This day in 1918, the US mainland for the first and only time during the war was attacked. It was a warm, hazy morning in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A steel tugboat called the Perth Amboy with 4 barges in tow was nearing port having sailed overnight from England.
Unaware to the sailors and locals, a ’super submarine’ named the U-156 was en route. The ‘super-submarine’ was part of the U-Cruiser program, long-range submarines which could disrupt Allied shipping on a greater scale than before. It had been sinking ships on its journey to Cape Cod with great success. Measuring over 60 metres in length and 9 metres wide, these were very capable U-Boats not to be taken lightly. Around 10:30 am the U-156 emerged from the haze and fired its torpedos, striking the Perth Amboy. The sky filled with shrapnel and shell as more shots were fired. During the melee, some of the shells failed to hit their targets and instead hit Cape Cod itself.
This was significant as it the only time the American mainland was attacked by enemy fire during the war. Surfmen (also known as lifeguards) launched a surfboat to begin a rescue effort. Their motto was ‘You have to go, but you don’t have to come back’. Meanwhile, the American HS-1L flying boat had taken off from its water runway and moved towards the beach. However, when its bombs dropped, they failed to explode. Up to 1,000 locals descended onto the beach in the local town of Orleans to watch the battle play out.
There were no fatalities on either side with all sailors rescued. All 4 barges were sunk yet the Ptugboat survived the altercation. The Perth Amboy would participate in the evacuation of Dunkirk years later. This battle is a story very few Americans outside of Orleans have ever heard.
We would like to thank Jake Klim for his research on this topic. Jake wrote a book called ’Attack on Orleans: The World War I Submarine Raid on Cape Cod’ which looks into the attack in detail. It is available to purchase wherever you get your book