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Navy Cross, USS Fanning, WWI
LOOMIS, DANIEL DAVID Boatswain's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy
U.S.S. Fanning
Date of Action: November 17, 1917
Citation:
The Navy Cross is presented to Daniel David Loomis, Boatswain's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy, for distinguished service and devotion to duty while serving on the U.S.S. Fanning. Boatswain's Mate Second Class Loomis was bridge lookout on November 17, 1917, when the Fanning engaged and captured the German Submarine U-58. He exhibited remarkable alertness, initiative and ability as a lookout, in sighting and reporting the periscope, only a small part of which was visible.
Other Comments:
World War I and the Action of 17 November 1917
Based on Queenstown, Ireland, Fanning and her sister destroyers patrolled the eastern Atlantic, escorting convoys and rescuing survivors of sunken merchantmen. At 1615 on 17 November 1917, Coxswain Daniel David Loomis sighted the periscope of U-58, and the Officer of the Deck Lieutenant Walter Owen Henry ordered the destroyer to attack. Fanning's first depth charge pattern scored, and as destroyer Nicholson joined the action, the submarine broke surface, her crew pouring out on deck, hands raised in surrender. The depth charge had hit near the submarines diving planes, forcing the submarine to surface, and also knocked out the main generator aboard Fanning. If U-58 had surfaced in battle ready mode, Fanning would have surely been lost. Fanning maneuvered to pick up the prisoners as the damaged submarine sank, the first of two U-boats to fall victim to US Navy destroyers in World War I. Coxswain Daniel David Loomis and Lieutenant Walter Owen Henry both received the Navy Cross for this action.
Fanning continued escort and patrol duty for the duration of the war. Though she made numerous submarine contacts, all of her attacks were inconclusive. On many occasions, she went to the aid of torpedoed ships, rescuing survivors and carrying them into port. On 8 October 1918, she picked up a total of 103 survivors, 25 from a merchantman and 78 from the Dupetit-Thouars.
Fanning passed in review before President Woodrow Wilson onboard the transport George Washington in Brest Harbor on 13 December, then remained at Brest until March of the following year. After a quick voyage to Plymouth, England, Fanning departed Brest for the States, by way of Lisbon, Portugal, and Ponta Delgada, Azores, in company with several other destroyers, and escorting a large group of submarine chasers. Fanning was placed out of commission at Philadelphia on 24 November 1919.
Best Moment BerichtGeplaatst: 16 Nov 2010 20:44 Onderwerp: Reageer met quote Action of 17 November 1917
The Action of 17 November 1917 was a naval battle of the First World War. The action was fought between a German U-boat and two United States Navy destroyers in the North Atlantic Ocean. (...)
Based out of Queenstown, Ireland, USS Fanning and her sister destroyer USS Nicholson patrolled the eastern waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Their mission was to escort convoys and rescue survivors of sunken merchant ships as well as to seek out and destroy German U-boats. While escorting the eight vessel convoy OQ-20 eastbound, the two destroyers made contact with an enemy submarine
With Arthur S. Carpender commanding, at 4:110 on November 17, 1917, Coxswain Daniel David Loomis of the Fanning sighted U-58, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Gustav Amberger, when the U-boat had surfaced to extend her periscope. The German submarine lined up for a shot at the British merchant steamer SS Welshman. Almost immediately Officer of the Deck Lieutenant William O. Henry ordered the destroyer to make circles and engage.
At 4:00 Fanning dropped three depth charges, scoring a hit which shook up the U-boat well. Then USS Nicholson joined in the fighting, commanded by Frank Berrien, and dropped another depth charge herself. U-58 surfaced again and the Americans spotted her conning tower with officers on deck and a crew manning the deck gun. Fanning engaged with her stern gun and fired three shots then Nicholson began firing with her bow gun and at lest one shot struch the U-boat. The Germans fired from the deck gun but none of their shots met their targets. By 4:30 the Germans sailors surrendered and came out on deck, hands raised in the air. American fire had hit the submarine near it's diving planes, making the ship unmanueverable.
The German commander ordered the ballast tanks blown and the submarine went up. Charges also knocked out the main generator aboard the Fanning. If U-58 had surfaced in a battle ready position, Fanning would have surely been attacked and possibly sunk. The German submariners surrendered and Fanning maneuvered to take prisoners. That ended the action with a U.S. victory.
The Fanning and Nicholson's sinking of U-58 was one of only a few engagements of the Great War in which U.S. Navy warships sank an enemy submarine. Also the first time U.S. ships sank a submarine in combat. Lieutenant William O. Henry and Coxswain Daniel Lommis both received a Navy Cross for their actions during their encounter with U-58.
Fanning and Nicholson continued the war escorting and patrolling the North Atlantic, making several more inconclusive contacts with German submarines. Thirty-eight of the 40 crew members of the U-58 survived to become prisoners of war in the United States.
Other Memories World War I and the Action of 17 November 1917
Based on Queenstown, Ireland, Fanning and her sister destroyers patrolled the eastern Atlantic, escorting convoys and rescuing survivors of sunken merchantmen. At 1615 on 17 November 1917, Coxswain Daniel David Loomis sighted the periscope of U-58, and the Officer of the Deck Lieutenant Walter Owen Henry ordered the destroyer to attack. Fanning's first depth charge pattern scored, and as destroyer Nicholson joined the action, the submarine broke surface, her crew pouring out on deck, hands raised in surrender. The depth charge had hit near the submarines diving planes, forcing the submarine to surface, and also knocked out the main generator aboard Fanning. If U-58 had surfaced in battle ready mode, Fanning would have surely been lost. Fanning maneuvered to pick up the prisoners as the damaged submarine sank, the first of two U-boats to fall victim to US Navy destroyers in World War I. Coxswain Daniel David Loomis and Lieutenant Walter Owen Henry both received the Navy Cross for this action.
Fanning continued escort and patrol duty for the duration of the war. Though she made numerous submarine contacts, all of her attacks were inconclusive. On many occasions, she went to the aid of torpedoed ships, rescuing survivors and carrying them into port. On 8 October 1918, she picked up a total of 103 survivors, 25 from a merchantman and 78 from the Dupetit-Thouars.
Fanning passed in review before President Woodrow Wilson onboard the transport George Washington in Brest Harbor on 13 December, then remained at Brest until March of the following year. After a quick voyage to Plymouth, England, Fanning departed Brest for the States, by way of Lisbon, Portugal, and Ponta Delgada, Azores, in company with several other destroyers, and escorting a large group of submarine chasers. Fanning was placed out of commission at Philadelphia on 24 November 1919.
