U-156/U-502 Roundtable Newsletter #13
Dedicated to recording Allied and Axis engagements in the Caribbean and off coastal South America during WWII, through the retelling of personal experiences, recollections, and dogged research by members of the Roundtable.
"History is not history unless it's the truth." Abraham Lincoln.
March 1, 2009.
Dear Fellow U-Boat Enthusiasts and Lago History Buffs:
The reason Newsletter #13 is a few days late in sending is that my computer ate the first two drafts of the Newsletter and I had to start over from scratch. Talk about a bummer!! If you've never seen or heard a 73 year old cuss a blue streak at a computer screen and cry into his double gin martini (hold the olive) at 2:00 o'clock in the morning, you're missing a teeth gnashing event.
Summary
Lots of topics to cover in Newsletter #13. Some surprising, some tantalizing, a few bordering on the weird, and the remainder downright scary.
No, it hasn't been a slow winter. It's just that U-156 and U-502 are like the snow blizzards witnessed in the east, mid-west, and west---They just keep on giving. Summer's just ahead, right? Will there be an end to the exploits/patrols of U-156 and U-502? Don't bet your mama's knickers on it.
Topics to be addressed in this and future Newsletters include: Information on Roundtable #6, June 23, 2009, Aruba, N.A., at a hotel to be named later; Preview of The Search For U-156's Survivors, by your Editor; Book Notes of The Nuremberg Interviews, by Leon Goldensohn, Vintage Books, 2005, by your Editor; and Jerry Dixon's comments on WWII in The Gulf of Mexico, by C.J. Christ; Interview with Romualdo Coffi, longtime Lago veteran and father to Roundtable member Henri Coffi; Correspondence from our members and others interested in the perils of U-156 and U-502; Introducing our latest Roundtable Recruits (128 members as of this Newsletter); Special Letter Reports from Vic Lopez, Ray Burson, Jerry Dixon, Stan Norcom, August Neuman, and Washington, D.C. National Archivist Timothy Mulligan; Consequences of Faulty Judgement, by your Editor; Telegram from Aruba's American General Consul Myles Standish to Washington's Secretary of State, February 16, 1942; Continuation of prior Newsletter topics, e.g. Questions Looking For Answers, What is a "Wonk"?; and Kplt. Jurgen von Rosensteil's Log of 502, translated from German into English by Wilfried Poenitz and provided by Stan Norcom.
Hopefully, there is enough time and space to include all, if not most, of the above items in this issue of the Newsletter. If not, surely in the next.
Roundtable Recruits
Since Newsletter #12 the following recruits have signed aboard our merry band if Ubootwaffens: Gerald (Jerry) Dixon (#124) is a longtime Lago/Aruba former resident currently serving in the capacity of docent at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, and is a U.S. Navy veteran of WWII; Tony & Rebecca T. (#125) residents of London who are researching WWII U-boat activity in the Caribbean; Jeffrey S. Fenster (#126) is my cardiologist and has indicated an interest in the Newsletter. Dr.
Fenster is also a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin...but we won't hold that against him (Texas Tech beat the Longhorns in football last season---I just had to add that); George Tielen (#127) is CEO of Blue Skies Helicopter Co., Curacao, author of several historical novels and will be one of our guest speakers at Roundtable #6; and, August W. Neuman (#128) whose father, Antonio Neuman, was the assistant Harbor Master and pilot aboard the troop transport/munitions ship Gibbins that fateful night, February 16, 1942.
Welcome aboard mates and mateys. Sit down a spell, pop a brew, and enjoy this, the 13th edition of our Roundtable organization.
In order to make these semi-annual Newsletters an interesting read, we welcome your comments and suggestions. We will attempt to answer your questions to the best of our knowledge; if we don't have an answer to your question, we'll make one up---Only kidding. I just wanted to see if you're still paying attention. We will do our best at researching the topic for you.
(Editor's Note: Roundtable member names are emboldened throughout the Newsletter.)
Sad News
Doug Tonkinson (#72) recently passed away due to pulmonary failure at a hospital in St. Louis. Doug attempted to get the "U-156 story" out through his contacts in the Discovery, History, and PBS cable channel networks. His efforts were sincere and well thought out. Correspondence promoting the U-156 project was voluminous and went well back into 2003.
