By Bob Davidsson
U.S. Navy historians call it a "Second Pearl Harbor." To the German Kriegsmarine, it was the "Second Happy Time" for submariners. It was the Battle of the Atlantic along the U.S. East Coast, and between January and August 1942 the battle line was just offshore of Palm Beach County.
German Admiral Karl Donitz unleashed "Untermehmen Parkenschlag" (Operation Drumbeat) just five days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The total number and tonnage of allied ships lost in this eight-month operation far surpassed the Japanese raid on the Seventh Fleet in Honolulu.
The first wave of Operation Drumbeat consisted of five Type IX long-range undersea boats, U-123, U-130, U-66, U-105 and U-125. Each submarine was commanded by a U-boat "Ace" with at least five allied shipping kills to his credit. In the first month of their patrol, the five U-boats sank 25 tankers and merchant ships along the East Coast without a loss.
The British "Y" intelligence service intercepted and decoded U-boat messages and warned both the Canadian and U.S. Navy commands of "a heavy concentration of U-boats off the North American Seaboard" in late December 1941. Admiral Ernest King, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Fleet, disregarded the Royal Navy report and ignored British requests for immediate coastal ship convoys and the blackout of cities along the East Coast.
With a similar spirit of naval inertia, Admiral Adolphus Andrews, the Eastern Sea Frontier commander responsible for the defense of Florida and the East Coast, did not organize the Navy's first coastal convoy until May 1942. About 5,000 merchant seamen, passengers and sailors would lose their lives due to this delay in defensive measures.
An "Official Blackout Order" was not issued for Palm Beach until April 11, 1942. It was "requested" by Gov. Spessard L. Holland and the Key West Naval Commander. The order was implemented locally by the Palm Beach Civilian Defense Council and its volunteer Civilian Defense wardens.
The state Blackout Order reads, "It is requested that you immediately take steps to have extinguished all street lights on the waterfront streets and highways at once, and those actually on the oceanfront, and not those on the west side..."
A second wave of U-boats set sail for the U.S. coastline on Jan. 6, 1942. The early success of Operation Drumbeat persuaded the Kriegsmarine command to launch "Operation Neuland (New Land)," a third wave of U-boats sent throughout the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico just seven days later.
Operation Neuland undersea boats U-156, U-67, U-502, U-161 and U-129, were joined by five long-range Italian submarines of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) on patrol from the Florida Straits to the coast of South America during 1942.
A total of 121 ships, including 42 vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, were sunk by U-boats along the U.S. coastline in 1942, according to the U.S. Merchant Marine and War Shipping Administration. Of the 24 ships sunk in Florida waters during the first six months of 1942, eight were in the vicinity of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.
Throughout its history, dating back to the time of the first voyage of Ponce de Leon, the Jupiter Inlet was used as a landmark by passing ships. During Operation Drumbeat, the Jupiter Lighthouse attracted U-boats like a magnet.
Most of the carnage along the Palm Beaches can be traced to three U-boat Aces, Commanders Hans-Georg Friedrich Poske in U-504, Reinhard Suhren in U-564 and Peter-Erich Cremer's U-333. They were part of the second wave of U-boats sent to the southeastern coast of the U.S. to disrupt shipping off the coast of Florida.
U-504 Begins Its 'Happy Time' Off Palm Beach
U-504 was a large Type IX-C submarine launched in April 1941. Commander Poske led the U-boat on four patrols between July 1941 and January 1943. He would sink 15 allied ships (78,123 tons of shipping) before being reassigned to shore duty.
While on patrol off the coast of Palm Beach County, Poske sighted the U.S. steam tanker "Republic" (5,287 tons) 3.5 miles northeast of Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and slammed two torpedoes into its port side. The tanker listed to starboard and settled by its stern on a reef five miles southeast of Hobe Sound.
Master Alfred Anderson and 21 survivors rowed a lifeboat to shore and were transported by truck to Palm Beach. A second lifeboat was picked up by a passing tanker and its merchant seamen were dropped off at Port Everglades.
