Operation Drumbeat: The U-boat War Off America's Coast, 1942

The opening months of Operation Drumbeat were catastrophic to tankers and freighters carrying vital supplies and fuel to war-torn England. The German U-boat commanders were taken aback at how little resistance there was to their continued presence on the very coast of the United States.

This lecture will consider what it was like to be on a ship that was sunk by a U-boat, and also what was the experience of many in their lifeboats. This lecture will share many of their experiences trying to survive the elements and the lack of food and water.

In this lecture, we'll follow the experience of one U-boat as it attacks a ship. We will also take up the topic of how most U-boat captains and their crews responded to the obvious needs of those from the stricken ships. Was the propaganda correct concerning the U-boats?

Both the Americans and British were frustrated with the new attack. The Americans did not have the resources or strategy to effectively counter the U-boats, and the British were losing many of their supplies and fuel. The lecture will also add some more accounts of vessels sunk.

This lecture will focus on three short topics. First, we will look at another U-boat commander and his interesting record in Operation Drumbeat. He and his crew will be the first captured by the Americans. Second, Germany sent 8 spies via U-boats to the American East Coast. These spies were supposed to bomb strategic places in the U.S., but that never happened. Finally, Admiral Doenitz sent mine-laying U-boats that successfully mined three important East Coast harbors, but the action was most successful at the Chesapeake Bay.

This lecture will survey the work of the German U-Boats in the Gulf of Mexico, which was a very busy area for tankers and freighters, many of them using the mouth of the Mississippi River. We will especially discuss the U-Boat U-166 and its adventures and misadventures in the Gulf.

In this lecture, we will discuss some of the important statistics concerning January to June, 1942 with Operation Drumbeat. Several illustrate charts will help us realize the profound impact of this military operation.

In this lecture, the German U-Boat commander Hellmut Rathke will be a case study because his experiences are very different than many of the other German U-Boat commanders. The Americans will take a great amount of encouragement from these events.

This lecture will focus on eight spies via U-boats to the American East Coast. These spies were supposed to bomb strategic places in the U.S., but we'll see what happened. We'll also discuss a second attempt to land two spies who were to collect important military data. There is a good reason why a lot of people have never heard of these events.

This lecture will describe the mine-laying missions of three U-boats, especially the U-701 in the Chesapeake Bay. Imagine the audacity to bring a U-boat in right to the edge of an important naval base and leave mines behind for them. How will the U-701 do in this midnight adventure on a moonless night?

By the Summer of 1942, the Americans were finally able to respond effectively to the U-boat threats. This lecture will outline the many strategies taken that successfully chased most of the U-boats away.

This lecture will continue the discussion concerning those strategies that chased the U-boats from American shores. In this lecture, we'll take up the technologies of radar and sonar, and their effect in the U-boat war.

In this last of three lectures highlighting the strategies and technologies used against the U-boats, we will discuss the German code called Enigma, or Ultra. The U-boats used this code effectively, but after it was solved by the British, the intelligence was effectively used against the Germans, including against their U-boats. Huff Duff enabled the Allies to understand where the U-boats were hiding, which was one of the great strengths of the U-boats.

This lecture will quickly summarize the final defeat of the German U-boats in the Atlantic theater, a lot due to the strategies and technologies described earlier. However, Germany will develop their own innovations, but in the large picture, they were not enough for victory. Captain Reinhard Hardegen will manage to survive the 'iron coffin' though. By May, 1945, Germany will surrender and U-boats were instructed to cease hostilities.

This lecture will share more statistics concerning all of the U-boats and their crews during the war. We will also discuss the statistics concerning the Merchant Marines and note the impact of Operation Drumbeat upon this group.

This final lecture will provide an epilogue and conclusion concerning the main players in this conflict that we have discussed. What happened after 1942?