Your interest in the Roundtable and war year at Lago will be sorely missed, Doug. God speed.
Correspondence
George Tielen (01/03/09): "I have always been interested in Aruba's war history and especially that notorious night, February 16, 1942. My father told me he was on (Lago Colony's) Colorado Point when it all happened...I am doing research for my third novel (work title: Aruba Ariba) which will be partly based on historical events surrounding U-156..."
(01/2/09): "Amazing story about the ship Gibbins...I read somewhere that the crew refused to sail because there was no coffee on board. So they had to go ashore buy some..."
(Ed. Note: Quite fortuitous too! Whoever suggested a coffee break at the last moment should be awarded a golden coffee pot with a year's supply of coffee. Otherwise, there goes the ship, there goes the refinery. Heck. There goes the whole blooming island! Boom!!!)
(01/26/09): "....My first two books are pure imagination. I chose historical fact in the Aruba novel because, first of all, the attack on the refinery always captured my imagination, especially because my father was a witness to that attack...My novel is a tribute to the Lago community, the residents who became so close during those times that they still get together after so many years. Something special happened on that barren rock. A novel about the place and its' people, roots it even more solidly in history."
Al Leak (12/21/08): "There is a really good read (Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson) about the German U-boat (U-869) sunk off the New Jersey coast during WWII...It kept me in my chair until I finished reading it."
Bill Moyer (12/21/08): (Ed. Note: This is Bill's e-mail response to Al Leak.) "It's a great story. I read it too. One of the crewman on U-869, Otto Brizius, was a distant cousin of Sue's (Bill's wife). We visited the little town in Germany where he (Otto) was born, looking for family records, and interviewed his (Otto's) father. His dad thought his sub had gone down off Dakar, and it wasn't until recent years that the sub was discovered lying in the tanker lanes, off New Jersey. His parents had only two children, Otto plus another who became a captain in the Wehrmacht and was killed at Monte Casino. The mother became distraught and died soon after the war. The father remarried and had two more children, one a daughter living in New Jersey with whom I corresponded: Barbel Bowling. She went out with the divers in a launch and placed a wreath in the sea where Otto's body lies."
Bryan McCall (10/02/08): "Just read Newsletter #12 and am replying to your exception to one of my comments. My observations were directly related to Bill "Ted" Gibbons remarks of 06/05/07 regarding U-boat information activities. I am well aware of reported incidents of 'Good Guy' behavior by German U-boats, but in the specific cases of oil tankers Tia Juana and Pedernales the U-boat may well have surfaced and had dialogue with the ships' survivors, but I seriously doubt that they came alongside to obtain information whilst the ships were streaming 50 to 60 miles south of Aruba prior to sinking them. (Ed. Note: U-156 did not have dialogue with either the Pedernales or the Oranjestad prior to or after torpedoing both vessels. As to the Tia Juana, we are unaware of any dialogue between the crews of the tanker and the U-boat.)
"Regarding the two ships at anchor off the reef/Big Lagoon...Pedernales and Oranjestad. The officers on watch referred to by Ted Gibbons, were the tanker's officers and not the U-boat's. I would very much doubt that they would be unable to distinguish a 'pilot boat' from a 'U-boat', especially with the aide of the ludicrously 'Lit-up' refinery and Colony. The refinery's Marine Department was fully aware of the tankers at anchor off the reef (and) any further necessary information would have been passed by signal lamp, not by pilot boat. My detail of the tankers' capability was solely to indicate the 'No-Need' pilot boat position. Observation---The U-boat 'Good Guy' position rapidly deteriorated after the 'Laconia Incident'."
(Ed. Note: And rightfully so. Due to the foul-up [I cleaned that one up] on the Allies part of bombing U-156's attempt to rescue survivors from the ship they just torpedoed, the Laconia, loaded with hundreds of Italian prisoners-of-war, women, and children, were given crowded safe haven on U-156's deck, or so they thought at the time. Not to be outdone, the American bomber was given orders via radio contact from base command, to return to the rescue scene and drop bombs on U-156. The bombs straddled U-156. As a result of this action, Kplt. Werner Hartenstein ordered all of the Laconia survivors off its' deck and back into the lifeboats which were being towed at the stern of the U-boat. U-156 then submerged. A short time later two French ships and several U-boats arrived on the scene and proceeded to take aboard Laconia's survivors that had been [rightfully] put adrift by U-156. The subsequent upheaval back at U-boat headquarters in Lorient, France, resulted in Admiral Karl Doenitz [by order of A. Hitler] issuing the Laconia Order which forbade Germany's U-boats from rescuing survivors of torpedoed Allied ships.
