.,
objectives was to involve the US more deeply in the war. After receiving grudging permission from that nation 's gove rnment, Roosevelt ordered US Marines to occupy Iceland in July 1941. U nder an alogous circumstances, US troops had occupied Danish-controlled G reenl and earlier the same year. Roosevelt apprised Co ngress of this move after it was a fait acco mpli , and in rhe same message he stated that rhe US wo uld provide escorts as far as Iceland for co nvoys sailin g to Britain. Thar step was expanded later the same month by his announcement that Iceland was now considered part of the Western H emisph ere and thus protected by the Monroe Doctrine. President Roosevelt undertoo k these dramatic esca lations only after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Both Roosevelt and C hurchill be1ieved Germany wo uld become so involved on the Russian front rhat it would nor be able to counter American actions in Iceland effecti vely. As a stated policy, the President was anxious to bolster US defenses by protecting lend-lease shipments to Britain. Bur he still desired to achieve that goal, if possible, without becoming involved in a shoo ringwar with Germany. His estimation of German reactions proved accurate. Preoccupied with massive warfare on its Eastern front, Germany exercised forbearance toward America's provocative occupations of Green land and Iceland. When, in July 1941, Roosevelt publicly announced the North America-toIceland co nvoy escort force to which Reuben James was assigned, it was clear to both sides that an undeclared naval war berween Germany and the US was underway in the Atlantic Ocean. This esco rt force guarded co nvoys traversing rhe Atlantic Ocean from the US or Canada to Iceland, where they became rhe responsibility of British escorts. US Navy ships picked up a convoy off Newfoundland, relieving Canadian vessels from the task. They, in turn, handed over rhe British-bound co nvoy to Royal Navy escorts ar the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point (MOMP), located in rhe North Atlantic south of Iceland. When practicable, rhe US Navy escorts then picked up a westb o und convoy at the MOMP which they delivered to Canadian ships in the Newfoundland area.
SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99
Bottom: USS Kearny is shown alongside USS Monsse n in Reykjavik Harbor. The torpedo damage is clearly visible on her starboard side. Top: The repair crew is hard at work on the damage to USS Kearny. The Livermore class of destroyers had several significant improvements over WWI-era four-pipers, including a split engineering plant with two separate fire and engine rooms, compartmentalization to localize flooding, and a double bottom with a stronger keel. The Livermores 'armaments were also improved; they carried five 5-inch dual-purpose guns in enclosed turrets and modern antisubmarine warfare weapons. (All photos courtesy ofElsilrac Enterprises)
A Shooting War The conAicr became a shooting war on 4 September 1941 when the American fourpiper USS Greer (DD-145) was steaming independently to Iceland carrying cargo and Army officers. Greer, like al l Atlantic Fleer destroyers, had orders to "trail and report" if it located a German submarin e. British patrol aircraft alerted Greer to a submerging U-boat nearly ten miles away. Proceeding to th e scene, Greer located and trailed the subm arine, bur did nor press home a depth-charge attack. The British patrol aircraft did so, however, before returning to Iceland to refuel. U-652 , proceeding at periscope depth , could not identify with certainry whether rhe aircraft or the destroyer had attacked. Furthermore, Greer presented a bow-on appearance and
could not be identified as an American destroyer. After being followed for over three hours, U-652 fired rwo torpedoes at Greerthar both missed. Greerrhen launched rwo unsuccessful depth-charge attacks. The destroyer then lost contacrwirh U-652 and proceeded into Iceland. Bur a line had been crossed. Greer became the first US warship to arrack a German submarine in rhe Atlantic. Using the Greer in cident as an opportunity to intensify the undeclared war, President Roosevelt add ressed rhe American people one week later and publicly asserted rhe clash was an unprovoked arrack on an Amer ica n warship . Co nsequen tl y, he warned, German and Italian vessels of war enterin g Am erican waters would do so at their own peril. With these new "shoor-onsighr" orders, rh e US Navy was free to
35