The next day the U.S. tanker "W.D. Anderson," carrying 133,360 barrels of crude oil, was torpedoed 12 miles northeast of the Jupiter Light. Witnesses would later claim the resulting explosion could be heard as far south as Boca Raton. Only one of 35 crew members survived as the tanker burst into flames and sank.
Commander Poske briefly turned his U-boat away from the coast to elude pursuers. His next victim was the Dutch motor tanker "Mamura" which carried a cargo of refined gasoline. The tanker was torpedoed off the coast of the Palm Beaches on Feb. 26. The Dutch ship caught fire and broke into two. Master Rink Dobbinga and his entire crew of 48 died at sea.
After sinking three ships in four days off the southeast coast of Florida, U-504 slipped into the Caribbean where it would claim the merchant ships "Stangarth," "Allister," "Tela," "Rosenberg," "Crijnssen," "American" and "Regent". Mercifully, Commander Poske ran out of torpedoes before he could inflict further damages to allied shipping.
It would take the combined efforts of four British sloops to sink U-504 July 30, 1943 during a running fight off the coast of Spain.
U-564: The Slaughter at Sea Continues
Commander Suhren led U-564, a smaller Type VII-C submarine launched on Feb. 7, 1941, on six patrols at sea, resulting in the sinking of 18 allied ships. Suhren was on his sixth and final patrol with U-564 when he entered the coastal waters of Palm Beach County.
His first victim was the British steam merchant ship "Ocean Venus," torpedoed and sunk 12 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral on May 3. Master John Park and 42 crew members were able to row to shore and the safety of the cape.
The next day, the British steam tanker "Eclipse" was torpedoed near Fort Lauderdale. The tanker settled to the bottom in shallow water. The ship was later salvaged and towed into Port Everglades for repairs. Two members of its crew died in the attack by U-564.
The third target was the American merchant steam ship "Delisle" (3,478 tons), hit by one torpedo 15 miles offshore of the Jupiter Inlet on May 5. The explosion opened a 20-by-30 foot hole by the engine room.
The crew abandoned ship and rowed to shore near Stuart. When they found their ship still floating the next day, the crew boarded the "Delisle" and assisted a Navy tug sent to tow the stricken vessel to Miami. The "Delisle's" reprieve was short-lived. She struck a mine planted by U-220 and sank Oct. 19, 1943 near St. Johns, Canada.
The American steam merchant ship "Ohioan" (6,078 tons) was hit by one torpedo May 8 while steering an evasive course 10 miles off the coast of Boynton Beach. The ship rolled over and sank in three minutes, killing 15 of 27 crew members.
The suction from the sinking ship caused most of the deaths. The survivors were rescued from their six rafts by the U.S. Coast Guard and transported to West Palm Beach for medical care.
The next day, the Panamanian motor tanker "Lubrafal," carrying a cargo of 67,000 barrels of heating oil, was torpedoed 3.5 miles east of the Hillsboro Inlet. The crew abandoned ship in three lifeboats.
One lifeboat caught fire and sank, causing 13 deaths. The two surviving boats were towed free of the stricken ship and came ashore at Boynton Beach. The "Lubrafal" drifted north for two days and sank May 11 in shallow water.
U-564 ended its patrol by sinking the Mexican steam tanker "Potrero del Llano" May 14 off the coast of Cape Florida. The attack on a neutral vessel was used as justification for the Republic of Mexico's declaration of war on Germany June 1, 1942.
The U-boat ended its successful sixth patrol and returned to the submarine pens in France. She was bombed by British aircraft June 14, 1943 while on its ninth patrol in the Bay of Biscay.
U-333: A Triple Threat on the Treasure Coast
Like its sister ship, U-333 was a fast Type VII-C submarine launched by the Kriegsmarine on June 14, 1941. Commander Cremer would sink six allied ships as the skipper of U-333 between August 1941 and October 1942. His second patrol in U-333 lasted 58 days and included an unwanted visit to the Palm Beaches.
Three allied ships fell victim to U-boat on May 6, 1942. The American tanker "Halsey" (7,188 tons), carrying 40,000 barrels of heating oil and a cargo of unstable naphtha, was spotted by U-333 off Jupiter Inlet, hit by two torpedoes and sank just south of St. Lucie Inlet. Exploding naphtha ripped a 60-foot hole in the port side and the ship split in two.
