine explosion, the rest of the crew consisting of one woman and 14 men are returned to the Ocracoke Coast Guard Station on Sunday the 19th of July.

During the first six monthes of 1942 U-boats sank hundreds of merchant vessels off the coast of the United States, more than eighty of these ships sank off North Carolina. Due to the geographic location of the outer barrier islands, U-boats could easily escape retaliation by fleeing to nearby deep waters after attacking allied ships. This made places like Cape Lookout shoals and Diamond shoals ideal haunts for marauding subs, slow moving freighters and tankers were easy targets and no match for the German "Wolfpacks".

The coastal waters became so dangerous that Captains referred to our coast as "Torpedo Junction" and dreaded having to travel past our shoals. Ships could burn for weeks at a time and cause many hazards to other ships passing by, including both merchant and military vessels. In response to this increasing aggression by the Germans, the U.S. Navy engaged in offensive and defensive measures to mitigate attacks. Ships and planes were used to conduct escort, patrols and search & destroy missions to defend against U-boats. Merchant ships would be grouped with light cruisers and destroyers in convoys designed to help protect them from enemy attacks and allow them to deliver the much needed cargo to aid the war effort.

Coast Guard crew of the Cutter Spencer setting depth charges.

Lat: N 34 59.950 Lon: W 75 45.820

Depth of wreck: 84'

Data written and compiled by BluewaterBandit