Finally, each team was supplied with four waterproof wooden crates, each about twice the size of a shoebox. Three were filled with dynamite, some pieces disguised as lumps of coal. The fourth box carried fuses, timing devices, wire, incendiary pen and pencil sets and sulfuric acid.

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As far as the Abwehr was concerned, these were only the first of many sabotage teams that would be slipped into America at the rate of one or two every six weeks. Once the network was fully operational, Kappe planned to join his men in America and direct their activities.

Although Dasch’s team was the last to leave, it was the first to arrive. U-202 made the 3,000-mile-plus trip across the Atlantic in 15 days, traveling underwater during the day, on the surface at night. At 8 o’clock Friday evening, June 12, U-202 came within sight of the American coast. She submerged and slowly crept closer, grounding about 50 yards off the shore at 11 p.m. Because of the fog, visibility was terrible.

Dressed as German marines–so they would not be shot as spies if they were caught during the landing–Dasch and his team crawled into an inflatable rubber boat and their crates were loaded aboard. Two armed German sailors rowed the boat to shore, where the sabotage team changed into civilian clothing.

While the others were burying the crates and uniforms, Dasch climbed over a dune to reconnoiter. Suddenly he spotted a young Coast Guardsman headed in his direction, waving a flashlight. Terrified that the Coast Guardsman would spot the half-buried boxes and the rest of his team, Dasch quickly walked toward him.

The saboteur told the Coast Guardsman that he and some friends on the beach were stranded fishermen. The Coast Guardsman suggested they take shelter at the Coast Guard station, less than half a mile away. Dasch declined, saying that he and his friends had no IDs or fishing permits. Not surprisingly, the young Coast Guardsman started to get suspicious.

Just then, Ernest Burger came up out of the fog. Thinking Dasch was talking to one of the sailors, he asked a question in German. Dasch ordered him to shut up and go away. Burger did as he was told, but now the Coast Guardsman was certain something funny was going on. Burger climbed back over the dune and told the others to stay out of sight.

Meanwhile, Dasch and the Coast Guardsman were having an odd exchange:

“How old are you?” Dasch asked the young man.

“Twenty-one.”

“Do you have a father?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a mother?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to kill you,” said Dasch. “Forget about this and I’ll give you some money and you can have a good time.” Dasch held out two $50 bills, which the Coast Guardsman refused. He added more bills and tried again. This time his offer was accepted. Then Dasch did something that was to prove very important later on. He grabbed the Coast Guardsman’s flashlight and shone it on his own face. “You’ll be meeting me in East Hampton sometime,” he said. “Do you know me?”

“No sir, I never saw you before in my life.”

“My name is George John Davis. What’s yours?”

“Frank Collins,” the Coast Guardsman said. Then, without another word, he bolted, disappearing into the fog.

Dasch sauntered back to the group and told everyone he had the Coast Guardsman “buffaloed.” He and his team nervously finished burying everything and walked to the road. Eventually, the four men found the Long Island Railroad station at Amagansett. They caught the 6:57 to New York, joining a few Saturday morning commuters.

Meanwhile, “Frank Collins”–actually Seaman 2nd Class John Cullen–ran back to the Coast Guard station and roused some colleagues. They picked up weapons and hurried back to the beach. Dasch and the others were gone. But through the fog, the Coast Guardsmen spotted the departing submarine. When they searched the beach, they found freshly dug holes and, inside of them, the four wooden munitions crates, as well as a duffel bag filled with German uniforms.

By 10:23 a.m., the boxes were at the New York City office of Captain John Baylis, New York Coast Guard commander. He called the Federal Bureau of Investigation. By noon, 13 hours after Dasch and his men had arrived, the FBI had taken possession of everything the saboteurs had brought from Germany except their clothes and money.

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