Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

72 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
with German submarines, and released depth charges. German
submarines truly learned that they ventured into the vicinity of
British convoys being escorted by U.S. destroyers only “at their
own peril.”
On September 16, the destroyer USS Kearny, heading
from Argentia to Iceland with a convoy, was trying to corral
late arrivals and stragglers. To discourage a trailing submarine,
the Kearny dropped a depth charge. Th e sub launched several
torpedoes. A number of ships in the convoy were torpedoed, set
ablaze, and sunk. Th e Kearny, silhouetted against the burning
ships, became an easy target. Th e German U-boat fi red three torpedoes,
hitting her almost amidships and causing an explosion.
Eleven men were killed and 22 were wounded in the attack. Yet
the surviving crew members, by prodigious eff ort, saved the ship.
She limped into Reykjavik Harbor two days later. 50
On September 22 Stark, in Washington, reported to his
Asiatic Fleet Commander, Admiral Hart, on the situation:
So far as the Atlantic is concerned, we are all but, if not actually,
in it [the war]. . . . If Britain is to continue, she has to have assistance.
She will now get it openly. . . . In a nutshell, we are now
escorting convoys regularly from the United States to points in
the Iceland area. . . . [C]ontacts are almost certain to occur. Th e
rest requires little imagination. 51
Stark’s expectations were soon borne out. “Active defense”
in the Atlantic meant that U.S. ships searched for submarines
and dropped depth charges. Unsurprisingly, a U.S. ship was soon
torpedoed and sunk. In October the destroyer Reuben James was
accompanying a convoy in the North Atlantic. Several submarines
were harassing the convoy. On October 31 a German torpedo
50 Abbazia, Mr. Roosevelt’s Navy, pp. 265–80.
51 Joint Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, part 16, pp. 2209–11.