Editing German submarine U-552 (section)

===Second Happy Time===
In 1942, again commanded by [[Erich Topp]] (who later became an admiral in the postwar [[Bundesmarine]]), ''U-552'' participated in the "[[Second Happy Time]]" (Operation ''Drumbeat'' or ''Paukenschlag''), during which German submarines had great success against unescorted American merchantmen sailing alone along the eastern seaboard of the US. ''U-552'' was particularly successful during this period, sinking 13 ships and damaging another in just three patrols in the first six months of 1942. Two further patrols under Topp during the summer netted four more ships. However, in an attack against Convoy ON-155 on 3 August 1942, the boat was nearly sunk when she was caught on the surface by the Canadian [[corvette]] {{HMCS|Sackville|K181|6}}. The corvette machine-gunned the submarine and hit the conning tower with a four-inch shell, causing severe damage and forcing Topp to return to base for repairs.<ref>W.A.B. Douglas, ''No Higher Purpose: The Official Operational History of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War, 1939-1943'', Vanwell Publishing (2004), pp. 501-502</ref> ''U-552'' was badly damaged by heavy seas during another patrol and was put into port for repairs, during which Topp was promoted and replaced by a more cautious commander, Klaus Popp.

====Sinking of the ''David H. Atwater''====
The destruction of the {{SS|David H. Atwater}}, in the Atlantic Ocean {{convert|10|nmi|abbr=on}} off [[Chincoteague Bay|Chincoteague]], [[Virginia]], was one of the more controversial actions of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War, primarily due to the manner of the sinking.<ref name=bridgland216>Bridgland p 216</ref>

On the night of 2 April 1942, at the height of the U-boat offensive against US shipping known as the "Second Happy Time", the unarmed coastal steamer ''David H. Atwater'' was en route from [[Norfolk, Virginia]], to Fall River, Massachusetts,<ref>{{cite book | last=Browning | first=Robert M. | author2=Robert M. Browning Jr. | title=U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=1996 | pages=133 | isbn=1-55750-087-8}}</ref> with a full load of 4,000 tons of coal.

Around 21:00, between [[Cape Charles (headland)|Cape Charles]] and [[Cape Henlopen]],<ref>{{cite book | last=Roscoe | first=Theodore | title=United States Destroyer Operations in World War II | publisher=United States Naval Institute | year=1953 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc/page/73 73] | isbn=9780870217265 | url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc| url-access=registration }}</ref> the ship was ambushed by ''U-552'', which had followed her submerged. The submarine surfaced about {{convert|600|yd|abbr=on}} from the freighter and opened fire with her 88 mm deck gun and machine guns without warning, one of her first shells destroying the bridge and killing all of the officers. In all, 93 rounds were fired from the deck gun, with 50 hits being recorded on the small freighter,<ref name=ubn>{{cite web
|title=Allied Ships hit by U-boats - David H. Atwater
|url=http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/1496.html
|last=Helgason
|first=Guðmundur
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date=16 October 2008
}}</ref> which rapidly began to sink.

As it did so, Topp directed his crewmen to continue firing, striking the ''Atwater''{{'}}s crewmen as they tried to man the lifeboats.<ref>{{cite book | last=Herbert | first=Brian | title=The Forgotten Heroes: The Heroic Story of the United States Merchant Marine | publisher=Tom Doherty Associates | year=2005 | pages=55 | isbn=0-7653-0707-3}} "The crew was not given any chance to abandon ship, and when they tried to do so, their lifeboats were riddled by machine gun fire."</ref> When Captain Webster was hit, the crew abandoned attempts to launch the lifeboats and leapt into the sea.<ref name=hickam>{{cite book | last=Hickam | first=Homer H. | title=Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942 | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=1996 | pages=122–123 | isbn=1-55750-362-1}}</ref>

The first ship to arrive on the scene was the small Coast Guard Patrol Boat USCGC ''CG-218'', which found a lifeboat holding three survivors and three bodies; the survivors reported that they had dived overboard and swum to the boat. Next on the scene was the [[Coast Guard cutter]] {{USCGC|Legare|WSC-144|6}}, which had heard the gunfire and arrived just 15 minutes later. The ''Legare'' found a second lifeboat with a body aboard; the boat was discovered to have been riddled by gunfire, and lent strength to the widespread belief at the time that U-boats were deliberately murdering the survivors of ships they had sunk.<ref name=hickam/> The ''Legare'' landed the three survivors and four bodies at Chincoteague Island Coastguard Station, then returned to sea to search further.<ref name=esf>{{cite web| title=Eastern Sea Frontier - April 1942 - Appendix VIII| publisher=U-boat Archive| url=http://www.uboatarchive.net/ESFWarDiaryApr42APP8.htm| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823044501/http://www.uboatarchive.net/ESFWarDiaryApr42APP8.htm| archive-date=23 August 2012}}</ref>

The destroyers {{USS|Noa|DD-343|6}} and {{USS|Herbert|DD-160|2}} were directed to the scene at 21:22 and arrived at 24:00,<ref name=esf/> but ''U-552'' had by then escaped the scene, going on to sink other vessels.<ref>{{cite book | last=Cressman| first=Robert | title=The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=2000 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII/page/n84 85] | url=https://archive.org/details/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII| isbn=1-55750-149-1}}</ref>

Whether the attack on the liferafts was deliberate, or an unfortunate and unintended consequence of a nighttime attack, has been heavily debated. Some of the crew of ''U-552'' survived the war, and her captain, Erich Topp, later became an admiral in the postwar Bundesmarine. No charges were brought against Topp, as happened to [[Helmuth von Ruckteschell]], captain of the raider [[German auxiliary cruiser Widder|''Widder'']] for a similar offence.