Claudius commanded Patrol Coastal 566 when it engaged the U-boat on June 30, 1942. The German vessels were hunting merchant ships along the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

At 6:40 p.m., the 567-foot vessel is struck by a torpedo sent from the German U-boat UB-77. Within hours, it sinks, sending more than 200 men to a watery grave.

U-boat sinks tug, barges off Cape Cod. ... The U-boat was still trying to find vulnerable spots In the Perth Amboy and the remaining barge when the hydroairplanes again approached.

On Feb. 5, 1918, a German U-boat torpedoed the SS Tuscania, sinking the liner as it transported thousands of U.S. troops to Europe. More than 200 died.

The only way to get them to the island is by boat -- but not just any boat. In 1920, Congress passed a law restricting all trade between U.S. ports to American-flagged vessels crewed by U.S. citizens.