U-853 and a Recovered Binnacle Jessica Rozek’s discussion of U-853 in the recent issue of Sea History (“U-853—The Last U-Boat Sunk in American Waters”) caught my eye for the mention of the U-boat’s sinking of USS Eagle 56 off Kennebunkport, Maine. In 1972, I visited Monhegan Island with my now late husband, Charles Dana Gibson. Dana became fascinated with the museum’s then centerpiece, a compass/binnacle that had been snagged by a dragger in waters south of Monhegan. Soon after our visit, Dana spoke with the dragger’s skipper, Captain Norman Brackett, who stated that in 1968 or 1969 he had snagged the binnacle along Loran Line 2792 in 90 fathoms of water. Brackett remembered that the binnacle was attached to a rather large section of gray wooden decking overlaid with canvas. Dana theorized that the binnacle, which was not numbered but which was manufactured in Scotland, could have come from the Canadian merchant ship SS Cornwallis, the victim of U-1230. Only hours before making that kill, U-1230 had penetrated Blue Hill Bay, where it discharged espionage agents. They were captured that night after they had been landed on the beach by rubber boat. In 2002, Paul Lawton from Massachusetts, who had become interested in the source of the binnacle, was referred to Dana by Tralice Bracy of the Monhegan Museum. Mr. Lawton was exceptionally well informed as to the loss of the Eagle 56. According to Mr. Lawton, NOAA was planning an expedition to look for the USS Eagle 56 during the summer of 2002. Dana subsequently wrote Ms. Bracy: “As I have told you, only two ships which would have had such a binnacle located on their flying bridge were lost to enemy action in close proximity to the Maine coast during the 1940s. They were: SS Cornwallis and USS Eagle (PE 56). Eagle 56 was lost in 1945 off Kennebunkport. Other large ships were lost by foundering during the 1940s off Maine; however, in such foundering cases the decking under the binnacle probably would not have torn loose. Of course, we have no positive assurance that Captain Brackett’s net did not dislodge a section of flying bridge decking with attached binnacle from an integral unchart-
ed wreck; however, that seems unlikely as there are usually other parts of a ship at a higher level than a flying bridge, e.g., steel masts. Another possibility is that the ship from which it [the binnacle] came was lost at a considerable distance to the east of the Gulf of Maine, the decking with its attached binnacle having drifted west under the influence of the Labrador Current before sinking to the bottom, where Captain Brackett snagged it.” By 2002 Dana and I were busy with other pursuits, so we never followed up as to whether NOAA and Mr. Lawton were successful in locating USS Eagle 56. With the knowledge passed to Mr. Lawton that the binnacle could have come from the Canadian SS Cornwallis, did NOAA expand its search pattern to look for that U-boat victim as well? Perhaps Ms. Rozek could shed some light and help at last in the search for the source of the Monhegan Museum’s artifact. Elizabeth “Kay” Gibson Hutchinson Island, Florida From Jessica Rozek: Up until fairly recently, Eagle PE 56 was considered a loss due to a boiler explosion. In 2001 the Navy officially changed the record and acknowledged that it was, in fact, sunk by U-853. Around that time, Paul Lawton located and talked to the remaining survivors of
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USS Eagle 2, identical to Eagle 56 the sinking, along with adult children of men who had died in the Eagle. In July 2019, a team of divers confirmed the location of Eagle 56, five miles off Cape Elizabeth. A Smithsonian Channel documentary, “Hunt for Eagle 56,” premiered in autumn 2019 about their expeditions to the wreck site. There’s also a memorial plaque now at Fort Williams Park in Portland (it was supposed to be dedicated in spring 2020, but had to be delayed because of the pandemic). SS Cornwallis sank in 1944 from a U-boat attack under similar circumstances; just six of her 48 crewmembers were rescued (only five survived). Unlike Eagle 56, the circumstances of the Cornwallis sinking appear to have never been covered up. My best guess for this, even though it was entirely US Naval ships that searched for U-1230, is that it was probably “good press,” as it were, against the Germans—as
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