On this day in 1941 the USS Greer chased the German U-boat U-652 for 3.5 hours before the U-boat finally fired torpedoes upon the destroyer. The Greer then attacked the U-boat unsuccessfully, pursuing it for another 2 hours.
The presence of the submarine was made known to the Greer by a British aircraft which has sighted it, after which the Greer and two other American escorts closed on it, the Greer gaining sonar contact. About two hours later a British aircraft attacked the submarine unsuccessfully. Following that, the Greer continued to pursue it, expecting the arrival of a relief plane.
After about 3.5 hours of this, the submarine fired two torpedoes on the Greer, after which it went after the submarine with a depth charge run. A British destroyer arrived but lost contact with the submarine. The Greer then regained sonar contact and made another depth charge run on the submarine.
The matter was inaccurately reported at first in the United States as if the U-boat had simply fired upon the Greer. An October report by the Navy to Congress in October would make it plain that the opposite was true. Moreover, to a submarine of the era the combined effort by three surface ships to keep it submerged was a hostile act.
By that time of the October report the Administration, declaring the German response "an act of piracy" had issued a "shoot on sight" order. Effectively this meant that in waters patrolled by the U.S. Navy ships were authorized to attack U-boats immediately upon sighting them. This was effectively an act of war on the part of the United States, although an undeclared one, to which Germany also did not respond with a declaration of war.
The entire episode revealed how close the US was to war already. The Greer was effectively participating, but not shooting, in a Royal Navy effort to destroy the submarine. The U.S. was, of course, protecting convoys, so the Greer was acting in accordance with its instructions. The U-boats ultimate reaction, having been depth charged by aircraft and pursued by a surface vessel, was not unreasonable in context, however.
On the same day, the Yankees took the American League Pennant, the earliest in the season that has ever occurred.
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