THE AUXILIARY IN CHARLESTON - THE WAR YEARS
by Bob Kreiling, Past Flotilla Commander
The exciting history of the Coast
Guard Auxiliary overall, and particularly in the Charleston area, prior to and
during World War II, has never really been fully described. We will, on this
page on a periodic basis, tell you what we have found. Let us now start to tell
you, "The Rest of the Story." Click on one of the links provided
below to go to that part of the story.
The War Years - May 2004 entry
More of The War Years - June 2004 entry
Centenarian Auxiliarist Honored - August 2004 entry
The Enemy Among Us - July 2005 entry
1939; It was not the best of times. A severe financial depression gripped the nation. All the military services were understaffed, equipped primarily with World War I weapons. The smallest and poorest of the lot was the Coast Guard. The Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Waesche, was very aware of the problems. With sounds of war in Europe growing ever louder, he proposed to the House and Congress a plan "To enlarge the facilities of the Coast Guard without any expense whatever to the Federal Government." He proposed to recruit pleasure boaters who due to age, health, etc., were not subject to the Draft. Those magic words, "No Cost At All," sealed the deal and June 23, 1939, was the birth date of the Coast Guard Reserve.
The initial mission of the Reserve was to "Assist the Coast Guard" and to take over their Safe Boating Education and Search and Rescue functions. However, within months, this mission was drastically revised.
The Reason Why – "The Miracle of Dunkirk," as the press liked to call it.
Germany invaded and overran
France, forcing the British Army to retreat to the beaches of Dunkirk, a French
village on the English Channel. They were rescued by a "Civilian
Armada" of more than 900 pleasure boaters and operators of small craft able
to maneuver close to the shore. They successfully rescued the remnants of the
British Army. The media hype in this country did not go unnoticed in Washington.
On
February 19, 1941, Congress
changed the name to Coast Guard Auxiliary. The phrase, "Assist the Coast
Guard" took on a new, far broader and more militant meaning. While the
original non-military missions were continued, members and their boats
recruited to actively participate in Coast Guard Patrols.
Those recruited received instruction in First Aid, Gunnery, Navigation, Night Operations, Signaling, etc. Their pleasure boats, no longer all gleaming white with varnished teak and shining brass, were sprayed dull gray with white letters and numbers. As a boat owner, how would you feel watching that being done to your pride and joy?
These
men did it because it had
to be done – and none too soon. German submarines were off our shores and
sinking our tankers and freighters. The explosions could be seen from the shore
and this rag-tag fleet of pleasure boaters took to the open seas. Small Wooden
Boats – Brave, Very Brave Men.
MORE OF THE WAR YEARS (added June 14, 2004)
While our country, for most of 1941, was officially at peace,
the ships leaving our docks, were immediately faced with a deadly foe. These
unarmed freighters and tankers, laden with war supplies, were in route to
England and France. They would pass by Fort Moultrie's and Sumter's mighty
cannons which were capable of sinking the largest battleship. The Army coast
artillery, practiced daily. John Rodgers, one of our Past Flotilla Commanders,
remembers watching the gun crews. They could fire over the seven-mile horizon,
hit the target, reload the huge projectiles and fire again in less than a
minute.
But no battleships ever came across the sea to challenge them. Instead, the enemy came like sharks beneath the sea, attacking with deadly accuracy the tonnage leaving our ports, within a few miles of our shores. Our Navy's limited assets were straining to protect these convoys at sea. They did not have ships nor manpower to pursue these German "Wolf Packs" close to shore. The only defense was the Coast Guard and its newly formed Auxiliary "offspring." With limited assets, but a lot of American (notice I did not say Yankee) ingenuity, "the tough got going." This is their story and it was done in several steps.
