In early June 1918, the German U-boat U-151 brought the reality of World War I to the Jersey Shore. In one day it had attacked and sunk six ships, leaving hundreds stranded in lifeboats awaiting rescue. U-151 then headed south, leaving the U.S. Navy and those on shore in a state of shock and confusion.

Shortly after midnight on June 4, 36 men in two lifeboats from the steamship Texel landed on the Atlantic City beach at Vermont Avenue. Capt.