Wreck of Ship Sunk by Nazi U-Boat in 1944 Discovered Off Maine Coast

On Nov. 29, 1944, a German U-boat moved unseen through the icy waters off New England before putting two Nazi agents ashore near Maine. Their mission was to collect intelligence inside the United States as World War II continued.

Four days later, the submarine encountered a merchant vessel nearby. Its torpedo tore into the cargo area of the 400-foot Canadian steamship SS Cornwallis, sending the ship to the seafloor in roughly 10 minutes. Of the 48 people aboard, only five survived.

More than eight decades after the wartime sinking, the Cornwallis has finally been located. The Nomad Exploration Team announced this week that it discovered the wreck in July, resting nearly 400 feet beneath the ocean’s surface after years of unsuccessful searches.

The New Hampshire-based explorers faced frigid water, powerful currents and isolated search areas while trying to find the sunken ship. Their breakthrough came when side-scan sonar detected a large object on the seafloor. Follow-up dives confirmed that the wreck was the Cornwallis, according to the team.

“Finding the wreck marked the end of years of persistence for our team,” dive member Danny Allan said. “For the families and communities tied to the ship, it also shines new light on a tragedy that had largely faded from public memory.”

The Cornwallis’ final voyage

Built in Vancouver, British Columbia, and launched in 1921, the 5,458-ton vessel began its career as the Canadian Transporter. It later became the Cornwallis after being transferred to Canadian National Steamships.

The ship had already survived one attack. On Sept. 11, 1942, a German submarine torpedoed the Cornwallis while it lay anchored in Barbados. Although badly damaged, the vessel settled only partly in shallow water, allowing it to be salvaged, repaired and returned to service.

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In November 1944, the Cornwallis departed Barbados carrying sugar and molasses for St. John, New Brunswick. Maritime historian Eric Wiberg said the ship had a 4-inch gun, a 12-pound gun and machine guns positioned on the bridge, though none of the weapons were used during the attack that sank it.

On Dec. 3, while steaming north along the Maine coast, the Cornwallis came into the sights of U-1230, commanded by Hans Hilbig. The submarine launched a torpedo that struck close to the ship’s bow, and the merchant vessel disappeared beneath the waves in under 10 minutes.

Six crew members initially made it to lifeboats, but one later died from hypothermia. Fishing boats rescued the remaining five before they were transferred to a U.S. Navy vessel and brought to Rockland, Maine.

“Underwater time capsule”

The sinking drew additional attention because U-1230 had carried out another secret operation days earlier. On Nov. 29, the submarine landed German agents Erich Gimpel and William Colepaugh near Hancock, Maine, according to accounts including a 2018 report by Main Line Today. Colepaugh, an American who had traveled to Germany that year, had received espionage training there. After reaching shore, the pair traveled from Maine to New York City undetected.

Following the Cornwallis disaster, U.S. officials investigated whether the submarine responsible had also delivered enemy operatives onto American soil. The FBI eventually learned that Hancock residents had reported seeing unfamiliar men in the area around the time the merchant ship was sunk.

The spy mission collapsed in New York City. Colepaugh admitted the operation to a friend, who alerted the FBI, and Gimpel was arrested several days later. A military court initially sentenced both men to death, but those penalties were ultimately reduced to life in prison.

U-1230 remained in service until it was scuttled in 1945, but the final resting place of the Cornwallis stayed unknown for decades. That mystery has now been solved.

“At nearly 400 feet, the Cornwallis is no longer the ship that carried sugar and molasses north,” the Nomad Exploration Team said. “She is an underwater time capsule preserving one of the most extraordinary chapters of World War II along the Maine coast.”