Prevention - Antisubmarine nets were everywhere. They were placed along our larger and even some smaller waterways. Some residents can still describe the location of these nets, placed by the Navy's Net and Boom Defense of Charleston. In fact the Post and Courier's "Do You Know Your Charleston?" column mentioned their being across the Jetties, as well as in Elliot's Cut, Edgewater Creek, Ben Sawyer Bridge and behind the Isle of Palms. This sounds impressive, but the subs still got in. More about those "visitors" in our next installment.
Rescue -
As ships were being
torpedoed, the seamen's only alternative was jumping into the ocean. These
explosions were often seen by shore-side residents. Coast Guard and Auxiliary
boat s on patrol would immediately proceed to the site and rescue the survivors.
The Auxiliary base on the Cooper River would also telephone those at home to
also respond. This procedure was enacted again and again on the
entire Eastern
seacoast. It was simple, it worked, and it saved lives.
Propeller Noises Kept the Sharks At Bay
- The U-boats’ sound detection 
devices then, unlike today's, could not
give an indication of the size of the vessel overhead. When they heard the beat of any
inboard engine they lay quiet. Parallel Search Patterns became the main weapon
of defense. That meant, running on a compass bearing for several miles, then
turn hard right and run a shorter distance, turn hard right again, running a
distance equal to the first leg. This pattern is still used today, but only for
peaceful means. It is very effective in Search And Rescue work.
Sailboats, A Secret Weapon -
Submarines, sometimes called the "Silent Service," met their nemesis,
a unique and even more silent weapon. The "Corsair Fleet" consisting
of ocean going sailboats, cruising silently. They took their toll of this
menace. While prop noise forced the U-boats to lay silent, the sailboat using
Sonar could detect their electric motors running.
Then came the modern twist. While not chanting old sailing ditties or yelling an, "Avast ye swabs," they did continue trailing the sub and called for a blimp (from our Navy Yard) with depth charges. Truly "Iron Men with Ships of Wood." The blimp’s mooring mast may not be there any longer. However, according to our John Rodgers, up until the time the yard was closed, you could still see it.
Check us out again next month when we will talk about "The Enemy Amongst Us." Some Charleston tourists came by U-Boat!!
CENTENARIAN AUXILIARIST HONORED ( added August 28, 2004)
Welcome back, all you History buffs. There has been a slight change in plans which I think you will enjoy.
I
know I said in the last edition that this month we would focus on "Th
e
Enemy Amongst Us - Some Charleston Tourists Came By U-Boat," but that
cloak and dagger stuff will keep ‘til the next edition. Today, I want to share
with you the story of one of our own; a walking, talking bit of history.
I want to tell you about Auxiliarist Sol A. Spiegel, a member of flotilla
32 in the Seventh District, and how he joined the
Auxiliary in 1939. He was there and did it all!
The Coast Guard Seventh District, which we are part of, celebrated Sol's One Hundredth birthday at their Summer Conference.
He and his wife opened the meeting by leading all in the Pledge of Allegiance. Sol, always famous for his witticisms, in his comments showed that he still had the delivery and timing of a good stand up comic. On why he joined the Auxiliary, he said, "The height requirement to join the Services was 5'4' and I was 5'3". A Coast Guard Recruiter came to the yacht club looking for volunteers. He said, "They were looking for Small Boat Operators ... I figured I'm small, I'm an Operator, so I joined up!"
I did
not of know Sol when I wrote that. However, I mentioned painting the
pretty pleasure boats gray with white numbers. Sol's 30' cabin
cruiser, Friminda (a combination of his mother's and wife's name) got the
gray treatment with a large white 607 on the hull. This he used for
submarine tracking and hunting during 1941.
I
mentioned Gunnery training. Sol moved up in the Reserve ranks to Chief
Petty Officer and became the small arms instructor for the Coast Guard, Reserve
and Women's Air Ferry Service (WAFS). That's right, they were the ladies that
flew the war planes to the combat zones.
