Operation Drumbeat did see success for the Germans.initially.
Key Point: It took a herculean effort by the admiral to scrounge and prepare enough U-boats to make an impression.
On December 9, 1941, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, the commander of the Kriegsmarine, lifted all restrictions on German naval attacks against American vessels by his surface and submarine fleets. Atlantic sparring between the two powers had been occurring for several months but would now escalate into full-blown conflagration. For the United States a painful lesson on the consequences of complacency and arrogant refusal to accept outside assistance was coming.
Despite their fearsome reputation, the U-boats commanded by Admiral Karl Dönitz were few in number. When war flared with Great Britain on September 3, 1939, he counted just 57 U-boats, 46 of which were operational. German industry had concentrated on armaments to prosecute a war on land and in the air, and the deliveries of new submarines to the Krieg
Darien native tells story of WWII shipwrecks and her father s survival in Amazon documentary
Susan Shultz
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1of15Shipwreck off the coast of Newfoundland in 1942, subject of As If They Were Angels. With permission of Terry StraussShow MoreShow Less
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U.S.S. Pollux is distress on Lawn Point on Feb. 19, 1942Ena Farrell EdwardsShow MoreShow Less
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The late Henry Strauss, a survivor of the shipwrecked Pollux, greets the man who saved him.As if They Were AngelsShow MoreShow Less
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The late Henry Strauss, a survivor of the shipwrecked Pollux, greets the man who saved him.As if They Were AngelsShow MoreShow Less
How Close Did German Submarines Get to Portland Harbor in WWII?
If you ve ever been to Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth or to Peaks Island, you ve seen the remnants of gun batteries and lookout towers. These were used in WW1 and especially in WW2 to protect Portland Harbor. You may think that World War II was fought far away from Maine, so
you may be surprised how close those nasty Nazis really got.
How Busy Was Portland Harbor in World War II?
The harbor was a hotbed of activity! The South Portland shipyards built over 235 Liberty ships between 1941 and 1945. That s like 5 ships a MONTH. Thousands of Navy men were trained on Casco Bay Islands and the harbor was an important refueling spot. Portland Harbor was