 USS Eagle 2, an identical sister ship of Eagle 56
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Eagle 56 |
| Builder | Ford Motor Company |
| Laid down | 25 March 1919 |
| Launched | 15 August 1919 |
| Commissioned | 26 October 1919 |
| Fate | Torpedoed, 23 April 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Eagle-class patrol craft |
| Displacement | 615 long tons (625 t) |
| Length | 200 ft 9 in (61.19 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft 1 in (10.08 m) |
| Draft | 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) |
| Speed | 18.32 kn (21.08 mph; 33.93 km/h) |
| Complement | Officers: 5, Enlisted: 56 |
| Armament | |
USS Eagle 56 (PE-56) was a United States Navy World War I–era patrol boat that remained in service through World War II. On 23 April 1945, while towing targets for U.S. Navy bomber exercises off the coast of Maine, Eagle 56 was sunk by the German submarine U-853. Only 13 of the 62 crew survived.
The loss was classified as a boiler explosion until 2001, when historical evidence convinced the U.S. Navy to reclassify the sinking as a combat loss due to enemy action. Eagle 56 was the second to last U.S. Navy warship to be sunk by Nazi Germany during World War Two.[1]
- ^ Vigdor, Neil (19 July 2019). "U.S. Ship Sunk in World War II by German Sub is Found off Maine Coast". The New York Times.