Abandoned WWII Base & U-Boat | Rhode Island

This is abandoned World War II history…specifically, a secret coastal base used as a part of America’s defense network. Near this base one of the last naval engagements between America and Nazi Germany occurred - The Battle of Point Judith.

Filmed/Edited by Jason Allard

My website: www.UncomSenseMedia.com
Follow me on Instagram: @Uncomsense
Drone: DJI Spark Fly More Combo
Main Camera: DJI Osmo Pocket
Photo Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV w/ Canon 28mm f/1.8

Editing: Final Cut Pro X w/ custom plugins


Amazing sources I used to create this:

∙• The U.S. Naval Institute: https://bit.ly/3dChVqs

• Peter Ferreira (Underwater Footage): https://www.peterferreira.com

• Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, NOAA: https://bit.ly/2BO1Alm

• Westerly Life: https://bit.ly/2A8h4zV

• HistoryNet: https://bit.ly/2BOZx00


Fire control towers were secret in the sense that they were camouflaged to resemble beach cottages in the area. There are two parts to this structure; The top level is the observation station. This is where instruments like telescopes or depression position finders would be. The operators up here would then relay any information down to the first level. This is where the plotting room would be. This was the brains of the operation - telling the big guns exactly where to shoot against enemy ships or aircraft.

In 1945, Near the end of WWII a few things happened very quickly. First, with the allied forces approaching Berlin, and his capture imminent, Hitler committed suicide on April 30th. His successor, The new President of the German Reich Karl Dönitz, saw Germany's surrender coming quickly, and began to tell German forces to cease attacks on allied forces.

One of these directions came on May 4th, when he directed all U-boats to cease attacks. While most commanding officers obeyed this order, some either did not receive it or chose to ignore it. U-853 was one of those submarines. And on May 6th, just 2 days before germany's unconditional surrender, its commanding officer fires torpedos at American forces.

This is one of those mysteries of WW2. Why had U-853′s commander, the 24 year old Lt. Frömsdorf, failed to heed orders? He and his crew were alone, thousands of miles from home, in enemy territory, and attacking would be a death sentence..so why do it?

The most likely answer is that U-853's radio had been damaged or disabled from attacks by US forces. This damaged radio probably even helped keep the crew alive for so long. Four other U-boats sent to America about the same time all reported in regularly, but were sunk by early April, which suggests US intelligence was intercepting messages and tracking them down.

This left U853 and its crew all alone when they chose to fire upon the SS Black Point, an American merchant ship, killing 12 of the 46 men on board.

Now for another mystery - instead of escaping at flank speed after the attack, the captain lingered in the area in shallow water.

In the meantime, a total of 11 Navy and Coast Guard ships arrived and immediately set up a barrier force, starting asweep search with echo ranging. After locating a slow moving object underwater, they launched magnetic depth charges, with one of them registering a hit by exploding. The barrage continued until the U boat was confirmed destroyed, and items belonging to the crew began to float to the surface. All 54 men aboard the U boat were killed.


And so the battle of Point Judith ended, and U853 and its crew laid in its final resting place.

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