German U-boat 1918 American Campaign-- Part 3: The Attack On Orleans, Mass.

A few of the U-cruisers also made long voyages south to the Azores and African coast, where they operated generally unmolested against shipping operating in the area.  But one exception was the U-154, which was torpedoed by British submarine HMS E35 off the coast of Portugal in May 1918.

In July 1918, there was an attack by the U-156 on Orleans, Massachusetts, off the coast of Cape Cod in which four barges and a tugboat were sunk.  The U-boat then fired on the town ineffectively for about an hour before it was driven off by two Navy planes.

It was the first attack involving a foreign power's artillery against U.S. soil since the Mexican War.

--Cooter

U-156: Its Mine Sank the USS San Diego and It Shelled a Massachusetts Town

A mine they U-156 set is credited with sinking the armored cruiser USS San Diego, the largest warship the United States lost during World War I.

On July 21, 1918, the U-156 surfaced and fired shots at the town of Orleans, Massachusetts, and several nearby merchant vessels.  She sank a tugboat, the Perth Amboy, and four barges.  HS-1L flying boats and R-9 seaplanes were dispatched from Chatham Naval Air Station and dive bomber the U-156, but the bombs failed to explode.

The attack on Orleans was the only Central Powers attack on the U.S. mainland during the war. and it was the first time a foreign power's artillery had shelled the continental U.S. since the Siege of Fort Texas in 1846.  It was also the first time American pilots had engaged an enemy vessel in the West Atlantic.

A Lot of Firsts.  --Cooter

U-156-- Part 1: Originally Built to Carry Cargo Between the U.S. and Germany

From Wikipedia.

Was commissioned 22 August 19 1917.  Responsible for sinking 44 Allied ships (including one warship) and damaging three others.  It also was the German participant in the attack on Orleans, Massachusetts.

Was built in Bremen, Germany, one of the seven submarines built in the Deutschland-class designed to carry cargo between the United States and Germany.  Five of them, including the U-156 were converted into long-range cruiser U-boats with 5.9-inch deck guns.

On 15 June 1918, the U-156  slipped through the North Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean, heading for Long Island and then to New York harbor with orders to lay mines.  Records show that she lay a field of mines off the south shore of Long island just east of the Fire Island Lightship.

On 8 July it scuttled the Norwegian-owned Manx King

A mine laid by the U-156 is credited with sinking the armored cruiser USS San Diego on July 19, 1918, about ten miles southeast of Fire Island, New York.

--DaCoot

World War I Chronology, July 1918: Only Enemy Shells Fired on U.S. Coast

JULY 21, 1918--  ONLY ENEMY FIRE TO LAND IN AMERICA

German submarine U-18 fires at the United States tug Perth Amboy off the Orleans, Massachusetts coast.  It also fired at targets on the land.

The VFW April 2018 magazine had it as the U-18, but the U-18 was sunk in 1914.  Most likely, it was U-156 which fired on the American mainland.

--Cooter