US Navy Lt Albert David and the Capture of U-505

Welcome back everyone. On today's episode of Duty & Valor, you’ll hear the story of a man who had already served our nation for twenty years before joining the war effort during WWII.  A man who, without hesitation, led a group aboard a German U-boat.  A man who remained aboard the sinking sub, leading salvage operations in an effort to secure a top prize in naval warfare.  This is the story of Medal of Honor recipient US Navy Lt. Albert David.  

Albert was born in Maryville, Missouri on July 18th, 1902 to parents Emmett and Martha David.  He enlisted in the Navy in 1919 at the age of 17 and trained at Naval Training Station San Francisco before serving on the USS Arkansas, a battleship that at that time was part of the Pacific fleet.  Albert served on the Arkansas through the remainder of his first enlistment, which ended in 1921.  He then reenlisted later that year and as an enlisted man, he served aboard many ships in the US fleet.  His service during peacetime lasted for 20 years until he was transferred to the fleet reserve in August 1939.  The following month Nazi Germany invaded Poland and Albert was recalled to active duty on September 27th, 1939.

Throughout his naval career, it was reported that Albert only served on surface vessels, but in 1942 he was assigned to the submarine repair unit in San Diego.  During his five month assignment there he received a commission as an ensign.  

After receiving additional diesel training at the University of Wisconsin he was sent to Norfolk and then to Texas.  In Texas, Albert was assigned to the destroyer USS Pillsbury which was officially commissioned in June 1943, and while there he was promoted to lieutenant junior grade.

Aboard the Pillsbury, Albert served as the ship's assistant engineering and electrical officer as the ship escorted convoys to Casablanca and Morocco.  By 1944, the Pillsbury was part of a hunter-killer task force led by the carrier USS Guadalcanal.  This task force was operating off the northwestern coast of Africa in search of German vessels.

On June 4th, 1944, they spotted the German Uboat U-505 about 150 miles off the coast.  The task force gave chase and one vessel deployed depth charges which disabled the submarine's rudder controls.  The U-505 began to take on water, flooding some compartments, which forced it to the surface.

The sub’s commander gave the order for his men to abandon ship and set demolitions to scuttle the ship in an attempt to send all valuable intel to the ocean floor and safe from the Allied Forces.  

With little time to react, nine men, led by Albert, were lowered from the Pillsbury by boat.  They quickly made their way to the sub, but it was circling erratically and it wasn’t an easy task to board it.  Not only was it going to be a dangerous boarding due to the sub’s movements, they were well aware that they faced the real risk of the sub sinking or the demolition charges detonating.  Also, they had to act as though there were still crewmembers aboard the sub waiting to ambush anyone attempting to keep the sub from sinking. 

With careful maneuvering of their boat, the men were able to climb atop the sub and Albert gave orders on how they would proceed.  They made their way down the tower hatch into the sub.  Their first task was to ensure that the sub was clear of any threats from Germans still aboard, and they were happy to find that the sub was abandoned.  

By this point the sub was taking on a lot of water and no one would have second guessed Albert’s decision to abandon the sub, letting it sink to the bottom.  But that wasn’t what Albert ordered.  He directed some of the men to close the opened valves and others to disarm the demolition charges.  Though the valves were closed, the sub was still taking on water.  They worked hard to contain the leaks and turned off its diesel engines.    

Though not totally safe from sinking, they had other important tasks to complete. Albert directed sailors to gather any sensitive material, which ended up including charts, codebooks, an Enigma decoding machine, and other classified materials.  Around this time, men from the Guadalcanal joined them in their efforts to keep the sub seaworthy.  With a lot of effort, much of which was by direction of Albert, they were able to do so.  

With Albert’s leadership and the hard work of all the men involved, the capture of the U-505 was the first enemy vessel captured by the US since 1815.  With the sub seaworthy, it was towed across the Atlantic, arriving in Bermuda two weeks later on June 19th.    

While the salvage mission was in full swing, sailors of the task group were able to rescue all but one of the crew of the U-505.  The sensitive materials that were secured from the sub helped shape the Allied war effort.  They were able to decode encrypted map coordinates of other U-boat operating areas.  In addition, they gained the ability to decode enemy submarine messages in real time.  What the allies learned about the U-505 specifically was that it was much more advanced than believed.  It was operating with the latest in torpedo, radar, and advanced systems which played a key role in the U-505 sinking eight Allied ships before it was captured.   

For his actions that day, Lt. Albert David was awarded the Navy Cross and he was promoted to lieutenant soon after.  His Navy Cross would later be withdrawn as it was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the only one awarded to a member of the Navy in the Atlantic theater of the war.    

Lt. David was set to receive the medal in October 1945, but he sadly passed away a month prior due to illness and was buried at the Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

On October 5th, 1945 at a White House ceremony, President Truman presented the Medal of Honor to his widow Lynda.

Though Lt. Albert David’s heroics are not widely known to most Americans, his legacy does live on. The Navy named a destroyer in his honor, the USS Albert David, and it served our nation for over 20 years before it was decommissioned in 1988. 

Lt. Albert David exemplified unparalleled bravery and selflessness during a critical moment in history. He went above and beyond the call of duty while attached to the USS Pillsbury. His valiant service not only contributed materially to the war effort, it also upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Navy. His unwavering courage and commitment stand as a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who serve and sacrifice for the greater good.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Duty & Valor.  To read more about this week’s hero, check out the sources used in today's episode in our show notes and at dutyandvalor.com.  

If you want to listen to our episodes early, we release new episodes on our YouTube channel of the same name on Fridays at 5pm.  Also, on our channel we release daily YouTube shorts that highlight our Nation’s heroes, most of whom haven’t been featured on the show yet. 

Be sure to like, follow, and share our episodes and please join us for our next episode, where we'll be sharing the inspiring story of another American hero who served with pride and lived with humility.