American Theater (1939–1945)
Encyclopedia
The American Theater of World War II was a minor area of operations mainly due to the continent's geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict
in Europe
and Asia
. This article includes attacks on continental territory, extending 200 miles [370 km] into the ocean, which is today under the sovereignty of the United States
, Canada
, Mexico
and several other smaller states but excludes military action involving the Danish
territory of Greenland
, the Hawaiian Islands
and the Aleutian Islands.
The first naval battle during the war was fought on December 13 1939 off the Atlantic coast of South America
. The German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spee
(acting as a commerce raider) encountered one of the British forces searching for it. The group of three Royal Navy
cruiser
s, HMS Exeter
, Ajax
and Achilles
, were patrolling off the River Plate
estuary of Argentina
and Uruguay
. In a bloody engagement the Graf Spee initially repulsed the British attacks but the German Captain
Hans Langsdorff
took shelter in neutral Uruguay. Langsdorff was deceived into believing a superior British force waited at sea and scuttled his vessel at Montevideo
rather than face battle or internment. The Germans lost their ship and ninety-six killed or wounded and their opponents suffered seventy-two killed and twenty-eight wounded along with two ships damaged.
who spied for Germany in both World Wars and is best known as "The man who killed Kitchener
" after he was awarded the Iron Cross
for his key role in the sabotage and sinking of HMS Hampshire
in 1916. William G. Sebold
, a double agent
for the United States, was a major factor in the FBI's successful resolution of this case. For nearly two years, Sebold ran a radio station in New York for the ring, giving the FBI valuable information on what Germany was sending to its spies in the United States while also controlling the information that was being transmitted to Germany. On June 29, 1941, the FBI closed in. All 33 spies were arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison.
ordered the remaining German saboteur
s to wreak havoc on the country. The responsibility for carrying this out was given to German Intelligence (Abwehr
). In June 1942, eight agents were recruited and divided into two teams: the first, commanded by George John Dasch
, with Ernst Peter Burger
, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin; the second, under the command of Edward Kerling, with Hermann Neubauer, Werner Thiel and Herbert Haupt.
On June 12, 1942, the U-boat
U-202 landed Dasch's team with explosives and plans at East Hampton
, Long Island
, New York. Their mission was to destroy power plants at Niagara Falls and three Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA
) factories in Illinois, Tennessee and New York. Dasch instead turned himself in to the FBI, providing them with a complete account of the planned mission, which led to the arrest of the entire team.
Kerling's team landed from U-584 at Ponte Vedra Beach (25 miles [40 km] south-east of Jacksonville, Florida
), on June 17. They were tasked with laying mines in four areas: the Pennsylvania Railroad
in Newark, New Jersey
, canal sluices in both St. Louis and Cincinnati, and New York City's water supply pipes. The team made their way to Cincinnati, Ohio
and split up, with two going to Chicago, Illinois and the others to New York. The Dasch confession led to the arrest of all of the men by July 10.
All eight German agents were tried, convicted by the Military Commission, with six men sentenced to death. President Roosevelt approved the sentences. The constitutionality of the military commissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Quirin
and the six men were executed by electrocution on August 8. Dasch and Burger were given thirty-year prison sentences. Both were released in 1948 and deported to Germany. Dasch (aka George Davis), who had been a longtime American resident before the war, suffered a difficult life in Germany after his return from U.S. custody because of his cooperation with U.S. authorities. As a condition of his deportation, he was not permitted to return to the United States, even though he spent many years writing letters to prominent American authorities (J. Edgar Hoover, President Eisenhower, etc.) seeking permission to return. He eventually moved to Switzerland and wrote a book, titled Eight Spies Against America.
("Magpie"). Elster involved Erich Gimpel
and German-American defector William Colepaugh
. Their mission objective was to gather intelligence on the Manhattan Project
and attempt sabotage if possible. The pair sailed from Kiel on U-1230
and landed at Hancock Point, Maine
on November 30, 1944. Both made their way to New York, but the operation degenerated into total failure. Colepaugh turned himself in to the FBI on December 26, confessing the whole plan; Gimpel was arrested four days later in New York. Both men were sentenced to death but eventually had their sentences commuted. Gimpel spent 10 years in prison; Colepaugh was released in 1960 and operated a business in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
before retiring to Florida.
agent, Marius A. Langbein, was landed by a U-boat (possibly U-217) near St. Martins, New Brunswick
, Canada. His mission was to observe and report shipping movements at Halifax
, Nova Scotia (the main departure port for North Atlantic convoys). Langbein, who had lived in Canada before the war, changed his mind and moved to Ottawa, where he lived off his Abwehr funds until he surrendered to the Canadian authorities in December 1944. A jury found Langbein not guilty of spying, since he had never committed any hostile acts against Canada during the war.
in Conception Bay
, Newfoundland
, en route to the Gaspé Peninsula
where, despite an attack by a Royal Canadian Air Force
aircraft, it successfully landed a spy, Werner von Janowski, at New Carlisle, Quebec
on November 9, 1942. He was soon apprehended after Earle Annett Jr., manager of the New Carlisle Hotel, at which Janowski was staying, became suspicious and alerted authorities to a stranger using obsolete currency at the hotel bar. The R.C.M.P.
arrested Janowski on a CNR passenger train headed for Montreal
. Inspection of Janowski's personal effects upon his arrest revealed that he was carrying a powerful radio transmitter, among other things. Janowski later spent some time as a double agent, sending false messages to the Abwehr in Germany. The effectiveness and honesty of his "turn" is a matter of some dispute. In The Double Cross System, John Cecil Masterman
writes: "In November, WATCHDOG was landed from a U-boat in Canada together with a wireless set and an extensive questionnaire. This move on the part of the Germans threatened an extension of our activities to other parts of the world, but in fact the case did not develop very satisfactorily. ... WATCHDOG was closed down in the summer [of 1943]."
, via Bergen, Norway, with a meteorological team led by Professor Kurt Sommermeyer. They landed at Martin Bay near the northern tip of Labrador
on October 22, 1943 and successfully set up an automatic weather station ("Weather Station Kurt
" or "Wetter-Funkgerät Land-26"), despite the constant risk of Allied air patrols. The station was powered by batteries that were expected to last about three months. At the beginning of July 1944, U-867 left Bergen to replace the equipment, but was sunk en route. The weather station remained undisturbed by the locals until the 1980s and is now at the Canadian War Museum
.
offered easy pickings for German U-Boat
s (referred to as the "Second Happy Time
"). After a highly successful foray by five Type IX
long-range U-boats, the offensive was maximized by the use of short-range Type VII
U-boats, with increased fuel stores, replenished from supply U-boats
called Milchkühe (milk cows). From February to May 1942, 348 ships were sunk, for the loss of 2 U-boats during April and May. U.S. naval commanders were reluctant to introduce the convoy system that had protected trans-Atlantic shipping and, without coastal blackouts
, shipping was silhouetted against the bright lights of American towns and cities such as Atlantic City until a dim-out
was ordered in May.
