Sinking of U-85
| Sinking of U-85 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Happy Time of World War II | |||||||
An oil painting of USS Roper chasing U-85, from the 1967–68 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Hamilton Howe Stanley C. Norton | Eberhard Greger | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| USS Roper | U-85 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
1 U-boat 46 officers and crew | ||||||
The sinking of U-85 was a naval action of the Second Happy Time which took place just after midnight on 14 April 1942. The German submarine U-85 was sunk by the American destroyer USS Roper, with the loss of the U-boat's entire crew. U-85 had been on its fourth patrol and was operating off Cape Hatteras, which is part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
An unknown object was detected by Roper just after midnight on 14 April. The destroyer's officers decided to chase the object despite not knowing what it was. A torpedo missed the destroyer revealed it to be a U-boat; Roper engaged U-85 in a chase. A searchlight revealed it to be U-85, and the guns of the destroyer subsequently killed the U-boat's gun crew and heavily damaged it. Evidence suggests that U-85 was scuttled by its own crew. 29 bodies of the 46 men aboard it were recovered by Roper; they were subsequently buried in Hampton, Virginia. The action marked the first time that a U-boat was sunk in American waters.