German submarine U-85 (1941)

German submarine U-85 was a Type VIIB U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She was laid down at the Flender Werke in Lübeck on 18 December 1939 as 'werk' 281. Launched on 10 April 1941, she was commissioned on 7 June and assigned to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla under the command of Oberleutnant Eberhard Greger.

U-85 completed four war patrols with the flotilla, and sank three ships, totalling. She was sunk in April 1942 by an American warship, the USS Roper.

1st patrol
U-85 departed Trondheim in Norway on 28 August 1941 for her first patrol. She sank the Thistleglen on 10 September northeast of Cape Farewell (Greenland).

The boat docked at St. Nazaire on the French Atlantic coast on 18 September.

2nd patrol
U-85's second patrol started and finished in Lorient but was unremarkable.

3rd patrol
On her third foray, she sank the Empire Fusilier southeast of St. Johns, Newfoundland, after a seven hour chase, on 9 February 1942. Nine crew members were lost.

4th patrol and loss
Having left St. Nazaire on 21 March 1942, the boat probably sank the ''Chr. Knudson'' on 10 April. U-85 was herself sunk with all hands on 14 April off the United States coast near Cape Hatteras by gunfire from the American destroyer USS Roper. She was the first German U-boat loss of "Operation Drumbeat" (Paukenschlag), Germany's U-boat offensive off the eastern seaboard of the United States in 1942.

Sinking
U-85 was operating within visual distance of Bodie Island Light at midnight on 13 April 1942 when Roper detected the submarine on British Type 286 RADAR at a range of 2700 yd. The boat attempted to run south on the surface and fired her stern torpedo at Roper when the range closed to 700 yards. Roper evaded the torpedo and U-85 turned sharply to starboard when the range closed to 300 yards. Roper illuminated the U-boat with her searchlight and observed men on deck near the gun whose firing arc had just been cleared by the course change. Roper raked U-85 with machine gun fire and scored a hit with a 3"/50 caliber gun. She then dropped a pattern of 11 depth charges where U-85 had disappeared beneath the surface.

Numerous men were observed in the water, but no rescue attempt was made until daylight. By then, there were no survivors among the 29 bodies floating in life jackets. Some of the bodies were wearing civilian clothes, carrying wallets with United States currency and identification cards. The bodies were fingerprinted, photographed and buried in a night-time military ceremony at the Hampton National Cemetery. U-85 lies in less than 100 ft of water; the United States Navy briefly attempted to salvage her. More recent investigation by sport divers has raised questions about Navy reports on the wreck.

Wreck
The hatch of U-85 is on display in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum; the submarine itself still serves as an attraction for divers. The Labrador current influences the site and visibility can be low. Majority of the debris lies within 100 m radius of the wreck.

The Enigma machine was illegally recovered from the wreck by private divers and in 2003 the German government agreed to allow the machine to be displayed at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, in Hatteras, North Carolina.

U-85 Crew Members Buried at Hampton National Cemetery

 * Heinrich Adrian (1915-1942), Obermaschinist. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 711. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946139.
 * Herbert Albig (1919-1942), Matrose. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 701. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945631.
 * Gerhard Amman (1921-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 712. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946152.
 * Fritz Behla (1922-1942), Obergefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 714. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946174.
 * Erich Degenkolb (1923-1942), Matrose. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 694. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945759.
 * Walter Günzel (1919-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 697. Find A Grave Memorials Nos. 20945701 and 23428368.
 * Otto Hahnefeldt (1914-1942), Maschinenmaat. Grave 690. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945856.
 * Oskar Hansen (1917-1942), Matrose. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 695. Find A Grave Memorial no. 20945737.
 * Herbert Heller (1919-1942), Seaman. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 689. Find A Grave Memorial No. 23427848.
 * Helmut Kaiser (1918-1942), Bootmannsmaat. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 710. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946121.
 * Walter Kiefer (1923-1942), Matrose. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 706. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945981.
 * Friedrich Kleibrink (1922-1942), Matrose. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 692. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945804.
 * Johann “Jan” Letzig (1921-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 699. Find a Grave Memorial No. 20945659.
 * Willy Methge (1921-1942) is not on the list of U-85 burials. (See note.) If Methge is buried at Hampton National Cemetery, he could be in either Grave 689 or Grave 713 since these numbers are unaccounted for on this list. Find A Grave Memorial No. 97442449.
 * Artur Piotrowski (1916-1942), Maat. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 707. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946068.
 * Oskar Prantl (1917-1942), Oberbootsmaat. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 687. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945605.
 * Fritz Röder (1920-1942), Obergefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 693. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945784.
 * Hans Sänger (1917-1942), Oberleutant. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 688. Find A Grave Memorials Nos. 20945582 and 23428127.
 * Gustav Schön (1922-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 702. Find A Grave Memorials Nos. 20945900 and 97441222.
 * Werner Schumacher (1919-1942), Corporal. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 696. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945715.
 * Karl Schultes (1920-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 700. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945647.
 * Günter Schulz (1922-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 705. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945960.
 * Joachim Schulze (1923-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 704. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945946.
 * Horst Spoddig (1922-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 691. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945822.
 * Friedrich Strobel (1913-1942), Obermaschinist. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 715. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946185.
 * Eugen Ungethüm (1906-1942), Stabsobermaschinist. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 698. Find A Grave Memorials Nos. 20945674 and 23428272
 * Herbert Waack (1916-1942), Maat. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 708. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946079.
 * Heinz Waschmann (1921-1942), Gefreiter. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 709. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20946100.
 * Konstantin Weidmann (1914-1942), Matrose. Phoebus Addition, Section E, Grave 703. Find A Grave Memorial No. 20945922.