Sure, there are some parallels...
German Type VIIc submarine U-94
May 4th, 1941
Daybreak
Southeast of Greenland, North Atlantic Ocean
"HERR KaLeun! You had better look at this!" were the most satisfying words that
Kapitänleutnant Hans-Jürgen Backer could have possibly heard.
This hunt had not been a good one so far. They had been attacked by a Norwegian destroyer as they tried to break out into the Atlantic, an auspicious beginning. Amongst the crew, he had already earned an unflattering nickname-
der Stachelschweinjäger (The Porcupine Hunter), as twice U-94 had attempted to attack a heavily escorted convoy, and twice she was driven off by British and Canadian ships and forced to crash dive and run.
U-94 was at periscope depth, a target at last in sight.
The crew were eager to clear out the room taken up by U-94's torpedoes, and this target was too juicy to pass up.
The unmistakable silhouette- two masts, two funnels close together, those long, lean lines- it was none other than HMS
Hood. The reconnaissance photo confirmed it as Backer looked through the periscope.
It was daybreak and it was misty, no rising sun to silhouette U-94, just her unaware target. No Rising Sun or White Ensign flying from a destroyer either.
"Ready torpedoes, tubes 1,2,3 and 4. I want a spread; wait for my command"
He looked at the photo once again. He called over 1st Watch Officer
Leutnant Piefke "There's no mistake. It's her"
"Nothing quite like her. Almost a shame we have to sink a ship like that" replied Piefke.
"Be ready to send a message out. If anything goes wrong...we need to finish what we started"
"Aye, sir"
"Fire"
---
There was one problem for the unfortunate U-94, and it was a big one. Her target was
not HMS
Hood. It was the American battlecruiser USS
Saratoga.
Sister Sara, under the command of Rear Admiral Jesse B. "Oley" Oldendorf, was leading a Neutrality Preservation Task Force; their purpose to make sure that no marauding surface raiders or submarines would harass American shipping- the Stars and Stripes were a neutral flag.
Sister Sara was accompanied by the Aviation Light Cruiser USS
Syren (CLV-1), the
Omaha-class light cruiser
Detroit (CL-8) and eight destroyers in the
Benson and
Gleaves classes.
As luck would have it on this misty morning,
Saratoga's radar set was down for maintenance, and a flight of Bell F1L Airabonitas from
Syren were up to try to perform reconnaissance the old fashioned way, as best as they could in the rotten visibility. That a squall the previous night had damaged the radar sets on some of the destroyers as well certainly didn't help. The task force had also fanned out to avoid the risk of collision.
Everything seemed more or less normal, until four torpedo wakes streamed towards
Sara. One struck her directly on her bow, the other buried itself in her new torpedo bulge on her port side.
---
Bridge, USS Saratoga
"TORPEDO to port!" shouted a Seaman on watch, but it was already too late. It slammed into the bulge, and exploded.
"Goddamn it!" yelled Admiral Oldendorf. "Clem! How bad is it?" he asked Captain Clement P. Stewart
"Well, sir, it ain't good, but it's the hit in the bow that's got me worried.
Sara's one tough ol' gal though, it'll take more than a couple Kraut fish to take her down" replied Captain Stewart.
A Damage Controlman made his report.
Sara, although she had taken a nasty blow, was in no danger of sinking. The flooding in the bow was controlled and contained, and the torpedo bulge served its purpose on the port side. The slight list and sagging were controlled by counterflooding.
Sara would live to fight another day. The bow damage was severe, however, and it was danger of shearing off if
Saratoga were to sail forwards, even though her compartmentation contained the flooding. Fortunately for her,
Sara had a turboelectric drive rather than geared turbines, so she could sail at full power ahead or astern.
"Those dumb bastards" said Oldendorf. "
Syren's birds have a heading now, at least. We'll find them yet" He had a message for the task force to be sent out.
Syren's aircraft were to scour the sea for the U-Boat, and vector the destroyers in.
---
North Atlantic Ocean
They were aided, inadvertently, by Backer himself. In his excitement, and eagerness to report his probable kill, he surfaced and sprinted to reposition to finish "
Hood" off. He didn't realize what he was up against until an Airabonita made a strafing pass, raking U-94 with machine gun and cannon fire. Backer then ordered a crash dive, and tried to escape the now fully-alert task force. Worse for U-94, the sun now began to burn off the morning mist.
The destroyers, now that U-94's cover was blown, set about their work. Two, USS
Hilary P. Jones (DD-427) and
Kearny (DD-432) picked up U-94 on their sonar sets, while
Syren launched her flight of Vought SB2U Vindicators, equipped with depth charges.
Jones began her depth charge run, as U-94's crew braced themselves.
After a short chase that seemed much longer for both U-94 and
Jones, a depth charge exploded near U-94's bow, causing her to take on water, and she began to lose speed and dive deeper.
Backer and his crew managed to save their submarine by blowing the bow tanks, but this hope was in vain. This maneuver overcorrected, and U-94 began to rise fast, bow first, briefly breaking the surface as
Jones circled around for another pass.
Jones had radioed U-94's last known position back to the task force, and a Vindicator from
Syren dropped her charges shortly after U-94 began another crash dive.
The explosion and debris field confirmed the kill. U-94 was sunk.
Saratoga's turboelectric drive engaged in reverse and she sailed stern-first towards New York Navy Yard for repairs accompanied by her task force. Their part of the fight was over for now.
An attack like this made things far more complicated, however. This was
far from over...