British Cemetery (Ocracoke)

On May 11, 1942, a German torpedo from U-boat 558 struck HMT Bedfordshire, killing all 37 British and Canadian sailors aboard. Four bodies washed ashore on Ocracoke Island. Residents buried them here. A lease was given to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for as long as the land remains a cemetery, making the 2,290-square-foot plot officially British soil — maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Every May, the National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, and British Royal Navy hold a ceremony at the graves.