"One destroyer that lay in the vicinity of the steamer was requested in Morse to move off, so that the vessel could be sunk." lights and gave me an opportunity to make out on its stem the English ensign as well as the name Stephano-Liverpool (3,449 BRT according to Lloyds Register) . After proceeding between the steamship and the destroyers I steered back to Blommersdijk, which had, in the meantime, been offboarded by her crew. One destroyer that lay in the vicinity of the steamer was requested in Morse to move off, so that the vessel could be sunk. She complied with this request immediately. 19.50-Torpedo hit in cargoroom four, four meters below the waterline. Steamer goes down by the stem without sinking. 20.20-Steamer hit again in cargoroom three and slowly sinks. 21.00-Steamer goes down. The forecastle continues to remain above water. American destroyers approach the wreck. Gradually all destroyers except two steer for Newport; these follow U-53 toward the passenger ship. Boarding party sent aboard, explosive charges set and detonated. Steamer does not sink. Artillery fire opened, without appreciable results. 22.30-The steamer is finally sunk with the last remaining torpedo. We head east. The two destroyers steer toward the west. Our boat heads out to sea. During the night we try unsuccessfully to contact the German ambassador in Washington by wireless regarding the past day 's events ... " The return trip was rather uneventful and an additional English vessel could not be attacked since U-53 had used up her torpedoes. Rose and his crew returned to their base at Heligoland on October 28, 1916, having destroyed five merchant ships totalling 20,388 BRT. Rose's summary of the mission, for which he was awarded the Knight 's Cross of Hohenzollern with Swords, seemed to underestimate the importance of U-53's America trip. He wrote: "Military goal only partially carried out, no enemy naval forces encountered, a longer search for them not possible due to fuel consumption. Our area of operations was, however, quite favorable for merchant targets because several major shipping lanes converged in the vicinity of the Nantucket lightship. It seems to have been pure chance that only unarmed steamships were encountered. With the good weather, however, there was no problem in dispatching their crews via lifeboats (toward the nearest land). After October 8 it was no longer possible to continue pursuit of merchant shipping due to lack of fuel . Food supplies, as well as the endurance of the crew, were likewise in question at this point. No supplies of USS Sampson (DD-63), a destroyer of the same class as those that surrounded U-53 off the East Coast on October 8, 1916.
any kind were taken aboard at Newport, including food. Our conclusion to leave that port the same day was made known to the American admiral. Length of the cruise: 41 days, eight hours . Distance covered: 7 ,550 nautical miles. Fuel remaining upon reaching port: 15 cubic meters. The engines performed exceptionally well." To the German naval staff Rose 's accomplishment had made U-boat history. Never before had such a feat been carried out, and, in the event of war with the United States, the military significance of Rose's cruise would be profound. Reaction to the undertaking in America was mixed. On the one hand what the Germans had done was looked upon by the public as a kind of daredevil, sport-like affair, more akin to a contest than to a serious military undertaking. In government circles, on the other hand, the voyage was considered aggressive and threatening, and a repetition of it could only lead to an undermining of ongoing attempts at maintaining peaceful German-American relations. Other naval factions in this country failed to believe the Germans and insisted that a supply ship had accompanied the U-boat on the mission, an opinion supported by the fact that American subs at that time were only capable of maintaining themselves at sea for a maximum of ten days! Kapitanleutnant Rose continued his career as a U-boat commander through to the end of the war, sinking a total of79 merchant ships and heavily damaging seven others (213,981 and 49 ,732 BRT respectively) during the course of 18 wartime sorties. He was presented with the coveted Pour le Merite, various other distinctions , and, by war's end, had been credited with sinking the fifth-largest tonnage of enemy merchant ships by a U-boat commander in World War I. During the Second World War he was active in a training and advisory role with Hitler's Kriegsmarine. In 1961 he was again able to visit America, this time under circumstances much different from those he had encountered on his earlier trip. It is to Rose's credit that he behaved in a gallant, compassionate manner toward the enemies of his country, destroying their vessels, yet at the same time providing for the safe evacuation and disposition of passengers, officers and crew. D
A professor of German at Edinboro University of Pennyslvania, Mr. Hajewski has published numerous articles on military related topics. Kapitanleutnant Hans Rose, commander of U-53.