(For a further analysis of the 'Laconia Affair', see pgs. 186-187 and pg. 197 of Gaylord Kelshall's The U-Boat War in The Caribbean, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md., 1994.
(For further comment on this topic, see the Editor's 10/05/08 reply to Bryan McCall in this Newsletter, titled Consequences of Faulty Judgement.)
Jak Showell (08/29/08): "...I have sent a copy (of Newsletter #12) to a chap I met at the U-Boat Archive last summer---Tony T. His parents come from the Caribbean and he is working on a book/TV film about the war in that region. He is a nice chap and I thought you both might benefit from knowing each other...."
Tony & Rebecca T. (09/07/08): "(Y)our help in advising our research and notifying members of the Roundtable, had been a tremendous help. The likes of Clyde Harms and Ray Burson have been absolutely brillant."
(09/24/08): "We have been on a tough schedule of interviews, travel, and archive research over the past fortnight...(W)e have a few days to go, returning to London and home on September 29th. We are honored by your invitation (to join the Roundtable). We are happy and pleased to share...."
Dan Jensen (01/18/09): "...I have my doubts as to whether the material/structure they dive on (at Palm Beach), in Aruba, is really the remains of what had been cut from the mid-section of the Pedernales, based on the whereabouts of the location. I do not think Lago Oil would have taken the scrap metal that far away from the refinery (where the Pedernales was refitted with a new, but much smaller mid-section) and then dump it into the sea. There is a question in my mind---Would Lago have deep-sixed scrap metal in time of war?..."
(Ed. Note: Dan's got a point. Some of Aruba's dive instructors like to point out "that's where the Pedernales was sunk." It gives the turtistas a false 'connection to history', don't you know. It's a notch in their dive belts. "I dove the Pedernales and lived!" Yeeech!)
John O'Brien (08/30/08): "...In answer to your question about German Admiral Karl Doenitz changing U-156's orders from 'land attack' to 'ship attack' at the last moment, I think I have the answer to your question. Sometime in the '80's I attended a seminar given by the Institute of Naval Proceedings at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, on the war in the Caribbean...Someone in the audience asked the same question, not me, and some expert on the panel replied that Doenitz figured it was more efficient and productive to wait at the 'choke points', i.e. Florida Straits, Mona Passage, Gulf of Paria, etc., and torpedo ships that ventured through the narrow passages. They also talked about a French aircraft carrier in Martinique after France had fallen in 1940. It was a diplomatic question whether to sink the carrier or just keep a watchful eye on it. Since the aircraft carrier was obsolete and constituted no threat to the Allies, it just stayed in Martinique until the end of the war. I think it was a question of supporting the Free French who were organized against the wishes of Vichy France."
Dufi Kock (08/29/08): "I have a request from a girl who works in the Amsterdam Archive and is writing a comprehensive story of WWII regarding Lago and Aruba...She told me that she had read in Dan Jensen's web site (www.lago-colony.com) that the plaque (of men from Lago's Marine Department who lost their lives during WWII) was in the Lago Marine Club and was later relocated to St.Theresa's Church in San Nicolaas. The girl in Amsterdam would like to know whose initiative it was to relocate the plaque to the Church?"
(Ed. Note: Can we assist the girl in Amsterdam with an answer to her question?)
Gene "Bruce" Keesler (09/02/08): "Keep up the good work on the Roundtable discussions. It is very informative and interesting. We will visit Henri Coffi's Lago Oil Museum, #30 Quillstraat, Lago Heights, the next time we're in Aruba."
Janet (White) Powell (01/28/09): "The questions you posed in the August '08 Newsletter got me to thinking. Maybe the German high command decided to leave the Aruba/Lago Refinery intact because they hoped to commandeer it later in the war for their own use. They must have needed the products that the refinery produced, and with employees already manning the refinery could provide forced labor to keep it operating. Besides, the Allies would certainly hesitate to bomb a 'captured refinery' since it would mean killing some of their own. But I don't know about the crude oil supply. Would the Germans have been able to get it from Maracaibo, as the Americans had done?"
