1940 to 1949: Computing During World War II and the Postwar Era - The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering - page 66

Note
One of the torpedo test areas and one of the submarine-spotting
buildings are visible from the window of the office where this topic
was written. Even today, unexploded World War II torpedoes are
being removed from Narragansett Bay. This property is now used
as a training base by the Rhode Island National Guard and is called
Camp Varnum after a Revolutionary War general who lived nearby.
It is an interesting historical fact that the last U-boat sunk during World War
II was spotted near the entrance of Narragansett Bay and was sunk near Block Is-
land, about seven miles off the coast of Rhode Island.
This boat was the U-853 and it was on its third combat patrol. The U-boat was
destroyed by the U.S. Navy after the Battle of Point Judith on May 6, 1945. The
U-boat was sunk by depth charges and the entire crew was killed. Later, several
German crew members were buried with full military honors in Newport, Rhode
Island.
The U.S. ships involved in hunting and sinking the U-853 included the destroy-
er escorts Ericsson , Amick , Atherton , and Moberly . Blimps and aircraft also par-
ticipated. Atherton and Moberly were credited with firing the depth charges that
sank the U-853, using analog computers for setting the depth of the explosion.
Shortly before being sunk, the U-853 sank a coal ship named the Black Point ,
the last American freighter destroyed during World War II. It was sunk on May 6,
1945, with the loss of 12 crewmen. Another 34 crewmen were rescued. The Battle
of Point Judith was the last Atlantic naval battle of World War II. Black Point Park
in Narragansett, Rhode Island, is named after the final U.S. ship sunk in World
War II.
On May 5, Grand Admiral Dönitz, Commander in Chief of the German Navy,
had issued orders for all submarines to cease offensive operations and return to
port, since the German surrender was scheduled for May 8. (Dönitz had become
chief of state and president of Germany after Hitler's suicide. He held this position
from April 30, 1945, to May 23, 1945, when the German government was dis-
solved by the Allies.)
Apparently, the U-853 had not received the order to cease combat operations,
or the captain chose to ignore it. It is unfortunate for both sides that the battle took
place so close to the end of the war and one day after all German submarines had