442nd Regimental Combat Team Captures Submarine

 

Enemy one-man submarine captured off Riviera, Menton, France, 1944
Photograph courtesy of Shiroku "Whitey" Yamamoto.
Copyright retained by Shiroku "Whitey" Yamamoto.
The 442nd is also known for accomplishing what no other U.S. Army unit had done before: the capture of an enemy submarine. A Nisei soldier noticed what looked like an animal in the water but upon closer look it was actually a one-man German submarine. The German and the submarine were captured and handed over to the U.S. Navy. On March 23, 1945, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team sailed back to Italy and returned to the Gothic Line.

My dad told me this story. They were relaxing on a beach when the submarine appeared. According to him it was a two man sub. They fired the heavy machine guns and hit the conning tower enough that the  sub couldn't dive. It apparently had engine trouble and surfaced because it was near a German held naval base. The crew didn't know the area was occupied by the 442nd.
My dad said they loaded the crew and sub onto a truck and sent it to HQ with no explanation and confusing HQ to how an infantry unit got a submarine.
Thanks Dad, Uncle Joe, Hubie, Ken, and all other members of my family and the American family that served in our wars!

Ev
A very grateful son