sailing vessel , the SV Abeja , earlier in the day and several others earlier on the patrol .
The crew didn ’ t notice the periscope until after the torpedo struck between the number 2 and 3 holds . Everyone made it into lifeboats and they were swiftly picked up by nearby vessels . Meanwhile , U-48 remained at periscope depth and started to look for other targets in the local area , but failed to notice that it was directly in the path of the sinking SS East Point .
The impact of the collision caused the U-48 to heel over 20 degrees to starboard and knocked unconscious two of the four crew in the conning tower as it started to flood . In order to save the boat , crew were forced to seal off the conning tower , condemning their colleagues to death by drowning . The two unfortunates were the Commanding Officer , Kapitanleutenant Berndt Buss , and navigator , Steuerman Adolf Bergmann .
Salvage thwarted
The wreck of East Point lay undisturbed on the seabed until local divers started to become interested in the salvage possibilities in the early 1980s . She was purchased from the war insurance company by a member of Plymouth Sound BSAC , who intended to recover the propeller using a local fishing trawler for the lift . This plan was disrupted when customs seized it , after discovering the trawler had another sideline – importing cannabis . The end result is that the impressive bronze propeller is still attached to the East Point , as I
proved to be a sensible decision as his last vessel , the Pacific Ranger , was torpedoed on 12 October , some 150 miles north west of Ireland . All 55 men on board survived the attack , but the new master and some of his crew spent nine days in a lifeboat in rough seas before eventually being rescued . No doubt the 60-year-old HJY was pleased to be
Fish life is normally plentiful on deep wrecks
have seen on many occasions . When I first found that mug , I had no idea of the East Point ’ s story , nor that of her brave Master , Captain Harold James Young DSC . The tale of the U-48 is also so incredible that it reads like something out of a novel and surely , they all deserve to be better known . From my perspective , the next time I dive the East Point I ’ ll be thinking of all the stories that interlock with her and the incredibly brave men who feature in them . It has also encouraged me to try and find out as much as I can about every wreck that I dive , in order to truly understand what caused them to end up on the seabed .
safely ensconced in front of a warm fire while this was happening !
This brave man retired into the ceremonial post of Mayor-Deputy of Fordwich , which was the ancient port of Canterbury , one of the Cinque Ports . When HJY passed away in 1967 , the Secretary of the Furness Line wrote a lovely letter to his son in which he states “ those of us who remain from those days hold his name in high esteem ”.
WRECKED
Research and further reading
Unsurprisingly the material for these stories hasn ’ t come from a single source but it is incredible what is available in various archives . Most of the information on the East Point came from the National Archive in Kew ; I am very grateful to Jane Maddocks , who made a number of trips there on my behalf . The wreck ’ s owner , Tony Hillgrove , was also able to supply me with lots of detail , including a picture of the East Point and the story of his aborted attempt to lift the prop .
Various online resources were also useful , particularly wrecksite . eu , which is an encyclopaedic database of wrecks throughout the world . The UK section is particularly complete . Another was the greatwarforum . org , where I encountered Nick Young , grandson of the East Point ’ s Master . He gave me vast amounts of information , including copies of lots of contemporary material , on his grandfather that allowed me to build up a real picture of the man .
The Deutsches U-Boat-Museum and Uboat . net hold incredible amounts of detailed information on individual submarines and their crews . Copies of the SM U-48 ’ s war diary from over 100 years ago were emailed to me by the U-Boat Museum and I was very fortunate to be able to have them translated by my sister , Josephine Payne . They also had the photographs used in this article .
I ’ d also recommend a few excellent books ; Torpedoed : The RMS Leinster Disaster by Philip Lecane , Verschollen : World War 1 U-Boat Losses by Dwight R Messimer and World War One Channel Wrecks by Neil Maw . �
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