(Ed. Note: Janet's '"captive'" scenario is not as farfetched as one might think. Between German scientists' development of long range rocketry, late blooming ME-262 fighter jets, Type XXI super U-boats, and designs for long range bombers [target New York City], thank God the war ended when it did.)
Gerald "Jerry" Dixon (09/04/08): "I would be very pleased to join the Roundtable. I experienced the submarine attack on the Lago Community and its refinery. I lived in Aruba from 1929-1942, or about 13 years. WOW! I remember so much. I was only five years old when we first landed on the Rock. At seventeen I joined the Navy, spent 32 months in the Pacific aboard the APA 39 USS Clay, which in addition to landing invasion troops, we also supplied many provisions to various other smaller ships, including submarines. I remember some of their descriptive experiences...and shuttered in describing, and that is why I am much interested in the Roundtable...I volunteer at our D-Day Museum here in New Orleans, twice a week, and I will welcome you with open arms...."
(Ed. Note: Jerry is 84 years young. More on Jerry's Navy experiences, and time spent at Lago/Aruba, under Special Reports.)
The Romualdo Coffi Interview, by your Editor.
While on vacation in Aruba last summer, I had the pleasure and opportunity to interview Henri Coffi at his Lago Oil Museum in Lago Heights (see Newsletter #12). Henri introduced me to his father Romualdo Coffi, who resides in the Balashi area close to Frenchman's Pass. Mr. Coffi worked in Lago's Shipping & Receiving Department between 1936-1966; he is 95 years young. During our conversation I learned that he wrote in his daily schedule book what port the ship left, what port the ship was going to, when it was loaded, and the type fuel it loaded. He stated that German tankers fueled at Lago between 1936-1938 with diesel and heavy fuels.
On the night of February 16, 1942, he was on the 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight shift when he heard three loud "burps" in the night. He then saw tracers (37mm?) coming over his house in San Nicolaas. At first he thought it was the German battleship Graf Spee returning from its watery grave off Montevideo (1939).
Telegram From American Consul Myles Standish to U.S. Secretary of State, provided by Ray Burson.
A true copy of the 1:00 p.m., AST, February 16, 1942, telegram reads as follows:
PD This telegram must be closely paraphrased before being communicated to anyone. (SC)
Secretary of State
53, February 16 1:00 p.m.
Inform operators empty American tanker Arkansas torpedoed 3 a.m. today while lying dock Eagle Refinery Aruba. No casualties. Vessel still afloat but hole thirty foot long amidships. Lloyd's now conducting survey. Will report damage later.
Submarine opened action 1:30 a.m. today by torpedoing British flag tanker Pedernales anchored 400 yards offshore. Vessel fired but not sunk. Now gutted hulk. Three minutes later torpedoed ITTOSS Oranjestad which sunk immediately. Losses two ships three dead twenty missing. No American casualties. Unidentified vessel seen afire some miles southwest Aruba about 4:00 a.m. reported sunk. Unidentified tanker reported afire early today off Las Piedras in Gulf of Venezuela. After torpedo action submarine opened fire on Lago Refinery with undetermined number...(of casualties?)...estimated 37 millimeter tracer shells all misses...overloaded undamaged refinery forced to shut down temporarily...because...diversion (of) ocean tankers from these waters.
Will keep Department informed.
S/Standish
NK
Paraphrase to OPNAV 2:47 a.m. February 17
(Ed. Note: Some interesting facts that may have been forgotten over time [e.g. Pedernales 400 yards offshore, the 30-foot gash in the Texaco tanker Arkansas, etc.] Maybe one of our members can tell us what the letters ITTOSS indicate.)
Book Reviews/Notes
Naval History Book Review, by Robert C. Fisher (08/19/08) and forwarded to the Roundtable by Stan Norcom.
