Battle of the Caribbean

The Battle of the Caribbean refers to a naval campaign waged during World War II that was part of the Battle of the Atlantic, from 1941 to 1945.One U.S. naval source gives different dates for the battle. See Smith, Commander C. Alphonso, U.S. Naval Reserve, "Battle of the Caribbean", Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, Vol. 80/9/619, September 1954: "The Battle of the Caribbean lasted nine and a half months—from February 16, 1942, to November 30, 1942." German U-boats and Italian submarines attempted to disrupt the Allied supply of oil and other material. They sank shipping in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and attacked coastal targets in the Antilles. Improved Allied anti-submarine warfare eventually drove the Axis submarines out of the Caribbean region.

Background The Caribbean was strategically significant because of Venezuelan oil fields in the southeast and the Panama Canal in the southwest. The Royal Dutch Shell refinery on Dutch-owned Curaçao was processing eleven million barrels per month, more than any other oil refinery in the world at that time. The refinery at Pointe-à-Pierre on Trinidad was the largest in the British Empire and Lago Oil and Transport Company was another large refinery on Dutch-owned Aruba. The British Isles required four oil tankers of petroleum daily during the early war years, and most of it came from Venezuela, through Curaçao, after Italy blocked passage through the Mediterranean Sea from the Middle East.Kelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) pp.7–22

The Caribbean held additional strategic significance to the United States. The United States' Gulf of Mexico coastline, including petroleum facilities and Mississippi River trade, could be defended at two points. The United States was well positioned to defend the Straits of Florida but was less able to prevent access from the Caribbean through the Yucatán Channel. Bauxite was the preferred ore for aluminum, and one of the few strategic raw materials not available within the continental United States. United States military aircraft production depended upon bauxite imported from the Guianas along shipping routes paralleling the Lesser Antilles. The United States defended the Panama Canal with 189 bombers and 202 fighters, and based submarines at Colón, Panama and at Submarine Base, Crown Bay, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.The Navy Department Library: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940–1946, Volume II, Part III, The Advance Bases: Chapter XVIII: Bases in South America and the Caribbean Area, Including BermudaKelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) pp.7–18 United States Navy VP-51 Consolidated PBY Catalinas began neutrality patrols along the Lesser Antillies from San Juan, Puerto Rico on 13 September 1939; and facilities were upgraded at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and at Naval Air Station Key West.Scarborough, William E. "The Neutralitv Patrol: To Keep Us Out of World War II?" pp.18–23 Naval Aviation News March–April 1990

The United Kingdom based No. 749, 750, 752 and 793 Naval Air Squadrons at Piarco International Airport on Trinidad. British troops occupied Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire soon after the Netherlands were captured by Nazi Germany. The French island of Martinique was perceived as a possible base for Axis ships as British relationships with Vichy France deteriorated following the Second Armistice at Compiègne. The September 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement enabled the United States to build airfields in British Guiana, and on the islands of Great Exuma, Trinidad, Antigua, and Saint Lucia. On 11 February 1942, United States forces replaced British soldiers on the Dutch refinery islands and began operating Douglas A-20 Havocs from Hato Field on Curaçao and Dakota Field on Aruba.Kelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) pp.4–24

Axis operations

Operation Neuland

The first offensive against the Caribbean refineries was organised under the command of Kapitänleutnant (lieutenant) Werner Hartenstein aboard with and , , , and . The first three U-boats launched simultaneous attacks on 16 February 1942. U-502 sank crude oil tankers Monagas, Tia Juana and San Nicholas between Lake Maracaibo and Aruba. U-67 entered Willemstad harbour on Curaçao and torpedoed three oil tankers. The four torpedoes from the bow tubes were duds, but the stern tube torpedoes sank Rafaela. U-156 entered San Nicolas harbour on Aruba and torpedoed oil tankers Pedernales, Oranjestad and Arkansas. U-156 then attempted to shell the Aruba refinery with its 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun; but the gun barrel burst when the first shell exploded because the gun crew failed to remove the tampion.Kelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) pp.26–33 The Germans slightly damaged a large storage tank. A Venezuelan gunboat, , assisted in rescuing the crews of several torpedoed vessels; and A-20 Havoc light bombers attacked all three U-boats unsuccessfully; resulting in an increased American occupation of the island for its protection.

U-161 entered Trinidad's Gulf of Paria on 18 February to torpedo Mokihama and the oil tanker British Consul. As the U-boats settled into routine patrolling, U-67 torpedoed oil tankers J.N.Pew and Penelope; U-502 torpedoed oil tankers Kongsgaard, Thallia and Sun; U-156 torpedoed Delplata and oil tanker La Carriere; U-161 torpedoed Lihue and oil tankers Circle Shell, Uniwaleco and Esso Bolivar; and U-129 torpedoed George L. Torrain, West Zeda, Lennox, Bayou, Mary, Steel Age and the oil tanker Nordvangen. The U-156 crew used hacksaws to cut off the damaged portion of the gun barrel; and, when U-156 ran out of torpedoes, used their sawn-off deck gun to sink Macgregor and the oil tanker Oregon. On 10 March U-161 entered Castries harbour on Saint Lucia to torpedo and Umtata. After leaving Saint Lucia, U-161 torpedoed Sarniadoc and sank the United States Coast Guard lighthouse tender with gunfire.Kelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) pp.26–68