The cumulative effect of this campaign was severe; a quarter of all wartime sinkings – 3.1 million tons. There were several reasons for this. The naval commander, Admiral Ernest King
, was averse to taking British recommendations to introduce convoys, U.S. Coast Guard and Navy patrols were predictable and could be avoided by U-boats, inter-service co-operation was poor, and the U.S. Navy did not possess enough suitable escort vessels (British and Canadian warships were transferred to the U.S. east coast).
cities such as New York and Boston
; indeed, some civilians sat on beach
es and watched battles between U.S. and German ships. The only documented World War II sinking of a U-boat close to New England shores occurred on May 5, 1945, when the U-853 torpedoed and sank the collier Black Point off Newport, Rhode Island
. When the Black Point was hit, the U.S. Navy immediately chased down the sub and began dropping depth charge
s. The next day, when an oil slick and floating debris appeared, they confirmed that the U-853 and its entire crew had been destroyed. In recent years, the U-853 has become a popular dive site. Its intact hull, with open hatches, is located in 130 feet (39.6 m) of water off Block Island
, Rhode Island. A wreck discovered in 1991 off the New Jersey coast was concluded in 1997 to be that of U-869. Previously, U-869 had been thought to have been sunk off Rabat
, Morocco
.
. During 1942 and 1943, more than 20 U-boats operated in the Gulf of Mexico. They attacked tankers transporting oil from ports in Texas and Louisiana, successfully sinking 56 vessels. By the end of 1943, the U-boat attacks diminished as the merchant ships began to travel in armed convoys.
In one instance, the tanker
Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River
by the German U-Boat U-507 on May 12, 1942, killing 26 crewmen. There were 14 survivors. Again, when defensive measures were introduced, ship sinkings decreased and U-boat sinkings increased.
U-166 was the only U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during the war. Once thought to have been sunk by a torpedo dropped from a U.S. Coast Guard Utility Amphibian J4F aircraft
on August 1, 1942, U-166 is now believed to have been sunk two days earlier by depth charges from the Robert E. Lee’s naval escort, the U.S. Navy sub-chaser, PC-566. It is thought that the J4F aircraft may have spotted and attacked another German submarine, U-171, which was operating in the area at the same time. U-166 lies in 5,000 feet of water within a mile of her last victim, the passenger ship SS Robert E. Lee.
and Sydney, Nova Scotia
became the primary convoy assembly ports, with Halifax being assigned the fast or priority convoys (largely troops and essential material) with the more modern merchant ships, while Sydney was given slow convoys which conveyed bulkier material on older and more vulnerable merchant ships. Both ports were heavily fortified with shore radar emplacements, search light batteries, and extensive coastal artillery stations all manned by RCN and Canadian Army regular and reserve personnel. Military intelligence agents enforced strict blackouts throughout the areas and anti-torpedo nets were in place at the harbor entrances. Despite the fact that no landings of German personnel took place near these ports, there were frequent attacks by U-boats on convoys departing for Europe. Less extensively used, but no less important, was the port of Saint John
which also saw matériel
funneled through the port, largely after the United States entered the war in December 1941. The Canadian Pacific Railway
mainline from central Canada (which crossed the state of Maine
) could be used to transport in aid of the war effort.
Although not crippling to the Canadian war effort, given the country's rail network to the east coast ports, but possibly more destructive to the morale of the Canadian public, was the Battle of the St. Lawrence
, when U-boats began to attack domestic coastal shipping along Canada's east coast in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence from early 1942 through to the end of the shipping season in late 1944.
iron mine at Wabana
on Bell Island
in Newfoundland
's Conception Bay
. The ships S.S. Saganaga and the S.S. Lord Strathcona were sunk by U-513 on September 5, 1942, while the S.S. Rosecastle and P.L.M 27 were sunk by U-518 on November 2 with the loss of 69 lives. After the sinkings the submarine fired a torpedo that missed its target, the 3,000-ton collier Anna T, and struck the DOSCO loading pier and exploded. As a result of the torpedo missing its target, Bell Island
became the only location in North America to be subject to direct attack by German forces during World War II. On October 14, 1942, the Newfoundland Railway
ferry SS Caribou
was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-69 and sunk in the Cabot Strait
south of Port aux Basques
. Caribou was carrying 45 crew and 206 civilian and military passengers. 137 lost their lives, many of them Newfoundlanders.
refinery at the San Nicolas harbour and the "Arend"/"Eagle" Maatschappij ( from the Dutch/British Shell Co.) near the Oranjestad harbour both situated on the Island of Aruba (in those days still a Dutch colony) and some ships that were near the entrance to Lake Maracaibo
on February 16, 1942. Three tankers
, including the Venezuelan Monagas, were sunk. A Venezuelan gunboat, , assisted in rescuing the crews.
A German submarine shelled the island of Mòña, some 40 miles from Puerto Rico
, on March 2.
cities such as Los Angeles
, Santa Barbara
, San Diego and Santa Monica
. During 1941 and 1942, more than 10 Japanese submarines operated in the West Coast, Alaska
and Baja California
. They attacked American, Canadian and Mexican ships, successfully sinking over 10 vessels including Soviet Navy
submarine L-16 on October 11, 1942.
was first shelled
by the Axis on February 23, 1942 when the Japanese submarine I-17
attacked the Ellwood Oil Field
west of Goleta
, near Santa Barbara, California
. Although only a pumphouse and catwalk at one oil well were damaged, I-17 captain
Nishino Kozo radioed Tokyo that he had left Santa Barbara in flames. No casualties were reported and the total cost of the damage was officially estimated at approximately $500–1,000. News of the shelling triggered an invasion scare
along the West Coast.
during 1941 and 1942. On June 20, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-26
, under the command of Yokota Minoru, fired 25-30 rounds of 5.5" shells at the Estevan Point
lighthouse on Vancouver Island
in British Columbia
, but failed to hit its target. This marked the first enemy shelling of Canadian soil since the War of 1812
. Though no casualties were reported, the subsequent decision to turn off the lights of outer stations was disastrous for shipping activity.
