Sea Monster Attacks German Submarine
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on December 11th, 2005
Drexel University student Aaron Sakulich wrote in The Triangle, the student newspaper, about a couple of reported cases from the World War I era of naval encounters with sea monsters.
Supposedly, the British patrol vessel Coreopsis came across a U-boat (UB-85) that had been attacked by a sea serpent. The submarine had come to the surface to recharge the batteries and to allow the crew to have a smoke. While the sub was at the surface, a huge sea serpent climbed aboard. The crew, suprised to say the least, began unloading their guns at the serpent. This caused the serpent to bite down on the forward gun, causing the sub to list side to side. The captain feared that the sub would take on water through the open hatch and sink. The crew continued to fire away, causing the serpent to slink back into the depths.
"This beast had large eyes, set in a horny sort of skull. It had a small head, but with teeth that could be seen glistening in the moonlight."
He also described an earlier tale of another U-boat, U28 Schmidt that torpedoed the British freighter Iberian. As the ship sank to the depths, it caused an explosion which sent up all manner of debris, as well as a creature that resembled a 60-foot-long crocodilian. According to sources, the captain’s description of the creature was "…with four limbs resembling large webbed feet, a long, pointed tail and a head which also tapered to a point."
Maybe they blew up a living mososaur?
painting copyright © Carl Buell; used with permission of Carl Buell
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Could they have seen a giant squid?
Interesting..
Unfortunately this is based on another college paper column by Aaron Sakulich, grad school skeptic, who takes details third hand, rewrites them in a way that makes them sound silly, never credits “his” sources, and ends his articles as he usually does – with a statement like… “this is a hoax” – apparently just because he says so.
Ugh.
It seems the seas provide the greatest opportunity for incredible cryptozoological discoveries, yet maddeningly they are also the most difficult areas to research.
The U-boat may have hit a giant sea crocodile (fossils of which have been discovered, but I can’t remember where) instead of a mosasaur, which had flippers instead of webbed feet as described.
The second account may be from ‘The Wake of the Sea Serpent’ by Heuvelmans.
Anyway, I’ve have read it someplace before. I’ll have to see if I can find it.
I have a question, if I may? What is Mr. Sakulich’s area of expertise? With what department is he associated?
From the article on the student newspaper website:
Aaron Sakulich is a graduate student in materials science and engineering.
It very well may have been a sea crocodile, though I am leaning towards a mosasaur due to a possible substitution of webbed feet for flippers to make it more plausible.
I have read the second account in a creationist childrens’ book called Dinosaurs By Design. Now I just use it to laugh at their theories.
The original source for the report by Sakulich appears to come from here. The full story is on americanmonsters.com, including a link to the official report of the surrender of the UB-85. Quite a good story.