Other operations Five Italian submarines patrolled the Atlantic side of the Lesser Antillies during Operation Neuland. Morosini torpedoed Stangarth and oil tankers Oscilla and Peder Bogen. Enrico Tazzoli torpedoed Cygnet and the oil tanker Athelqueen. Giuseppe Finzi torpedoed Skane and oil tankers Melpomere and Charles Racine. torpedoed Everasma and the neutral Brazilian Cabadelo. Luigi Torelli torpedoed Scottish Star and the oil tanker Esso Copenhagen. was simultaneously patrolling the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola torpedoing Gunny, Barbara, Cardona, Texan, Olga, Colabee, and oil tankers Hanseat and Halo between 2 March and 13 March.Blair, Clay Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942 Random House (1996) pp.503–513 moved south from Florida.Kelshall, Gaylord T.M. The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Press (1994) p.67

A German submarine shelled the Puerto Rican island of Mona, some forty miles west of the mainland of Puerto Rico, on March 3, 1942. No damage or casualties resulted."Puerto Rican Isle Shelled by Enemy." The New York Times, March 4, 1942.

An oil refinery on Curaçao was shelled on 19 April 1942 by under Korvettenkapitän (lieutenant commander) Ernst Kals. The small engagement ended in a German failure. Kals ordered the shelling of several petroleum storage tanks but after only five shots, a Dutch shore battery responded which forced him to abort. Later a German U-boat attacked a merchant ship off Curaçao and was engaged by Dutch anti-aircraft and naval gun batteries but again the submarine escaped unharmed.The United States Coast Artillery Command on Aruba and Curaçao in World War II The Coast Defense Study Group Journal, Volume 11, Issue 2.

German submarines sank two Dominican merchant marine ships in May 1942, after the Dominican Republic entered World War II on the side of the Allies.

Attacks on Allied shipping was an American-flagged, cargo ship that was sunk on the morning of 13 May in the Caribbean by a U-boat. She was transporting a load of random cargo from Pensacola, Florida to Venezuela when attacked by east of Bonaire. At 03:38, U-69—under the command of Kptlt. Ulrich Graf—fired two torpedoes from a surfaced position. Both torpedoes missed, so Graf ordered his crew to close the range to and to open fire with the deck gun at 03:47. U-69 began shelling Norlantic as she attempted to flee the scene. After several hits the American ship signaled the Germans to cease fire so they could escape the inferno in their life-rafts. The Germans failed to hold their fire while two lifeboats were lowered, then at 04:11 they fired a coup de grâce which hit Norlantics boiler room. She sank, taking six men down with her, two men were killed by the torpedo and four men killed from the shelling. Norlantics surviving crew were then adrift at sea for several days before being rescued by Allied ships.

German U-boats sank two Mexican tankers, on 14 May by Reinhard Suhren's off Florida, and Faja de Oro on 21 May by Hermann Rasch's off Key West. Sixteen men died in the two attacks. This prompted Mexico to declare war on Germany on 22 May 1942.

SS was a tanker of the Standard Oil and Transportation Company during World War II when torpedoed her. The attack occurred on 20 May just southwest of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea. Attempts to tow her to port did not succeed, and she sank on 28 May, at position 12° 50' north, 67° 32' west.

The tanker was sunk by on 11 June about north of the Cuban coast. The American ship holding thousands of barrels of molasses was hit in the engine room. The torpedo destroyed the engines and caused a boiler to explode and a moment later another torpedo hit the ship. Six men were killed and 38 survivors made it to shore. Two days later, U-157 was sunk by USCGC Thetis.

attacked the Mexican tanker on 4 September at the position 23°27′N 97°30′W / 23.45°N 97.5°W / 23.45; -97.5. The Mexicans evaded three attacks of two torpedoes each before being hit by one in a final spread. Amatlan sank with 10 men and another 24 sailors survived.

On 11 September, —under Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Auffermann—torpedoed the armed Canadian steam merchant off the coastline of Bridgetown. The ship sank in shallow waters after a short exchange, but was raised and towed to Trinidad in December 1942 and later towed to Mobile, Alabama, arriving on 24 January 1943. The ship was repaired and returned to service in August 1943, but was torpedoed a second time, this time by on 3 December 1944 in the Gulf of Maine, and sank.

On 5 July 1943, to the west of Port-Salut, Haiti, encountered the American-flagged steamer Maltran, which was part of Convoy GTMO-134. U-759 fired torpedoes and at least one hit the vessel. Maltran sank within 15 minutes of being hit, though all of her crew survived and escaped the danger in lifeboats. The crew was later rescued by . On 7 July, U-759 torpedoed the Dutch cargo ship Poelau Roebiah, in Convoy TAG-70. The ship sank just east of Jamaica, taking down two men. Sixty-eight others were rescued. After sinking Poelau Roebiah U-759 was chased down and attacked by the U.S. Navy the following day. A PBM Mariner flying boat first dropped a load of explosives over the sub, and then for seven hours American surface vessels depth charged the area, but U-759 escaped without damage or loss of life.

Losses

Axis vessels