, under the command of Tagami Meiji, surfaced near the mouth of the Columbia River
, Oregon
on the night of June 21 and June 22, 1942, and fired shells toward Fort Stevens
. The only damage officially recorded was to a baseball field
's backstop. Probably the most significant damage was a shell that damaged some large phone cables. The Fort Stevens gunners were refused permission to return fire, since it would have helped the Japanese locate their target more accurately. American aircraft on training flights spotted the submarine, which was subsequently attacked by a US bomber, but escaped.
The Lookout Air Raids occurred on September 9, 1942. The first and only aerial bombing
of mainland America by a foreign power occurred when an attempt to start a forest fire was made by a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y1 "Glen"
seaplane
dropping two 80 kg (176.4 lb) incendiary bombs over Mount Emily
, near Brookings, Oregon
. The seaplane, piloted by Nobuo Fujita
, had been launched from the Japanese submarine aircraft carrier
I-25
. No significant damage was officially reported following the attack, nor after a repeat attempt on September 29.
Between November 1944 and April 1945, the Japanese Navy launched over 9,000 fire balloons toward North America. Carried by the recently discovered Pacific jet stream
, they were to sail over the Pacific Ocean and land in North America, where the Japanese hoped they would start forest fires and cause other damage. About three hundred were reported as reaching North America, but little damage was caused. Six people (five children and a woman) became the only deaths due to enemy action to occur on mainland America during World War II when one of the children tampered with a bomb from a balloon near Bly, Oregon
and it exploded. The site is marked by a stone monument at the Mitchell Recreation Area
in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. Recently released reports by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and the Canadian military indicate that fire balloons reached as far inland as Manitoba. A fire balloon is also considered to be a possible cause of the third fire in the Tillamook Burn
. One member of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion died while responding to a fire in the Northwest August 6, 1945; other casualties of the 555th were two fractures and 20 other injuries.
The Japanese constructed a plan early in the Pacific War
to attack the Panama Canal
, a vital water passage in Panama
, used during World War II
primarily for the Allied supply effort. The Japanese attack was never launched due to crippling naval losses at the beginning of conflict with the United States and United Kingdom
(See: Aichi M6A
).
Imperial Japanese Army
launched Project Z
(also called the Z Bombers Project) in 1942, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber
project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America. The Project Z plane was to have six engines of 5,000 horsepower each; the Nakajima Aircraft Company
quickly began developing engines for the plane, and proposed doubling HA-44 engines (the most powerful engine available in Japan) into a 36-cylinder engine. Designs were presented to the Imperial Japanese Army, including the Nakajima G10N, Kawasaki Ki-91, and Nakajima G5N
. None developed beyond prototypes or wind tunnel models, save for the G5N. In 1945, the Z project and other heavy bomber projects were cancelled.
with submarines. However, as the tides of war changed against Italy, the plan was postponed and later scrapped.
program, in which a long-range strategic bomber would strike the continental United States from the Azores
. Planning was complete in 1942, but the project was abandoned as too expensive.
During the war members of Wehrmacht attempted to influence Hitler's decision to study biological warfare only regarding defense, the head of Science Division of Wehrmacht, Erich Schumann
urged to convince Hitler that America must be attacked simultaneously with various human and animal epidemic pathogens, as well as plant pests., the plans never fruitioned due to opposition by Hitler.
, a blackout enforced by local wardens and radio silence followed that evening. The reports reaching Washington of an attack on San Francisco were regarded as credible. The affair was described as a test but Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt
of the Western Defense Command
said “Last night there were planes over this community. They were enemy planes! I mean Japanese planes! And they were tracked out to sea. You think it was a hoax? It is damned nonsense for sensible people to assume that the Army and Navy would practice such a hoax on San Francisco.” Rumors continued on the west coast in the following days. An alert of a similar nature occurred in the Northeast on December 9. At noon advices were received that hostile planes were only two hours’ distance away. Although there was no general hysteria, fighter aircraft from Mitchel Field on Long Island took the air to intercept the "raiders". Wall Street
had its worst sell off since the fall of France, school children in New York City were sent home and several radio stations left the air. In Boston police shifted heavy stores of guns and ammunition from storage vaults to stations throughout the city, and industrial establishments were advised to prepare for a raid.
, California
. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan
, but Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
speaking at a press conference shortly afterward called the incident a "false alarm." Newspapers of the time published a number of sensational reports and speculations of a cover-up. When documenting the incident in 1983, the U.S. Office of Air Force History attributed the event to a case of "war nerves" likely triggered by a lost weather balloon
and exacerbated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining batteries.
underwent a series of alerts:
Theater (warfare)
In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. This article includes attacks on continental territory, extending 200 miles [370 km] into the ocean, which is today under the sovereignty of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and several other smaller states but excludes military action involving the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
territory of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
and the Aleutian Islands.
South America
Battle of the River PlateSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. The German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spee
German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands in World War I...
(acting as a commerce raider) encountered one of the British forces searching for it. The group of three Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, HMS Exeter
HMS Exeter
Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Exeter after the city of Exeter in Devon. was a 70-gun third-rate launched in 1680. She was damaged in an explosion in 1691 and was hulked. She was broken up in 1717. was a 60-gun fourth-rate launched in 1697. She was rebuilt to carry 58 guns in 1744...
, Ajax
HMS Ajax
Eight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ajax after the Greek hero Ajax: was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1767 and sold in 1785. was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1798. She fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and was burned by accident in 1807. was a 74-gun...
and Achilles
HMS Achilles
Six ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Achilles, after the Greek hero Achilles. Four others, mostly prizes, have had the French spelling of the name, Achille....
, were patrolling off the River Plate
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
estuary of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. In a bloody engagement the Graf Spee initially repulsed the British attacks but the German Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Hans Langsdorff
Hans Langsdorff
Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff was a German naval officer, most famous for his command of the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. He held the rank of Kapitän zur See....
took shelter in neutral Uruguay. Langsdorff was deceived into believing a superior British force waited at sea and scuttled his vessel at Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
rather than face battle or internment. The Germans lost their ship and ninety-six killed or wounded and their opponents suffered seventy-two killed and twenty-eight wounded along with two ships damaged.
German landings in the United States
Duquesne Spy Ring
Even before the war, a large Nazi spy ring was found operating in the United States. The Duquesne Spy Ring is still the largest espionage case in United States history that ended in convictions. The 33 German agents who formed the Duquesne spy ring were placed in key jobs in the United States to get information that could be used in the event of war and to carry out acts of sabotage. One man opened a restaurant and used his position to get information from his customers; another worked on an airline so he could report Allied ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean; others in the ring worked as deliverymen so they could deliver secret messages alongside normal messages. The ring was led by Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a South African BoerBoer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
who spied for Germany in both World Wars and is best known as "The man who killed Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
" after he was awarded the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
for his key role in the sabotage and sinking of HMS Hampshire
HMS Hampshire (1903)
HMS Hampshire was a Devonshire-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Tyne and Wear and commissioned in 1905 at a cost of £833,817....
in 1916. William G. Sebold
William G. Sebold
William G. Sebold , born Wilhelm Georg Debrowski in Mülheim, Germany, was a German spy in the United States during World War II, who became a double agent for the FBI.-Early life:...
