In World War I there was only one attack on U.S. soil, dubbed the Battle of Orleans. On Sunday morning, July 21, 1918, the German submarine U-156 surfaced three miles off Cape Cod and fired at an unarmed tugboat and four barges. The submarine’s aim was so bad that many of the 150 shells landed on Nauset Beach in the town of Orleans. However, the barges sank and the tugboat was badly damaged. An air base in the nearby town of Chatham dispatched two planes. Each dropped a large bomb called the Mark IV but, famous for malfunctioning, they failed to detonate. Unaware the bombs were duds, the German sub retreated and the Coast Guard rescued all 32 persons aboard the tugboat and barges. Read more about WWI and its veterans in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).
