How many of us have infiltrated NY harbor?

[mookiemookie]

Does anyone have any good stories about it? I was pretty amazed at how lightly defended it was. Sheeshk....and that nice big fat passenger liner sitting there. I mean how can you NOT stop by if you're in the neighborhood

It got me thinking about what if a u-boat really DID sink a passenger liner in NY harbor in WW2? That would have been huge. I wrote a little "what if" newspaper article about it. Here goes!

PASSENGER SHIP “CAROLINA STAR” EXPLODES IN NEW YORK HARBOR
ESTIMATE LOSS OF LIFE AT 55; GERMANY CLAIMS SINKING RESULT OF U-BOAT ACTION

New York - February 7 (AP) – Port of New York Authority officials reported this morning that the passenger liner Carolina Star exploded and sank last night around 3:30 AM (E.D.T.) in New York Harbor, presumably after being torpedoed by a German U-Boat. Fifty-five members out of the crew of 104 officers and men board at the time are unaccounted for and feared lost. A statement released this morning from the Coast Guard stated that “Rescue operations for the remaining missing crewmembers are ongoing. Survivor lists will be released as soon as the names can be established.”

The Carolina Star was moored in front of Liberty Island as she underwent preparations to be used for Army transport use. Eyewitness reports state that a great explosion erupted from the center of the ship, blasting its funnels away and breaking the hull in two. “I was checking the tow lines and all of a sudden I hear this loud boom,” says harbor tug captain Joe Nicholson. “She started exploding pieces all over and then went straight to the bottom.”

Rear-Admiral Adolphus Andrews, commander of the Third Naval District in New York referred all questions to Washington and stated that his office was under orders not to comment upon any ship sinkings. A spokesman for the Navy Department in Washington said that an investigation into the incident was ongoing and an official statement would be forthcoming.

German newspapers have stated that the sinking was the direct result of a torpedo fired by a U-Boat. A release this morning by the official German news bureau stated, “Do not let your government lie to you about your safety. If a ship sitting in front of the Statue of Liberty can be sunk at will, would it not stand to reason that any ship in any ocean is not beyond the reach of the U-Boats?” New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reacted strongly to the news of possible German involvement in the incident. “The people of New York and America at large will not stand for a murderous attack on democracy, in front of one of the most prominent symbols of our freedom. The Germans are in for a fight if they think we’re going to take this laying down,” said LaGuardia.