Qualla: Action of 17 November 1917

Action of 17 November 1917: Introduction

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington", Public domain. It happened in twenty minutes. At 4:10 in the afternoon, off the southwest approaches to the British Isles, a coxswain on USS Fanning spotted a periscope sliding through the grey Atlantic chop. By 4:30 the German submarine that owned that periscope - U-58, under Kapitänleutnant Gustav Amberger - was on the surface, holed near her diving planes, surrendering to two American destroyers based out of Queenstown, Ireland. It was the first time a U.S. Navy warship sank an enemy submarine in combat, and one of only a handful of U-boats sunk by American ships in the entire war.

Image: "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington" | Public domain

Action of 17 November 1917: The Queenstown Destroyers

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington", Public domain. By late 1917 the United States had been at war for seven months. American destroyers were based at Queenstown - now Cobh - on the south coast of Ireland, escorting convoys across the most dangerous stretch of the Atlantic. Two of them were USS Fanning (DD-37), commanded by Arthur...

Image: "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington" | Public domain

Action of 17 November 1917: Twenty Minutes

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington", Public domain. Coxswain Daniel David Loomis saw it first. U-58 had come up just enough to extend her periscope, lining up a shot on the Welshman. Officer of the Deck Lieutenant William O. Henry ordered Fanning to swing into a tight circle and engage. The destroyer dropped three depth charges. T...

Image: "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington" | Public domain

Action of 17 November 1917: The Prisoners

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington", Public domain. Thirty-eight of the forty men aboard U-58 survived. As Fanning maneuvered to take them off, the Germans opened the submarine's seacocks - scuttling her so she could not be captured intact. U-58 settled and sank in deep water; the wreck now lies at 270 feet off the coast of Cork, ...

Image: "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington" | Public domain

Action of 17 November 1917: Two Navy Crosses

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington", Public domain. Both Lieutenant William O. Henry and Coxswain Daniel Loomis received the Navy Cross for the action. The Navy Cross at that time was the second-highest naval decoration for valour in combat. Henry's order to engage had been instant and correct. Loomis's eye had caught a periscope ...

Image: "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington" | Public domain

Action of 17 November 1917: What Came After

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington", Public domain. Fanning and Nicholson stayed on escort duty in the North Atlantic through the remainder of the war. They made several more inconclusive submarine contacts - the standard pattern of the work, hours of nothing punctuated by minutes of doubt. Neither ship matched their 17 November p...

Image: "from a photograph, courtesy of the Navy Department, Washington" | Public domain