, a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
for the United States, was a major factor in the FBI's successful resolution of this case. For nearly two years, Sebold ran a radio station in New York for the ring, giving the FBI valuable information on what Germany was sending to its spies in the United States while also controlling the information that was being transmitted to Germany. On June 29, 1941, the FBI closed in. All 33 spies were arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison.
Operation Pastorius
Upon declaring war on the United States, Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
ordered the remaining German saboteur
Saboteur
A saboteur is someone who commits sabotage.It may also refer to:*Morituri , a 1965 film also known as The Saboteur*Saboteur , a card game by Frederic Moyersoen, published in 2004...
s to wreak havoc on the country. The responsibility for carrying this out was given to German Intelligence (Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
). In June 1942, eight agents were recruited and divided into two teams: the first, commanded by George John Dasch
George John Dasch
George John Dasch was a German spy and saboteur who landed on American soil during World War II. He helped to destroy Nazi Germany’s espionage program in the United States by defecting to the American cause, but was tried and convicted of treason and espionage.-Early life:Georg Johann Dasch was...
, with Ernst Peter Burger
Ernst Peter Burger
Ernst Peter Burger was a German spy and saboteur who landed on American soil during World War II. He was captured but escaped execution. He was deported to Germany in 1948.-Operation Pastorius:...
, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin; the second, under the command of Edward Kerling, with Hermann Neubauer, Werner Thiel and Herbert Haupt.
On June 12, 1942, the U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
U-202 landed Dasch's team with explosives and plans at East Hampton
Amagansett, New York
Amagansett is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 1,067. Amagansett hamlet was founded in 1680.The...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York. Their mission was to destroy power plants at Niagara Falls and three Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
) factories in Illinois, Tennessee and New York. Dasch instead turned himself in to the FBI, providing them with a complete account of the planned mission, which led to the arrest of the entire team.
Kerling's team landed from U-584 at Ponte Vedra Beach (25 miles [40 km] south-east of Jacksonville, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
), on June 17. They were tasked with laying mines in four areas: the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, canal sluices in both St. Louis and Cincinnati, and New York City's water supply pipes. The team made their way to Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and split up, with two going to Chicago, Illinois and the others to New York. The Dasch confession led to the arrest of all of the men by July 10.
All eight German agents were tried, convicted by the Military Commission, with six men sentenced to death. President Roosevelt approved the sentences. The constitutionality of the military commissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Quirin
Ex parte Quirin
Ex parte Quirin, , is a Supreme Court of the United States case that upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of several Operation Pastorius German saboteurs in the United States...
and the six men were executed by electrocution on August 8. Dasch and Burger were given thirty-year prison sentences. Both were released in 1948 and deported to Germany. Dasch (aka George Davis), who had been a longtime American resident before the war, suffered a difficult life in Germany after his return from U.S. custody because of his cooperation with U.S. authorities. As a condition of his deportation, he was not permitted to return to the United States, even though he spent many years writing letters to prominent American authorities (J. Edgar Hoover, President Eisenhower, etc.) seeking permission to return. He eventually moved to Switzerland and wrote a book, titled Eight Spies Against America.
Operation Elster
In 1944 there was another attempt at infiltration, codenamed Operation ElsterOperation Elster
Operation Elster was a Nazi German mission to gather intelligence on and sabotage the Manhattan Project during World War II. The mission was commenced in 1944 with Nazi agents sailing from Kiel, Germany on the U-1230, coming ashore in Maine on November 30, 1944...
("Magpie"). Elster involved Erich Gimpel
Erich Gimpel
Erich Gimpel was a German spy during World War II. He was very professional, resisting interrogation. Indeed, his interrogators came to admire him in some respects.-German secret agent:...
and German-American defector William Colepaugh
William Colepaugh
William Curtis Colepaugh was an American who, following his 1943 discharge from the US Naval Reserve , defected to Nazi Germany in 1944. While a crewman on a United States Merchant Marine ship that stopped off in Lisbon, Colepaugh defected at the German consulate...
. Their mission objective was to gather intelligence on the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
and attempt sabotage if possible. The pair sailed from Kiel on U-1230
Unterseeboot 1230
German submarine U-1230 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.Laid down on 15 March 1943 at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg, and commissioned on 26 January 1944 under the command of Kptlt...
and landed at Hancock Point, Maine
Hancock, Maine
Hancock is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,147 at the 2000 census. Located on the mainland at the head of Frenchman Bay, Hancock has commanding views of Mount Desert Island.-History:...
on November 30, 1944. Both made their way to New York, but the operation degenerated into total failure. Colepaugh turned himself in to the FBI on December 26, confessing the whole plan; Gimpel was arrested four days later in New York. Both men were sentenced to death but eventually had their sentences commuted. Gimpel spent 10 years in prison; Colepaugh was released in 1960 and operated a business in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
King of Prussia is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,936. The community took its name in the 18th century from a local tavern named the King of Prussia Inn, which was named after...
before retiring to Florida.
St. Martins, New Brunswick
At about the same time as the Dasch operation (on April 25, 1944), a solitary AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
agent, Marius A. Langbein, was landed by a U-boat (possibly U-217) near St. Martins, New Brunswick
St. Martins, New Brunswick
St. Martins is a Canadian village in Saint John County, New Brunswick.The picturesque community is 40 km east of Saint John and is situated on the Bay of Fundy. St. Martins was incorporated in 1967....
, Canada. His mission was to observe and report shipping movements at Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia (the main departure port for North Atlantic convoys). Langbein, who had lived in Canada before the war, changed his mind and moved to Ottawa, where he lived off his Abwehr funds until he surrendered to the Canadian authorities in December 1944. A jury found Langbein not guilty of spying, since he had never committed any hostile acts against Canada during the war.
New Carlisle, Quebec
In November, U-518 sank two iron ore freighters and damaged another off Bell IslandBell Island
Bell Island is a Canadian island located off Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in Conception Bay.Measuring 9 km in length and 3 km in width, Bell Island has an area of 34 km²...
in Conception Bay
Conception Bay
Conception Bay is a Canadian bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland. The bay indents the Avalon Peninsula with the opening of the bay to the Atlantic Ocean at the northeast. It is bounded by Cape St. Francis in the south and Split Point near Bay de Verde in the north...
, Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
, en route to the Gaspé Peninsula
Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspésie , or Gaspé Peninsula or the Gaspé, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, extending into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
where, despite an attack by a Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
aircraft, it successfully landed a spy, Werner von Janowski, at New Carlisle, Quebec
New Carlisle, Quebec
New Carlisle, Quebec is a small town in the Gaspé region of Quebec, best known as the boyhood home of René Lévesque; although he was born at Campbellton, New Brunswick. The population is approximately 1430, half English-speaking and half French-speaking...
on November 9, 1942. He was soon apprehended after Earle Annett Jr., manager of the New Carlisle Hotel, at which Janowski was staying, became suspicious and alerted authorities to a stranger using obsolete currency at the hotel bar. The R.C.M.P.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
arrested Janowski on a CNR passenger train headed for Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Inspection of Janowski's personal effects upon his arrest revealed that he was carrying a powerful radio transmitter, among other things. Janowski later spent some time as a double agent, sending false messages to the Abwehr in Germany. The effectiveness and honesty of his "turn" is a matter of some dispute. In The Double Cross System, John Cecil Masterman
John Cecil Masterman
Sir John Cecil Masterman was a noted academic, sportsman and author. However, he was best known as chairman of the Twenty Committee, which during World War II ran the Double Cross System, the scheme that controlled double agents in Britain.-Academic background:Masterman was educated at the Royal...
writes: "In November, WATCHDOG was landed from a U-boat in Canada together with a wireless set and an extensive questionnaire. This move on the part of the Germans threatened an extension of our activities to other parts of the world, but in fact the case did not develop very satisfactorily. ... WATCHDOG was closed down in the summer [of 1943]."
Weather Station Kurt, Martin Bay
Accurate weather reporting was important to the sea war and on September 18, 1943, U-537 sailed from KielKiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, via Bergen, Norway, with a meteorological team led by Professor Kurt Sommermeyer. They landed at Martin Bay near the northern tip of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
on October 22, 1943 and successfully set up an automatic weather station ("Weather Station Kurt
Weather Station Kurt
Weather Station Kurt was an Automatic weather station, erected by a German U-boat crew in Northern Labrador, Newfoundland in October 1943. This was the only armed German military operation on land in North America during the Second World War.-Background:Weather in the Northern Hemisphere...
" or "Wetter-Funkgerät Land-26"), despite the constant risk of Allied air patrols. The station was powered by batteries that were expected to last about three months. At the beginning of July 1944, U-867 left Bergen to replace the equipment, but was sunk en route. The weather station remained undisturbed by the locals until the 1980s and is now at the Canadian War Museum
Canadian War Museum
The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the museum covers all facets of Canada’s military past, from the first recorded instances of death by armed violence in Canadian history several thousand years ago to the country’s most recent...
.
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean was a major strategic battle zone (the "Battle of the Atlantic") and when Germany declared war on the U.S., the East Coast of the United StatesEast Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
offered easy pickings for German U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s (referred to as the "Second Happy Time
Second happy time
The Second Happy Time , also known among German submarine commanders as the "American shooting season" was the informal name for a phase in the Second Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines attacked merchant shipping along the east coast of North America...
"). After a highly successful foray by five Type IX
German Type IX submarine
The Type IX U-boat was designed by Germany in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for...
long-range U-boats, the offensive was maximized by the use of short-range Type VII
German Type VII submarine
Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag which was set up by Germany after...
U-boats, with increased fuel stores, replenished from supply U-boats
German Type XIV submarine
The Type XIV U-boat was a modification of the Type IXD, designed to resupply other U-boats. They were nicknamed "Milchkuh/Milchkühe " . They had no torpedo tubes or deck guns, only anti-aircraft guns. Due to its large size, the Type XIV could resupply other boats with 400 tons of fuel, four...
called Milchkühe (milk cows). From February to May 1942, 348 ships were sunk, for the loss of 2 U-boats during April and May. U.S. naval commanders were reluctant to introduce the convoy system that had protected trans-Atlantic shipping and, without coastal blackouts
Blackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
, shipping was silhouetted against the bright lights of American towns and cities such as Atlantic City until a dim-out
Blackout (wartime)
A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
was ordered in May.
The cumulative effect of this campaign was severe; a quarter of all wartime sinkings – 3.1 million tons. There were several reasons for this. The naval commander, Admiral Ernest King
Ernest King
Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the U.S...
, was averse to taking British recommendations to introduce convoys, U.S. Coast Guard and Navy patrols were predictable and could be avoided by U-boats, inter-service co-operation was poor, and the U.S. Navy did not possess enough suitable escort vessels (British and Canadian warships were transferred to the U.S. east coast).
East Coast
Several ships were torpedoed within sight of East CoastEast Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
cities such as New York and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
; indeed, some civilians sat on beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es and watched battles between U.S. and German ships. The only documented World War II sinking of a U-boat close to New England shores occurred on May 5, 1945, when the U-853 torpedoed and sank the collier Black Point off Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. When the Black Point was hit, the U.S. Navy immediately chased down the sub and began dropping depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s. The next day, when an oil slick and floating debris appeared, they confirmed that the U-853 and its entire crew had been destroyed. In recent years, the U-853 has become a popular dive site. Its intact hull, with open hatches, is located in 130 feet (39.6 m) of water off Block Island
Block Island
Block Island is part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately south of the coast of Rhode Island, east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and is separated from the Rhode Island mainland by Block Island Sound. The United States Census Bureau defines Block...
, Rhode Island. A wreck discovered in 1991 off the New Jersey coast was concluded in 1997 to be that of U-869. Previously, U-869 had been thought to have been sunk off Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
Gulf of Mexico
Once convoys and air cover were introduced in the Atlantic, sinking numbers were reduced and the U-boats shifted to attack shipping in the Gulf of MexicoGulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. During 1942 and 1943, more than 20 U-boats operated in the Gulf of Mexico. They attacked tankers transporting oil from ports in Texas and Louisiana, successfully sinking 56 vessels. By the end of 1943, the U-boat attacks diminished as the merchant ships began to travel in armed convoys.
In one instance, the tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
by the German U-Boat U-507 on May 12, 1942, killing 26 crewmen. There were 14 survivors. Again, when defensive measures were introduced, ship sinkings decreased and U-boat sinkings increased.
U-166 was the only U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during the war. Once thought to have been sunk by a torpedo dropped from a U.S. Coast Guard Utility Amphibian J4F aircraft
Grumman Widgeon
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Donald, David. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997. ISBN 0-7607-0592-5....
on August 1, 1942, U-166 is now believed to have been sunk two days earlier by depth charges from the Robert E. Lee’s naval escort, the U.S. Navy sub-chaser, PC-566. It is thought that the J4F aircraft may have spotted and attacked another German submarine, U-171, which was operating in the area at the same time. U-166 lies in 5,000 feet of water within a mile of her last victim, the passenger ship SS Robert E. Lee.
