BMC William Bleyer joined the Coast Guard in 2007. He has served at nine units, including three tours with Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, and is currently assigned to Sector North Carolina’s Ready for Operations Team. He has had ten articles published in the Coast Guard Compass blog and Reservist magazine and served as editor and a copywriter for the U.S. Coast Guard Pentagon Exhibit.

Articles by William A. Bleyer

17 April 1943: Guns ablaze, the USCGC Spencer bears down on U-175 after having blown the U-boat to the surface with depth charges.

A Nautical Knife Fight

By Chief Petty Officer William A. Bleyer, U.S. Coast Guard
April 2024
A gripping account of one of the most dramatic U.S. Coast Guard engagements of World War II, when the USCGC Spencer attacked, boarded, and sank U-175 in April 1943.