(Ed. Note: The following is a summary review/critique by Robert Fisher of Gaylord Kelshall's book The U-Boat War in The Caribbean. In the past, Stan Norcom has contacted publisher Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Md., and encouraged them to insert an errata in future editions of Kelshall's book, to no avail. Also, in the following review by Fisher, "the daring attacks in the harbor(s) of....Aruba" is incorrect. As we all know by now, no U-boat attacks occurred in either of Aruba's San Nicolaas or Oranjestad harbors, albeit U-502 "thought about it" inside/outside Oranjestad Harbor, February 17, 1942.
(In his book, Kelshall invariably fails to note the year in which an engagement took place, but does include the month and day [e.g. September 21...] of the engagement*. Frustrating and difficult to follow. Notes beginning on pg. 477, however, are interesting.)
- Fisher's Summary Book Review -
The book was originally published in 1988 in limited numbers in the author's native Trinidad. It has been reprinted by the Naval Institute Press without full editorial treatment because of economic constraints....
(In the book) every merchant ship sinking is recounted in chronological*(?) order, but most emphasis is given to the exploits of the aces (in the U-boat service), such as Achilles (U-161) and Hartenstein (U-156), who carried out daring attacks in the harbors of Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Aruba.
The Germans renewed their (U-boat) efforts (in the Caribbean) in June, 1943 after they had been decisively defeated in the North Atlantic. This time, however, most of the battles were between U-boats and aircraft...(T)he Germans began to scale down their effort in September, 1943...From late 1943 U-boat Command sent only one or two boats (to the Caribbean) at a time to tie down Allied resources.
The course of events in the Caribbean in 1943 is much less well known than in 1942, and Kelshall's biggest contribution is bringing the scale of the second U-boat campaign to light...That being said, the book is not always reliable on factual details...Kelshall has relied on the work of Jurgen Rohwer, an excellent source, but to the extent that many errors have been repeated verbatim...The first U-boat campaign in the Caribbean is referred to repeatedly as Operation Neuland, (whereas) in fact it was designated Operation Westindien, and the U-boats involved were called Operation Neuland. The lack of professional editing in the book is apparent. Ships' names are not italicized or underlined, an annoying feature in a work that mentions over 700 ships and U-boats. Still, the book is the product of considerable research and the Naval Institute Press is to be commended for bringing it to a wider audience.
The Nuremberg Interviews, by Leon Goldensohn, Vintage Books, 2005, reviewed by your Editor.
The 489 page book goes into depth of the Nazi defendants "trials and tribulations behind bars and past indiscretions" during the Nazi regime, at Nuremberg Prison. If anything, it could be "calling their psyche into account for past transgressions." In so doing, the Nazi high command would be faced with one of three conclusions: It was either the hangman's noose, a lengthy prison sentence (e.g. Rudolf Hess was the last inmate of Nuremberg Prison in that he never saw the sun rising on a clear day or heard the clang of trolley car bells...but that another story(*), or being set free, of whom there were few and far between.
(*)If I remember correctly, the four Allied Powers (the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the United States) had to collectively and unanimously agree to the release of a Nuremberg prisoner prior to the time required by the court, should such a request be made on behalf of an inmate. Unfortunately, in the Hess case, the Russians were the sole holdout and therefore Hess spent his remaining days in the prison.
Goldensohn, author and psychiatrist, interviewed nineteen defendants, from Doenitz to Streicher, and fourteen witnesses, from Back-Zelewski to Schmidt. The initial Nuremberg trials commenced in late November, 1945 and concluded in April 1949 with several follow-up trials. For those with an appointment with the hangman, October 16, 1946 was their day of atonement.
Many books have been written about the Nuremberg trials. Almost as many as on the Kennedy assassination. Goldensohn interviews the Nuremberg inmates with an eye to "considering your fortunate background, what possessed you to take the low-road?" Does he find satisfactory answers? Not very often. It's the old "It's not me, it's not thee, it's the man behind the tree" excuse. That "man behind the tree" happened to be the hypnotic A. Hitler.
It was just after WWI and Germany was in economic disarray---between high inflation, unemployment, and restrictions(#) put on its military by the Versailles Treaty, Germany was ripe for a "man on horseback." They got their man on horseback. A mad man who showed no compassion to those not of his liking. "A tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing."
(#)The military restrictions were soon and secretly broken. For example, battleship Bismarck's tonnage and classification were held secret by the Reich, German fighter planes were classified as transports by the Reich, etc. By then the Third Reich was flexing its muscles and it (might have been) too little too late to cite provisions of the Versailles Treaty.
