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| Action of 15 October 1917 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofWorld War I, Atlantic U-boat Campaign | |||||||
.JPG) The destroyer USSCassin. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  German Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| W. N. Vernou |  Victor Dieckmann | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| DestroyerUSS Cassin | SubmarineU-61 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| One killed Nine wounded Cassin damaged | U-61 damaged | ||||||
Theaction of 15 October 1917 was a naval engagement ofWorld War I betweenImperial Germany and theUnited States off the coast ofMine Head, Ireland.
TheAmericandestroyerUSS Cassin, commanded byLieutenant CommanderWalter N. Vernou, was operating off the coast ofIreland in October 1917. Onanti-submarine patrols and rescue missions, as well asconvoy duty. Operating out ofQueenstown, Ireland, she was armed with four 4 in (100 mm) guns and eight 18 in (460 mm)torpedo tubes. TheGermansubmarineU-61—on a typicalunrestricted U-boat mission — was cruising in British waters, attackingAllied shipping. She was armed with adeck gun andtorpedoes.
On 15 October 1917,Cassin sightedU-61 at about 23 mi (20 nmi; 37 km) south of Mind Head at 13:30 and 5 mi (4.3 nmi; 8.0 km) from the ship. The German submarine sightedCassin as well, she immediatelysubmerged and began toflee. A pursuit ensued for an hour; at about 14:30,U-61's commander—Victor Dieckmann—decided to engage the tailing American warship.
The Germans then turned about and surfaced to line up for a shot and fired their last torpedo.Gunner's MateFirst ClassOsmond Ingram noticed the incoming projectile, he quickly ran over to thedepth charge gunners and ordered them to jettison the charges before the torpedo struck them. The torpedo struck the destroyer aft on the port side before this could be done and Ingram was killed in the explosion.
The torpedo hitCassin'sportsidestern, nearly blowing off herrudder. The American destroyer began to steam in circles, but returned a barrage of 4 inchshells which forced the U-boat to dive. Four hits damagedU-61'sconning tower which discouraged her commander from continuing to attack.
Besides the American sailor killed, nine others were wounded in the action. The dead sailor—Osmond Ingram—was awarded theMedal of Honor for his service on 15 October. Eventually, another American destroyerUSS Porter and theBritishsloopsHMSJessamine andTamarisk arrived on the scene and protectedCassin throughout the night. However, no further U-boat contacts were made. The next morning,Cassin was towed back to Queenstown byCaptainRonald Niel Stuart inHMS Snowdrop. The damaged USSCassin was repaired and returned toactive duty in July 1918;U-61 was sunk by theP-class sloop HMSPC.51 a few months later.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.