Canada
From the start of the war in 1939 until VE Day, several of Canada's Atlantic coast ports became important to the resupply effort for the United Kingdom and later for the Allied land offensive on the Western Front. HalifaxCity of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
and Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
became the primary convoy assembly ports, with Halifax being assigned the fast or priority convoys (largely troops and essential material) with the more modern merchant ships, while Sydney was given slow convoys which conveyed bulkier material on older and more vulnerable merchant ships. Both ports were heavily fortified with shore radar emplacements, search light batteries, and extensive coastal artillery stations all manned by RCN and Canadian Army regular and reserve personnel. Military intelligence agents enforced strict blackouts throughout the areas and anti-torpedo nets were in place at the harbor entrances. Despite the fact that no landings of German personnel took place near these ports, there were frequent attacks by U-boats on convoys departing for Europe. Less extensively used, but no less important, was the port of Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
which also saw matériel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
funneled through the port, largely after the United States entered the war in December 1941. The Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
mainline from central Canada (which crossed the state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
) could be used to transport in aid of the war effort.
Although not crippling to the Canadian war effort, given the country's rail network to the east coast ports, but possibly more destructive to the morale of the Canadian public, was the Battle of the St. Lawrence
Battle of the St. Lawrence
The Battle of the St. Lawrence involved a number of submarine and anti-submarine actions throughout the lower St. Lawrence River and the entire Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Strait of Belle Isle and Cabot Strait from May-October 1942, September 1943, and again in October-November 1944...
, when U-boats began to attack domestic coastal shipping along Canada's east coast in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence from early 1942 through to the end of the shipping season in late 1944.
Newfoundland
Three significant attacks took place in 1942 when German U-boats attacked four iron ore carriers serving the DOSCODominion Steel and Coal Corporation
The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company.Incorporated in 1928 and operational in 1930, DOSCO was predated by the British Empire Steel Corporation which was a merger of the Dominion Coal Company, the Dominion Iron and Steel Company and the...
iron mine at Wabana
Wabana, Newfoundland and Labrador
Wabana is a Canadian town and the largest and only incorporated community on Bell Island in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.-Geography:The town is situated on the northeast end of the island and was incorporated in 1950...
on Bell Island
Bell Island
Bell Island is a Canadian island located off Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in Conception Bay.Measuring 9 km in length and 3 km in width, Bell Island has an area of 34 km²...
in Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
's Conception Bay
Conception Bay
Conception Bay is a Canadian bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland. The bay indents the Avalon Peninsula with the opening of the bay to the Atlantic Ocean at the northeast. It is bounded by Cape St. Francis in the south and Split Point near Bay de Verde in the north...
. The ships S.S. Saganaga and the S.S. Lord Strathcona were sunk by U-513 on September 5, 1942, while the S.S. Rosecastle and P.L.M 27 were sunk by U-518 on November 2 with the loss of 69 lives. After the sinkings the submarine fired a torpedo that missed its target, the 3,000-ton collier Anna T, and struck the DOSCO loading pier and exploded. As a result of the torpedo missing its target, Bell Island
Bell Island
Bell Island is a Canadian island located off Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in Conception Bay.Measuring 9 km in length and 3 km in width, Bell Island has an area of 34 km²...
became the only location in North America to be subject to direct attack by German forces during World War II. On October 14, 1942, the Newfoundland Railway
Newfoundland Railway
The Newfoundland Railway was a railway which operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow gauge railway system in North America.-Early construction:...
ferry SS Caribou
SS Caribou
The SS Caribou was a passenger ferry used by the Newfoundland government's ferry service between Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and North Sydney, Nova Scotia....
was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-69 and sunk in the Cabot Strait
Cabot Strait
Cabot Strait is a strait in eastern Canada approximately 110 kilometres wide between Cape Ray, Newfoundland and Cape North, Cape Breton Island. It is the widest of the three outlets for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence into the Atlantic Ocean, the others being the Strait of Belle Isle and Strait of Canso...
south of Port aux Basques
Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador
Channel-Port aux Basques is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of the island of Newfoundland fronting on the eastern end of the Cabot Strait. A Marine Atlantic ferry terminal is located in the town which is the primary entry point onto the island of Newfoundland and the western terminus of...
. Caribou was carrying 45 crew and 206 civilian and military passengers. 137 lost their lives, many of them Newfoundlanders.
Caribbean
A German submarine shelled the American Standard OilStandard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
refinery at the San Nicolas harbour and the "Arend"/"Eagle" Maatschappij ( from the Dutch/British Shell Co.) near the Oranjestad harbour both situated on the Island of Aruba (in those days still a Dutch colony) and some ships that were near the entrance to Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo. It is commonly considered a lake rather than a bay or lagoon, and at 13,210 km² it would be the...
on February 16, 1942. Three tankers
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
, including the Venezuelan Monagas, were sunk. A Venezuelan gunboat, , assisted in rescuing the crews.
A German submarine shelled the island of Mòña, some 40 miles from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, on March 2.
West coast and Alaska
Several ships were torpedoed within sight of West CoastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
cities such as Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, San Diego and Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
. During 1941 and 1942, more than 10 Japanese submarines operated in the West Coast, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. They attacked American, Canadian and Mexican ships, successfully sinking over 10 vessels including Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
submarine L-16 on October 11, 1942.
Bombardment of Ellwood
The United States mainlandMainland
Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
was first shelled
Bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings.Prior to World War I the term term was only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, it was only loosely employed to describe artillery...
by the Axis on February 23, 1942 when the Japanese submarine I-17
Japanese submarine I-17
I-17 was a Japanese B1 type submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy which saw service during World War II. She was the first Axis ship to shell the United States mainland.-Pearl Harbor:...
attacked the Ellwood Oil Field
Ellwood Oil Field
Ellwood Oil Field and South Ellwood Offshore Oil Field are a pair of adjacent, partially active oil fields adjoining the city of Goleta, California, about twelve miles west of Santa Barbara, largely in the Santa Barbara Channel...
west of Goleta
Goleta, California
Goleta is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the Census-designated place had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant...
, near Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
. Although only a pumphouse and catwalk at one oil well were damaged, I-17 captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Nishino Kozo radioed Tokyo that he had left Santa Barbara in flames. No casualties were reported and the total cost of the damage was officially estimated at approximately $500–1,000. News of the shelling triggered an invasion scare
Battle of Los Ángeles
The Battle of Los Ángeles was a military action fought on March 22, 1880 between the Chilean and Peruvian armies during the Tacna and Arica Campaign of the War of the Pacific...
along the West Coast.