But I digress. Do I recommend The Nuremberg Trials? If you're a Nuremberg scholar or "whatever happened to the bad guys?" reader, yes. At times the interviews are tedious in that "haven't we heard this excuse ('I know nothing') during a prior interview?" But the fascination of why people do what they do can be educational.
I recommend the book.
WWII in The Gulf of Mexico, by C.J. Christ and recommended by Jerry Dixon.
In a 09/04/08 e-mail Jerry states: "I recently visited a WWII small museum in Houma, Louisana, where I met a Mr. C.J. Christ, a marine and aviation consultant who had written several books, given many lectures, and traveled the world over to research submarine warfare as described in his latest book, WWII in The Gulf of Mexico. He personally signed my book. I cannot locate the publisher's address other than it is "fifth printing, copyright 2005, U.S.A....The book is 297 pages and is one of my more interesting reads. Mr. Christ has traveled all over the world interviewing survivors, diving on submerged submarines, you name it and it seems as though he has been there. He indicated the book is on the market for $30."
(Ed. Note: All you need to do Jerry is cite the title and author of the book to Barnes & Noble Booksellers and they will provide the rest.)
Special Reports (3)
My Mother, The Merchant Seaman, by Vic Lopez. (Part 1 of 2)
My mother, Mary Naomi Griffith Lopez, was a merchant seaman on a Canadian tanker. In those days (1937) you had to sign on as a seaman in order to make the voyage. Somehow, her discharge papers, given to her upon disembarkation, have survived all these years. She was signed on as a seaman aboard the U.S. Mail & Passenger ship M/V Canadolite, which was registered out of Montreal, Canada.
Under "Description of Voyage or Employment" on the Certificate of Discharge (K), the ship's Master filled in "West Indies Cruise, Grass Widow." Under "Capacity (i.e. mate or engineer) he filled in "Better Half." The voyage was given as "December 5 through December 12, 1937." "Place of Engagement" was New York and "Place of Discharge" was Aruba, N.W.I. Where you apparently attested to abilities there was a seal on the Certificate which read "Character and Conduct", with the notation "Good when seasick." Another seal, on the lower right of the Certificate, was captioned "Character for Ability." Beneath the "Character for Ability" was the notation "Unknown. (Ask Jimmy)."
(Ed. Note: Jimmy was Mrs. Lopez's late husband, who co-authored with Vic, The Lago Colony Legend---Our Stories Vol. 1, 2, and 3. Vic sent me a copy of the "Certificate of Discharge". It's hilarious reading. Must admit that the Canadolit's captain had a good sense of humor. See Vic's continuing comments regarding the M/V Canadolite in Part 2 of Newsletter #14, August 2009.)
Lago of Bygone Years, by Jerry Dixon (02/20/09).
In regards to the U-boat shelling of Aruba, we were required to honor the black out each night (after the initial February 16, 1942 attack). Of course this was prior to the D-Day invasion of Europe. We were awakened the night of February 16th with tracers and shells going overhead. The sounds were very loud and disturbing. Particularly the explosions across from the (Big Lagoon's) reef, as the tankers one by one exploded. The scene was unimaginable. Due to the tankers distance off the reef the noise was silenced somewhat. I could only imagine the suffering that was occurring.
Very early the next morning my father and Mr. Robbins motored out to the reef and reported back what they saw, with only an oil slick to report. During the shelling there was an explosion over the back of our house (Bungalow #44) on the hill and a very brilliant fire. My father reflected that our club house (Old Esso Club) was the one hit. To this day I am not sure about that. Tracers and shells were also visible traveling toward the (Lago) refinery. Thank God their hoped for success failed. Our house was located on the cliff between Dr. Gravenberg (sp.) and Fire Chief Hughes. The tennis courts were in back of us. I was told that Dr. Gravenberg, being German, was detained after the attack.
My mother and we three children immediately returned to the U.S. after the attack. Dad stayed of course. I was five when we first arrived in Aruba and after 13 years I was quite familiar with all of Aruba. Climbed Mt. Hooiberg twice. Still have cactus sores as proof.
