"For the first time, U-boats became active in the Gulf [of Mexico], evidently under command of men familiar with its shallow waters. Two freighters, one American and one Honduran, were sunk." "Proceed at once to the coast of Japan"
"Sometimes it is difficult to repress an impulse to whoop with delight, and this was one of them. This was the moment we had lived for, the moment every submariner dreams about... We were ready. War was our trade... Now we were playing for keeps. We were eager to get at it."
Click here to read about the rise of naval aviation.
"Informed London sources said Saturday that the number of U-boats operating against Allied shipping is increasing despite the improved defense record of the last six months." "U.S. submarines toll of Japanese ships reaches 256 since Pearl Harbor . Russell Islands are scenes of bitter dog-fights." Illustrated with seven color pictures, this wartime magazine article served to give the folks back home a sense of what an U.S. Navy sub is capable of doing:
- from Amazon:
"With a crew of 44 men, an American submarine in Pacific waters may reasonably hope to sink twenty or more enemy ships before the end of this war... By its very limitations, the submarine offers its crew opportunities to do damage to the enemy which are not given to sailors on other types of vessels. Ninety percent of the time during the war our pig boats (ie. submarines) are looking for the enemy. Cruisers and destroyers, on the other hand must often pass up the privilege of fighting in order to carry out some broad strategy objective; thus convoying, reconnaissance and scouting are a kind of boresome duty the submariner seldom knows."
"They are a proud lot, our submarine men, but not boastful. They talk less of their exploits than the public likes. The brass hats apparently have decided to keep it that way."
Click here to read a unique story about the Battle of the Sula Straits... The attached is an uncredited article from the later days of 1943 concerning the continuing struggle for supremacy of the North Atlantic:
"It was plain to see that due to the Allied tactics which drove the U-boats from the seas last summer, sinking 90 subs in 90 days, something new had to be added... the newer [German] subs have larger conning towers, painted white this time instead of black - packing at least two new guns, and shooting it out in the open instead of from ambush... Brazil has recently reported 11 sinkings in the South Atlantic."
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