Bombardment of Estevan Point Lighthouse
More than 5 Japanese submarines operated in Western CanadaWestern Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
during 1941 and 1942. On June 20, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-26
Japanese submarine I-26
I-26 was a Japanese B1 type submarine which saw service in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was completed and commissioned at the Kure Dockyard on 6 November 1941, under the command of Commander Yokota Minoru....
, under the command of Yokota Minoru, fired 25-30 rounds of 5.5" shells at the Estevan Point
Estevan Point
Estevan Point is a lighthouse located on the headland of the same name on the Hesquiat Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada....
lighthouse on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, but failed to hit its target. This marked the first enemy shelling of Canadian soil since the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Though no casualties were reported, the subsequent decision to turn off the lights of outer stations was disastrous for shipping activity.
Bombardment of Fort Stevens
In what became the only attack on a mainland American military installation during World War II, the Japanese submarine I-25Japanese submarine I-25
was a B1-Type submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served in World War II, took part in the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and carried out the only aerial bombing on the continental United States during wartime; during the so-called Lookout Air Raid; and the Bombardment of Fort Stevens, both...
, under the command of Tagami Meiji, surfaced near the mouth of the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
on the night of June 21 and June 22, 1942, and fired shells toward Fort Stevens
Fort Stevens (Oregon)
Fort Stevens was an American military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River in the state of Oregon. Built near the end of the American Civil War, it was named for slain Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor, Isaac Stevens. The fort was an active military...
. The only damage officially recorded was to a baseball field
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
's backstop. Probably the most significant damage was a shell that damaged some large phone cables. The Fort Stevens gunners were refused permission to return fire, since it would have helped the Japanese locate their target more accurately. American aircraft on training flights spotted the submarine, which was subsequently attacked by a US bomber, but escaped.
Lookout Air Raids
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
of mainland America by a foreign power occurred when an attempt to start a forest fire was made by a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y1 "Glen"
Yokosuka E14Y
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6....
seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
dropping two 80 kg (176.4 lb) incendiary bombs over Mount Emily
Mount Emily
Mount Emily is a mountain in the Klamath Mountains of southwestern Oregon in the United States. It is located in southern Curry County in the extreme southwest corner of the state, near Brookings, approximately from the Pacific Ocean and from the California state line.-Bombing during World War...
, near Brookings, Oregon
Brookings, Oregon
Brookings is a city in Curry County, Oregon, United States. It was named after John E. Brookings, president of the Brookings Lumber and Box Company, which founded the city in 1908. As of the 2010 census the population was 6,336. The total population of the Brookings area is over 13,000, which...
. The seaplane, piloted by Nobuo Fujita
Nobuo Fujita
was a Warrant Flying Officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy who flew a floatplane from the long-range submarine aircraft carrier , and conducted the only wartime aircraft-dropped bombing on the continental United States of America, which became known as the Lookout Air Raid...
, had been launched from the Japanese submarine aircraft carrier
Submarine aircraft carrier
Submarine aircraft carriers are submarines equipped with fixed wing aircraft for observation or attack missions. These submarines saw their most extensive use during World War II, although their operational significance remained rather small...
I-25
Japanese submarine I-25
was a B1-Type submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served in World War II, took part in the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and carried out the only aerial bombing on the continental United States during wartime; during the so-called Lookout Air Raid; and the Bombardment of Fort Stevens, both...
. No significant damage was officially reported following the attack, nor after a repeat attempt on September 29.
Fire balloon attacks
Jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
, they were to sail over the Pacific Ocean and land in North America, where the Japanese hoped they would start forest fires and cause other damage. About three hundred were reported as reaching North America, but little damage was caused. Six people (five children and a woman) became the only deaths due to enemy action to occur on mainland America during World War II when one of the children tampered with a bomb from a balloon near Bly, Oregon
Bly, Oregon
Bly is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is about east of Klamath Falls. , the population was 486.- History :...
and it exploded. The site is marked by a stone monument at the Mitchell Recreation Area
Mitchell Recreation Area
Mitchell Recreation Area is a small picnic area near Bly, Oregon, United States. It is also known as Mitchell Monument. It is the only location in the continental U.S. where Americans were killed during World War II as a direct result of enemy action. The deaths were caused by a Japanese balloon...
in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. Recently released reports by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
and the Canadian military indicate that fire balloons reached as far inland as Manitoba. A fire balloon is also considered to be a possible cause of the third fire in the Tillamook Burn
Tillamook Burn
The Tillamook Burn was a series of forest fires in the Northern Oregon Coast Rangeof Oregon in the United States that destroyed a total area of 355,000 acres of old growth timber in what is now known as the Tillamook State Forest. The fires spanned the years of 1933–1951. By association, the name...
. One member of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion died while responding to a fire in the Northwest August 6, 1945; other casualties of the 555th were two fractures and 20 other injuries.
Japan
Just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a force of seven Japanese submarines patrolled the United States West Coast. The wolf pack made plans to bombard targets in California on Christmas Eve of 1941. However, the attack was postponed to December 27 and finally canceled due to fears of American reprisal.The Japanese constructed a plan early in the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
to attack the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, a vital water passage in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, used during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
primarily for the Allied supply effort. The Japanese attack was never launched due to crippling naval losses at the beginning of conflict with the United States and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(See: Aichi M6A
Aichi M6A
The Aichi M6A Seiran was a submarine-launched attack floatplane designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II...
).
Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
launched Project Z
Project Z
The Project Z was a military project of the Empire of Japan, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America.-The planned aircraft:...
(also called the Z Bombers Project) in 1942, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber
Amerika Bomber
The Amerika-Bomber project was an initiative of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the Nazi Germany Air Ministry, to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continental United States from Germany, a range of about 5,800 km...
project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America. The Project Z plane was to have six engines of 5,000 horsepower each; the Nakajima Aircraft Company
Nakajima Aircraft Company
The Nakajima Aircraft Company was a prominent Japanese aircraft manufacturer throughout World War II.-History:...
quickly began developing engines for the plane, and proposed doubling HA-44 engines (the most powerful engine available in Japan) into a 36-cylinder engine. Designs were presented to the Imperial Japanese Army, including the Nakajima G10N, Kawasaki Ki-91, and Nakajima G5N
Nakajima G5N
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Collier, Basil. Japanese Aircraft of World War II. New York: Mayflower Books, 1979. ISBN 0-8317-5137-1....
. None developed beyond prototypes or wind tunnel models, save for the G5N. In 1945, the Z project and other heavy bomber projects were cancelled.
