Survivors of a Sinking Ship

Spring 2026

I read an article about interesting wrecks for scuba diving. Off the North Carolina coast, in around 100 feet of water lies the U-352, a World War II German submarine. When I read that there were survivors, I was curious to learn more.

The sub had been preying on ships and targeted (with torpedoes) the Icarus, a 165-foot US Coast Guard Cutter. Icarus detected the sub, turned the tables and depth, charged it. This damaged the U-352. Captain Helmut Rathke decided to surface.

At first, the Icarus feared that the crew would use the sub’s deck guns, and started firing, resulting in the death of several Germans. The Icarus then withdrew from the immediate area while they waited for instructions on how to proceed. Subsequently, they returned to the site and collected 33 survivors who were interrogated and remained in prisoner- of- war camps for the duration of the war.

Contrast this with the September 2nd, 2025, US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean suspected of drug trafficking. After the initial strike killed most of the crew and wrecked the boat, two survivors waved to signal for help. Military leadership apparently decided the guys clinging to the wreckage were too dangerous and finished them off with a second missile, so there were no survivors. Where was the code of ethics to spare the lives of those not yet proven to be an imminent threat?

We think of WWII as conducted in Europe and Asia, except for Pearl Harbor, but subs were right off our coastlines. My dad’s first assignment when he was in the army in WWII was guarding the beach at night in Miami. Don’t laugh – the area was quite a bit different – much quieter – in those days. He was in the Army Air Corps, which had leased out most of the hotels; Miami Beach was a training ground. There was a total blackout in effect. He used to say that he was scared ____ when patrolling the dark beach. He would hear a noise and think that maybe the Germans had landed.

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