Surviving crew refused rescue from U-333, when Commander Cremer surfaced his submarine. Fishing boats took the lifeboats in tow and brought them to the Gilberts Bar Coast Guard Rescue Station.
U-333 followed the currents north to Fort Pierce, where the Dutch steam merchant ship "Amazone" was torpedoed 16 miles southeast of the inlet. The submarine's two 67-e torpedoes sank the ship in two minutes with the loss of 14 of 20 crew members.
The third vessel to cross the path of U-333 on May 6 was the American tanker "Jane Arrow" east of Vero Beach. The ship was torpedoed and abandoned by its crew. The Coast Guard boarded the vessel and decided it could be salvaged. Master Sigvard Hennichen and 14 merchantmen returned to their vessel and worked as a repair party as two tugs slowly pulled the tanker to Port Everglades.
On its next patrol, U-333 was badly damaged in a battle with the corvette "HMS Crocus" on Oct. 6, 1942. Commander Cremer was injured in the struggle and hospitalized in France. All three U-boat Aces survived the war, but their submarines were destroyed.
The 'End of the Beginning' at Sea
Operation Neuland also was the high point of effectiveness for the large Calvi-class Italian Regia Marina submarines that harassed allied shipping from the Florida Straits south to the coast of Brazil in 1942. While U-504, U-564 and U-333 attacked shipping along the southeast coast of Florida, the "Enrico Tazzoli (TZ)," commanded by Count Carlo Fecia di Cassato, sank allied ships attempting to slip past their east flank in the Bahamas Islands.
In February 1942, the "Tazzoli" sailed from Bordeaux, France, with the planned destination of Florida. Count Cossato used the numerous channels and harbors in the Bahamas as a hideout during his 58-day eighth patrol. The submarine sank the "Montevideo," "Cygnet," the British tanker "Daytonian" and the tanker "Athelqueen" in succession between Feb. 8 and March 15 in Bahamian waters.
The "Tazzoli" was damaged by wreckage from the "Athelqueen" and forced to return to its base in France for repairs. Before Italy's surrender in 1943, Count Cossato would be credited with sinking 18 allied vessels. The "Tazzoli" was sunk in the Bay of Biscay May 23, 1943 while en route to Japan on a courier mission.
One final disaster is associated with the U-boat campaign off Palm Beach County. On Oct. 21, 1943, the tankers "Gulfland" and "Gulf Belle" collided, burned and ran aground near Jupiter Inlet. Both vessels were running without lights to avoid attacks by U-boats when the prow of the "Gulf Belle" smashed into the "Gulfland" near the Lake Worth Inlet.
The "Gulf Belle" drifted north and grounded near Jupiter Inlet, but was salvaged and towed to port. The "Gulfland," carrying a cargo of aviation fuel, struck the sunken wreck "Republic" and burned for 52 days off Jupiter Island. A section of the wreck remains a popular dive site today.
The scheduling of regular coastal convoys, guarded by Navy ships, in the summer of 1942 marked the beginning of the end of the Kriegmarine's "Second Happy Time" along the Atlantic coastline. Blackouts were enforced along the coast. Coast watchers and Civil Air Patrol squadrons reported the surface movements of U-boats which were then attacked by air and sea.
After the war, several reports circulated of U-boat crew members landing along the 41-mile coastline of Palm Beach County in 1942-43. None are verified by the FBI or military documents.
Admiral Donitz canceled Operation Drumbeat in August 1942, with U-boat squadrons along the eastern seaboard pulled back to attack convoys in the North Atlantic. Individual U-boats continued to harass the East Coast but their success rate rapidly declined.
Only 22 ships were sunk in 1943 and a mere 11 kills were reported in 1944, according to U.S. Merchant Marine statistics. The final tally for Operations Drumbeat and Neuland were 609 ships destroyed (3.1 million tons), about one-third of all allied vessels lost in the Battle of the Atlantic. The Kriegsmarine lost 22 U-boats along America's eastern coastline.
(c.) 2015.
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