German Submarine Tore His Ship Apart — This Captain Sailed 800 Miles With a Massive Hole in the Hull
Why Commander James Hirshfield rammed a German U-boat at full speed during WW2 — and then faced 11 days fighting to keep his ship alive. This World War 2 story reveals how one Coast Guard captain broke every rule in the manual. February 22, 1943. Commander James A. Hirshfield, commanding officer of USCGC Campbell, detected U-606 surfaced in Convoy ON-166. The German submarine was damaged, trying to escape on diesel engines. Hirshfield made a split-second decision: ram her at 18 knots. Every training manual said never ram submarines — mutual destruction almost guaranteed. Navy doctrine, Coast Guard experts, convoy commanders all called it suicide. They were about to find out if they were right. What Hirshfield didn't know that night was the price of his decision. U-606's bow plane tore a 15-foot gash through Campbell's engine room below the waterline. Salt water flooded in. Generators failed. No power. No engines. A hole three feet underwater that pumps couldn't stop. The all-Black Gun Four crew under Chief Steward Louis Etheridge had fired everything they had during the attack. Now they were dead in the water, 800 miles from port, with a ship that was flooding and 19 more U-boats hunting the convoy. Hirshfield stood on the bridge, bleeding from shrapnel wounds, refusing medical attention. His executive officer asked if they should prepare to abandon ship. The question hung in the freezing air. Campbell was taking on water. The collision mat wasn't holding. Bucket brigades couldn't keep up. The nearest friendly port was four days away at towing speed — if a tug could even reach them in time. And Hirshfield had to decide: stay with the ship or save his crew. What happened next would determine whether Hirshfield's ramming attack was brilliant tactics or the mistake that killed everyone aboard. 🔔 Subscribe for more untold WW2 stories: / @wwii-records 👍 Like this video if you learned something new 💬 Comment below: What other WW2 tactics should we cover? #worldwar2 #ww2history #ww2 #wwii #ww2records
How USS Tang Sank 33 Japanese Ships — Then Was Destroyed By Its Own Last Torpedo
When This B-26 Flew Over Japan's Carrier Deck — Japanese Couldn't Fire a Single Shot
Why Speer Said One US Invention Erased Two Years Of Atlantic Wall Concrete
When His Guns Froze at 38,000 Feet — This Pilot's "Insane" Solution Destroyed The Enemy
They Mocked This Barber's Sniper Training — Until He Killed 30 Germans in Just Days
They Ordered Him to Just Track a Convoy — He Sank 3 Ships in 12 Minutes
Ormok Bay History Makers: 77th’s 18-Minute Ship-Sinking Feat
Why Operation Ivy Bells Tapped a Soviet Cable at 400 Feet Under the Sea of Okhotsk
When a Tiny Boat Sank Japan's Biggest Destroyer — Wood vs Steel
Japanese Admirals Never Knew Iowa's 16 Inch Guns Could Hit From 23 Miles—Then 4 Ships Vanished
The Navy Kept Giving Nimitz the Same Answer — Until He Fired Torpedoes Into a Cliff
They Mocked His “Toy Submarine” — Then It Sank 33 Japanese Ships in One Year
The “Stupid Farmer Trick” That Destroyed Two Panzers in 11 Seconds
They Banned His “Upside Down” Radio Wire — Until It Saved an Entire Convoy from U Boats
Japanese Destroyers Couldn't Believe This Submarine Charged Them — Until It Sank 19 Ships Alone
Why Japanese Admirals Were Shocked to Discover Midway Was a Trap
The ‘Reject’ Who Stopped 700 Germans — After the Army Tried to Kick Him Out 8 Times
Why Japanese Admirals Were Shocked When America’s Massive Carrier Fleet Suddenly Appeared Over Truk
“Who’s She Targeting?” — SEAL Commander Froze as Her 3,247m Kill Shot Rang Across the Valley