Italy
A plan was devised by the Kingdom of Italy to attack New York harborNew York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
with submarines. However, as the tides of war changed against Italy, the plan was postponed and later scrapped.
Germany
In 1940, the German Air Ministry requested designs of the major German aircraft companies for its Amerika BomberAmerika Bomber
The Amerika-Bomber project was an initiative of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the Nazi Germany Air Ministry, to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continental United States from Germany, a range of about 5,800 km...
program, in which a long-range strategic bomber would strike the continental United States from the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. Planning was complete in 1942, but the project was abandoned as too expensive.
During the war members of Wehrmacht attempted to influence Hitler's decision to study biological warfare only regarding defense, the head of Science Division of Wehrmacht, Erich Schumann
Erich Schumann
Erich Schumann was a German physicist who specialized in acoustics and explosives, and had a penchant for music, as he was a grandson of the classical composer Robert Schumann. He was a general officer in the army and a professor at the University of Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin...
urged to convince Hitler that America must be attacked simultaneously with various human and animal epidemic pathogens, as well as plant pests., the plans never fruitioned due to opposition by Hitler.
False alarms
These false alarms have generally been attributed to military and civilian inexperience with war and poor radars of that era. Critics have theorized they were a deliberate attempt by the Army to frighten the public in order to stimulate interest in war preparations.Alerts following Pearl Harbor
On December 8, 1941 rumors of an enemy carrier off the coast led to the closing of schools in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, a blackout enforced by local wardens and radio silence followed that evening. The reports reaching Washington of an attack on San Francisco were regarded as credible. The affair was described as a test but Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt
John L. DeWitt
John Lesesne DeWitt was a general in the United States Army, best known for his vocal support of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II....
of the Western Defense Command
Western Defense Command
Western Defense Command was established on 17 March 1941 as the command formation of the U.S. Army responsible for coordinating the defense of the Pacific Coast region of the United States. A second major responsibility was the training of soldiers prior to their deployment overseas. The first...
said “Last night there were planes over this community. They were enemy planes! I mean Japanese planes! And they were tracked out to sea. You think it was a hoax? It is damned nonsense for sensible people to assume that the Army and Navy would practice such a hoax on San Francisco.” Rumors continued on the west coast in the following days. An alert of a similar nature occurred in the Northeast on December 9. At noon advices were received that hostile planes were only two hours’ distance away. Although there was no general hysteria, fighter aircraft from Mitchel Field on Long Island took the air to intercept the "raiders". Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
had its worst sell off since the fall of France, school children in New York City were sent home and several radio stations left the air. In Boston police shifted heavy stores of guns and ammunition from storage vaults to stations throughout the city, and industrial establishments were advised to prepare for a raid.
Battle of Los Angeles
The Battle of Los Angeles also known as "The Great Los Angeles Air Raid" is the name given by contemporary sources to the imaginary enemy attack and subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from February 24 and early on February 25 over Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
, but Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox
Frank Knox
-External links:...
speaking at a press conference shortly afterward called the incident a "false alarm." Newspapers of the time published a number of sensational reports and speculations of a cover-up. When documenting the incident in 1983, the U.S. Office of Air Force History attributed the event to a case of "war nerves" likely triggered by a lost weather balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
and exacerbated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining batteries.
Other alerts
In May and June the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
underwent a series of alerts:
- May 12: A twenty-five minute air-raidAirstrikeAn air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
alert. - May 27: West CoastWest Coast of the United StatesWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
defenses put on alert after Army codebreakersCryptanalysisCryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
learned that the Japanese intended a series of hit-and-run attackHit-and-run tacticsHit-and-run tactics is a tactical doctrine where the purpose of the combat involved is not to seize control of territory, but to inflict damage on a target and immediately exit the area to avoid the enemy's defense and/or retaliation.-History:...
s in reprisal for the Doolittle RaidDoolittle RaidThe Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
. - May 31: The battleships USS ColoradoUSS Colorado (BB-45)USS Colorado , the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 38th state, was the lead ship of her class of battleships. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1919 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 22 March 1921 sponsored by Mrs. Max...
and USS MarylandUSS Maryland (BB-46)USS Maryland , a , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the seventh state.Her keel was laid down 24 April 1917 by Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 20 March 1920, and sponsored by Mrs. E. Brook Lee, wife of the...
set sail from the Golden GateGolden GateThe Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge...
to form a line of defense against any Japanese attack mounted on San Francisco. - June 2: A nine-minute air-raid alert, including at 9:22 pm a radio silenceRadio silenceIn telecommunications, radio silence is a status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area are asked to stop transmitting for safety or security reasons.The term "radio station" may include anything capable of transmitting a radio signal....
order applied to all radio stationRadio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s from Mexico to Canada.
See also
- American Theater (1914-1918)
- Amerika BomberAmerika BomberThe Amerika-Bomber project was an initiative of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the Nazi Germany Air Ministry, to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continental United States from Germany, a range of about 5,800 km...
- Attack on Pearl HarborAttack on Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, HawaiiTerritory of HawaiiThe Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S... - Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945)
- List of Japanese spies, 1930–45
- Project ZProject ZThe Project Z was a military project of the Empire of Japan, similar to the Nazi German Amerika Bomber project, to design an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching North America.-The planned aircraft:...
Further reading
- Dobbs, Michael. Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America ISBN 0-375-41470-3 (2004)
- Duffy, J.P. TARGET: AMERICA, Hitler's Plan to Attack the United States, Praeger Publishers; PB: The Lyons Press (A BooklistBooklistBooklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
review) - Gimpel, Erich. Agent 146: The True Story of a Nazi Spy in America ISBN 0-312-30797-7 (2003)
- Griehl, Manfred. Luftwaffe over America: The Secret Plans to Bomb the United States in World War II ISBN 1-85367-608-X (2004)
- Mikesh, Robert C. Japan's World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America, Smithsonian Institution Press, (1973)
- Webber, BertEbbert WebberEbbert True "Bert" Webber was an American research photojournalist, author and publisher whose work concentrated on the history of the Pacific Northwest.-Biography:...
. Silent Siege: Japanese Attacks Against North America in World War II, Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington (1984). ISBN 0-87770-315-9 (hardcover). ISBN 0-87770-318-3 (paperbound).
External links
- American targets
- Japanese submarine attacks
- German Sabotage operations
- Planned Italian attack on New York harbour.
- The Bay Area at War
- Army Responses
- Details of German secret agents landed in North America
- Red White Black & Blue - feature documentary about The Battle of Attu in the Aleutians during World War II
- Defense of Americas a publication of the United States Army Center of Military History
- The Battle of the St. Lawrence