I scouted the caves. To date, I suppose no one knows about southwest of Colorado Point's Natural Bridge. The parakeets were beautiful in the caves. I started the animal/pet cemetery plot (animal graveyard fronting the Fourth Lagoon). Elbert Hughes and I feel we had some input in the naming of BA Beach (Bare Ass Beach). Almost weekly we'd skinny dip at BA beach. The surf was so violent that a swim suit was useless. We teased two female classmates and one time they stole all of our clothes, even our tennis shoes. Needless to say, we were quite embarrassed riding our bikes back home.
I finished high school in Vadalia, Illinois. Joined the Navy at 17, finished submarine school in Idaho, and served 36 months in the Pacific, 90% of the time on the APA 39 USS Clay in the communication section. Received three Bronze Stars, and an accommodation from President Harry Truman. I retired after 40 years with Shell Oil here in New Orleans.
If any Aruba people visit here in New Orleans, feel free to call me at (504) 887-7497. I volunteer weekly at the WWII Museum, now known as the National WWII Museum. I'll give you a few tour of the museum.
(Ed. Note: The next time Lisa and I are in New Orleans Jerry, we'll take you up on that offer.)
Consequences of Faulty Judgement, by your Editor.
(Ed. Note: The following 10/05/08 e-mail from your Editor to Bryan McCall is a continuation of the 10/05/08 e-mail response I had to Bryan's 10/02/08 e-mail concerning the Laconia Affair. [Earlier comments may be found under Correspondence in this Newsletter.])
As to the Laconia Incident...Rescue attempts at sea by U-boats came to an end after the Laconia incident due to the unsavory attempt by a U.S. Navy bomber to sink U-156, with a goodly number of Laconia's survivors on the U-boat's fore and afterdecks. I can't, for the love of God, wonder what possessed "operations back at base" to order the Navy aircraft to sink U-156. With a Red Cross spread on its deck, an open radio communication in English to all-ships-at-sea by U-156's Kplt.Werner Hartenstein indicating that it would not fire on any Allied vessels during the rescue attempt of men, women, children, and Italian prisoners of war (with some of Laconia's lifeboats being towed behind the U-boat), what were they thinking back at base command? Or were they thinking?
After the Laconia incident Hitler instructed Admiral Karl Doenitz not to rescue Allied survivors or crews of ships that had been torpedoed. Only to acquire the name of the torpedoed ship, port of call, destination, type cargo, and arrest (only) the ship's captain and chief engineer, if at all possible. As a humane gesture rations and water were passed over to the lifeboat's survivors and then pointed to the nearest landfall. If a spare compass from the ship or the U-boat was available, all the better. However, this was not always the case. I'm certain that in most cases lifeboat survivors gave the German U-boat officers the "Roman salute" as they floated by.
At the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 the Laconia Affair was raised against Admiral Doenitz, as he stood in the dock. Surprisingly, an admiral from the U.S.'s Pacific Fleet came to Doenitz's defense in stating that American rescue attempts at sea, in his particular area of operation, were not always faultless. Doenitz was spared the hangman's noose but spent the next ten years as a "guest" of Nuremberg Prison.
I believe the Laconia Affair resulted in the shoe-being-on-the-wrong-foot and painted a black eye for the Allies. Granted, there were instances of German U-boats machine gunning ship survivors while in the water and in lifeboats. One of the more infamous cases was U-852's Heinz Eck machine gunning Peleus steamship survivors in the water. Eck and two officers of U-852 met their justifiable fate when they were found guilty of war crimes at the Hamburg War Crimes Court. On November 30, 1945, Eck and the two officers faced the firing squad. Undoubtedly there were other instances of U-boat's firing upon ship survivors, Eck was the only U-boat commander sentenced to be shot, after the war.
An incident which is not well known by Werner Hartenstein defenders is that on February 28, 1942, or twelve days after U-156's attack against Lago/Aruba, U-156 sunk the Oregon with gunfire since the U-boat had already fired all its torpedoes at other targets. In the melee that followed, U-156 supposedly machine gunned survivors of the Oregon while they were in lifeboats. If any Roundtable member can either verify or debunk the claim of shooting on Oregon's lifeboat survivors, or any other ship's survivors, please e-mail me.
Questions Looking For Answers, Part 2 of 2 by your Editor.
(Ed. Note: For the prior three questions, please see Newsletter #12.)
