Regarding U-205 and the torpedo strike on the USS Thomas Stone; there has never been positive data indicating a
confirmed hit on the Thomas Stone from a German U Boat November 7th 1942.
None of the U Boat log entries are concise. There's only the wordage: "probable." Rohwer's Axis Submarine Successes
of WII noted U205's claim but also credits aircraft for the hit.
It was always suspected the attack was from above, (from an airplane), scroll all the way down.
U Boat claims were proven faulty years ago by well known author & historian, Francesco Mattesini. Through collaboration of exhaustive
research from this ongoing documentary, including eyewitness testimonies, multiple sources confirm conclusive evidence of the origin of
the torpedo by Francesco Mattesini:
"There can be no doubt, it was a German airplane, a Heinkel He 111 from the 6th Squadron of the 26th Bomber Wing (6/KG.26),
that attacked the THOMAS STONE. This was the only German air torpedo squadron present in the Mediterranean
on November 7, 1942, while the two groups I./KG.26 and III./KG.26 (respectively with torpedo-carrying aircrafts He 111 and Ju 88),
coming from Norway, arrived in Grosseto the morning of November 8, and were utilized from Sardinia in the area of
Algiers starting from the morning of November 9. The subsequent torpedoing of the American troop transport ship LEEDSTOWN is
attributed to the Ju 88 from the III./KG.26 and to the German submarine U 331. With respect to my information on the
November 7 submarine attacks, my objections/observations to Rohwer’s book (of which I have the original German version):
At 20:09 the German submarine U 205 (bürgel) attacked a large ship (16.000 tsl), in CH 8333 corresponding to lat.
37°27’N, 02°40’E. The THOMAS STONE was in effect hit quite far away, at lat. 37°31’N, long. 00°01’E (33 miles from Cape Palos);
but most of all the fact that it was damaged at 05:43 is important, and consequently not on the evening of
November 7 but at morning’s first light, when the 6/KG.26’s He 111 attacked. At 21:00
the Italian submarine TOPAZIO (Patané) carried out anattack with no results northwest of Algiers,
lat. 37°05’N, long. 02°41’E. 40 miles northwest of Cape Casine."
"La partecipazione tedesca alla guerra aeronavale nel Mediterraneo (1940-1945)"
And from War diaries of the USS Samuel Chase and USS Ancon (AGC-4), specific details confirm a plane.
Quote from the Chase: "At about 0545 a plane glided in from our port quarter dropping
a torpedo which hit the USS Thomas Stone. A torpedo was dropped off the quarter of the
Samuel Chase but missed by about fifty yards. When on the
port beam the plane gunned its motors and pulled away."
Eyewitness accounts:
Charles W. Johnson
Prairie Reflections USS Thomas Stone
Below is a diary excerpt from Lucky Chase historian Leo Greenberg dated
November 7th 1942 which collaborates research from Francesco Mattesini.
Below is a page excerpt from After Action Reports, NARA, November 1942 further collaborating research from Francesco Mattesini.
*See the description: "It was a large twin engine plane." Other veterans recalled seeing the same plane.
And its noteworthy that none of the allied friendly aircraft in that convoy were twin engine planes.
The German Heinkel He 111 is a large twin engine plane.
Below is another page excerpt from After Action Reports, November 1942 further collaborating research from
Francesco Mattesini.
See the yellow highted text: "Submarine Was Not Sighted"
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