23 Comments

Thank you Tara for getting this to us this morning. Imagine the confusion of having to deal with enemy POW 's, captured on American soil. The USCG Cutter certainly did a great job by detecting and sinking that sub.

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Amazing little known or unknown story of USCG. Congratulations, Tara Ross.

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Thank you. I can’t help but wonder-as Rathke complained about being fired upon while abandoning his sub- during a time of war, if he would have picked up survivors had he sunk Icarus. Weapons of war are often manned by humans even though those enemy weapons must be destroyed.

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Thank you, Tara. This is one WWII story I had never heard before.

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This shows how difficult it is to make decisions when under pressure. The Icarus’s commander, Lt. Jester, had some hard choices to make. There obviously some misconceptions on both sides. Neither Rathke or Jester could know for sure what the other was thinking or going to do. In the end Lt. Jester ended up saving some German lives.

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The Coast Guard wins the day. As much as I have learned about WWII from books by authors like Ambrose, I sure enjoy learning new stories from you Tara. Thank you so much for all your hard work. God bless you, the Coast Guard, and the U.S.A.👍🙂❤🇺🇸

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Tara Ross thanks for doing this, even when the system seems put tp get you! Ima 👍, follow, and share all your posts!

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How many acts of mercy were shown by Uboat towards their victims during WWII ? Particularly at the start of their campaign against American vessels before we were officially declared combatants in the

war ? Thank you Tara for all that you’re doing to promote interest in history . Bless you !

🇺🇸🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻🇺🇸

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🇺🇸

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Semper Paratus USCG. Way to go!!!

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🇺🇲 ⚓ 🇺🇸

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I have often wondered about the war effort off the Continental coast during the second World War. Thank you for this glimpse of that portion of the war.

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Thank you, Tara, for this interesting article. I live in Calcasieu Parish, LA and knew about the submarines in the Gulf during WWII, especially the sinking of the SS Robert E. Lee near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Reading this article encouraged me to research more about the u-boats in the Gulf.

This was my first time to comment on this website and I learned that I need to log in.

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As a boy vacationing with family in Daytona Beach, we were alarmed when everyone was ordered off the beach as some type military action was taking place just over the horizon.

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So Rathke the captain of the sub survived the sinking, while other sailors in his command sank with the sub. Sounds like a story there. I thought that the captain was the last to leave, not one of the first.

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A Coast Guard cutter sinks a German submarine off the North Carolina coast!

Lots happened quickly for Commander Jester but he lead his crew to a victory over the Germans!

Thank you, Tara, for a little known story of victory over totalitarians!

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