| Original caption: “Coast Guardsmen on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer watch the explosion of a depth charge which blasted a Nazi U-boat’s hope of breaking into the center of a large convoy. Sinking of U-175, April 17, 1943.” U-175 was part of a wolfpack of 5 U-Boats sent to intercept Convoy HX-233. U-175 was only 5 days into her 3rd patrol when she was vectored with 23 other U-boats towards convoy HX-233. The convoy departed New York, United States, on April 6 and contained 58 merchants and 21 escorts of Escort Group A3 under Captain Paul R. Heineman (December 7, 1897 – November 18, 1979) of United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Spencer (WPG-36). The U-boats sighted HX-233 at 2133 Hours Convoy Time on April 16. The next morning, while Spencer, HMS Diantbus, and later HMCS Skeena were chasing down sonar contacts, U-628 torpedoed Steamship Fort Rampart at 0605 Hours, which was abandoned and later sunk by the Allies. At 1150 Hours, Spencer, who had rejoined HX-233, established sonar contact with U-175. U-175 was preparing to attack the steamship G. Harrison Smith when Spencer began her attack by depth charging at 1150 Hours. Joined by USCGC Duane (WPG-33), the 2 Allied Escorts were searching for U-175 when the sub’s conning tower broke the surface at 1238 Hours. Attacking with 2 depth charges, Spencer then waited for the convoy to pass her position before attacking again at 1217 Hours. USCGC Duane joined Spencer in the hunt; then, at 1238 Hours, the conning tower of U-175 broke the surface. In a hail of fire from both cutters and the tail-end ships of HX-233 (which wrecked Spencer’s motor launch and killed United States Coast Guard Radioman 3rd Class Julius T. Petrella (January 2, 1921 – April 17, 1943), of Brooklyn, New York. U-175 was severely damaged. Korvettenkapitan Heinrich Bruns (April 3, 1912 – April 17, 1943) was dead; the Kriegsmarine crew opened the flood valves and abandoned ship. With the motor launch from Spencer shot up by the fusillade, United States Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander John B. Oren (December 27, 1909 – December 22, 2006) and United States Coast Guard Lieutenant Ross P. Bullard (March 26, 1914 – May 10, 1993) led their boarding team to U-175 in a rowboat. The delay probably saved their lives, for while Oren and Bullard’s team made it into the sinking submarine’s control room, U-175 was sinking by the stern. The team barely had time to look around before they had to leave. 41 seamen from U-175 were rescued; 13, including Bruns, were killed. Spencer suffered Petrella’s death, and several men were wounded. The boarding of U-175 was the 1st time an enemy vessel had been boarded by the United States since the War of 1812. At 1630 Hours, the 1st Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber from Northern Ireland arrived over HX-233, prompting the Kriegsmarine to call off further attacks. U-175’s survivors were taken to Scotland on April 20, 1943. Half-drowned, some wounded, the Germans were stripped, given hot coffee and cigarettes, and kept in the Wardroom of Spencer, where they ate corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. American propaganda claimed they received better food than what was available on their submarine. They were taken to Scotland on April 20 and eventually sent to Prisoner of War camps in the United States. Spencer’s Radioman Petrella was buried at sea. He is memorialized at the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia. Heineman, Oren, and Bullard were promoted to Rear Admiral before they retired. USCGC Spencer served until she was decommissioned on January 23, 1974. She served as an engineering training ship with students using her steam propulsion plant until 15 December 1980. She was then sold to the North American Smelting Company and scrapped. This is 1 of a series of photos by United States Coast Guard Chief Boatswain’s Mate Jack W. “Jesse” January (April 28, 1910 – August 5, 1986), combat photographer. January was a correspondent for the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch before and after World War II. Later, he commented on the battle: “A long dark object seemed to be squeezing itself out of the water. While I grabbed for my camera, our skipper, Commander Harold S. Berdine (July 15, 1901 – March 15, 1966), turned to a Gunner’s Mate on the wing of the bridge and said quietly, ‘Well, son, here’s what you’ve been waiting for. Give ‘em hell!’ The gunner’s twenty millimeter (0.78 caliber) [Oerlikon] began throwing shells and began ‘shooting’ film from every angle I could think of. Our crew was yelling like a college cheering section. I closed my eyes once and thought I was at Saint Louis, covering a Cardinal-Dodger baseball game. Suddenly, Nazi heads began to appear at the conning tower of the sub, and the first men swarmed toward the U-Boat’s three deck guns. By that time, our machine guns and cannon were on the beam, and they knocked off Germans like so many clay pigeons. The Huns had enough and began jumping overboard, throwing up their hands and shouting: ‘Halp! Halp!’” As the war progressed and technology and superior numbers turned the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic, he remarked in September 1943, “Life is dull around here now; the submarines have disappeared.” January started at the Saint Louis Globe-Democrat in 1927, at age 17. He switched to the Post-Dispatch in 1934. He was elected President of the Saint Louis Press Association. In 1953, he photographed a bank robbery, and his photos were nationally syndicated. He retired in 1975 after 48 years as a photojournalist. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0988.jpg |
| Image Size | 952.07 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2912 x 2327 |
| Photographer | Jack W. January |
| Photographer Title | United States Coast Guard |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 17, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Seven hundred miles South Southwest of Ireland |
| Country | Atlantic Ocean |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-26-G-1517 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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