As the U-Boat menace
intensified, Sol Spiegel skippered a 36' Coast Guard Patrol boat. The boat was
armed with a .30 caliber machine gun. Unfortunately,
he was not provided with any ammunition for the gun or a radio. Marine radios in those days were not only cumbersome, they
were very scarce and limited to the dots and dashes of Morse
Code. In lieu of a radio (and I am
not making this up), his vessel was equipped with carrier pigeons for
communication. He was also provided with a handgun and six bullets
"for defense." The
bullets were counted at the end of each patrol.
Sol's
primary duties included submarine hunting and picking up debris that could
indicate cargoes and help identify vessels that had been torpedoed.
As I said at the end of my first article, "Small Wooden Boats;
Brave, Very Brave Men." Sol Spiegel can say with great pride,
"Been There, Done ALL of That!"
When the drums of war were
silenced, Sol continued to actively participate in the Coast Guard
Auxiliary. At the age of 80 he was one of the first to become certified
under the new Coxswain Program and actively engaged in Patrols until he was 98.
Ceremonies in Washington, DC
with the President and Congressmen in attendance honored Sol and other long term
Auxiliarists. Admiral James Loy, then Commandant of the Coast Guard, shook his
hand and asked him if he wished to say a few words. As only Sol can do he
looked up and down at Admiral Loy, who is 6'3", turned to the audience and
said, "You know, when I joined I was that tall." Give Sol an
audience and he can bring down the house!
THE ENEMY AMONG US - SOME TOURISTS CAME BY U-BOAT (added July 9, 2005)
All in all, the Coast Guard and the Auxiliary, plus the Charleston citizenry were (fairly) successful in developing an effective Port Security Program.
Our webmaster likes to tell about a German submarine that was captured here. On board were ticket stubs from a Charleston theater and bread from a local bakery. His uncle was the manager of that bakery and felt the German's certainly had good taste.
Communities
from Maine to Florida had similar experiences. I remember reading that on Long
island, NY, about 40 miles east of New York City, a team of eight saboteurs,
complete with explosives shaped to look like coal, were captured the old
fashioned way, by a "Coastie" and his dog. Interestingly they all were
not only fluent in English but had lived in "Noo Yawk" long
enough to acquire the accent.
Similarly another spy team was captured attempting to come ashore in Florida. They too had the same accent.
We must note that while today Miami is "Se Habla Espanol," in those days Brooklynese, was pretty much the language du jour.
Yes the enemy continually sought ways and means to inflict damages. New countermeasures had to be continually devised to combat them. There was no way an overall "One Size Fits All" plan could be designed.
Each community had to design a security plan to fit their unique requirements. Charlestonians quickly adapted, to the situation and developed their own style of protections. The citizenry responded in many ways. Jerome Bishop, one of our past Flotilla Officers, recalls how his relative, one of many, would come home, put on an Auxiliary uniform complete with side arm and patrol the miles of docks and warehouses.We already mentioned the many anti submarine nets strung across our waterways and the "Sailboat Sub Busters", working with Navy Blimps. Now I'll add another to the list, of strange but true.
The
photo at left, courtesy of Gretchen Stringer of Folly Beach, shows the Coast
Guard unit that her father trained and rode with in the Folly Beach Detachment.
Old timers will recall that in the '40s, Hilton Head actually had four polo
fields with stables, riding arenas, etc. These were easily converted to teaching
the art of Horsemanship to a bunch of sailors.
It was not easy to overcome the students' attitudes, however. While they never did start to sing the Cavalry's "She wore a Yellow Ribbon," they tended to strut a bit when they wore their boots, britches and spurs that went Jingle, Jangle, Jingle.
That is the way it was. This country was united. We were all, Republicans and Democrats alike, united and determined to defeat the evil enemy. We succeeded, and by the way, those two teams of saboteurs that were caught were tried and executed, and neither the ACLU nor the NY Times and Washington Post disagreed.
How things have changed!
Check out our Coast Guard History Link for more in depth information from their inception in 1790. Through all the war and peacetime missions, they performed.
In
addition, you may check out the history of Coast Guard base Charleston (seen at
right) by
clicking here.
Last updated: July 04, 2007