4. Why wasn't the Lake Maracaibo/Gulf of Venezuela entry not blocked by German U-boats sinking Lake Tankers?
It appears almost to be a "no-brainer." If you wanted to halt Lake Tanker traffic from the oil gathering points on the Lake to Lago Refinery on Aruba, why wouldn't you sink a few of the Lakers at the "choke point" between the eastern and western shores opposite the city of Maracaibo? In looking at a map, the narrow gap between the choke point shores must have been no wider than a mile, i.e. Gulf of Venezuela to the north, Lake Maracaibo to the south, and the city of Maracaibo to the west. If you were on Admiral Doenitz's staff, looking at a map of Venezuela and the surrounding area in preparation for Operation Westindien, wouldn't it be obvious to sink a few tankers at that gap? Group Neuland's initial orders were changed at the last moment from "attack land targets" to "your principal assignment is to attack ship's targets." Such being the case, why not cut off all tanker traffic to and from Aruba at said "choke point"? Probably once a submerged U-boat was within the Gulf of Venezuela it would be an easy target. Also, the depth of the Gulf and the Lake were obviously(?) shallow at all points, which would be a major hindrance for U-boats. An added note: The sandbars blocking both the Gulf and the Lake had to be constantly dredged in order for ships to transverse the route. Hence the shallow draft Lake Tankers. Can one of our Roundtable members tell me where and/or at what shipyard the Lake Tankers were constructed?
5. Have any other 37mm shells fired from U-156's flak gun during the attack of February 16, 1942, been found in the refinery, the Colony concession, or in the cunucu? There were sixteen rounds fired before Kplt. Hartenstein bellowed "Halt!", but only two "made their mark", so to speak---one round hit and splayed storage Tank #112. The other shell slightly damaged a house in the San Nicolaas area. After 67 years the other fourteen spent shells are probably on the mantels in some turistas' homes or they're making great (live?) door stops in some kiddies' room.
6. What entries were made in the Spanish vessels Gobeo and Aldecoa-Espana's log books for the period March 8-12, 1943? These were two "neutral" flag vessels in proximity (200 miles to the north-northeast and north-northwest of U-156's sinking) to U-156 on March 8, 1943. Were there entries made in the ships' log books? If not, why not? What happened to the five U-156 survivors seen in the water and photographed by Navy Lt. Dryden's crew? (See Stan Norcom's U-156: From The Beginning to Das Ende, pgs. 48-52)
You probably have an idea where I'm going with this. In Newsletter #14 I'll give you a preview of my paper/booklet, "The Search For U-156's Survivors."
Like I indicated, "questions looking for answers." If members would like to weigh-in on these topics it would make great fodder for future Newsletters.
What is a 'Wonk'? Part 2 of 2 by your Editor.
(Ed. Note: For prior "Wonkerism" see Newsletter #12.)
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: Fellow wonkers have been through the trials, tribulations, and fires of committing faux pas ("four paws"), are well versed in the errors of their ways, and therefore seek to root out false prophets wherever and whenever they exist.
THE WONKER CREDO: To bisect, trisect, and vivisect claims of historic fact, page by page, paragraph by paragraph, line by line, and word by word until you're blue in the face, and whose only recompense is a resounding "Ah! Ha! Gotcha!"
FOUNDERS/CHARTER MEMBERS AND UNFORTUNATE INDUCTEES: Stan Norcom, Ray Burson, Don Gray, Jerry Casius, Dufi Kock, and Clyde Harms.
Be it heretofore noted that the last inductee, Clyde Harms, has been knighted by Queen Beatrix, and henceforth is to be referred to as Her Majesty's Consort, Valet, Bed Pan Cleaner Reduced to Hard Time, and Wonker-in-Waiting of Sunny Brooke Farms, "Sir Clyde".
Given unto me by my hairy hand this 8th day of April in the year of our Lord two thousand and six. Hear ye! Hear ye! Let any Wonker not beholden to the aforeskin...eh, aforesaid, be either cast out of The Kingdom of Wonks, drawn-and-quartered, stretched-on-the-rack, or subject to the smell of napalm in the morning.
The accused also has the right to choose one of the cited delectable punishments. If you opt out and not choose, a more fitting and proper punishment will be afforded you. You have the right to remain silent...or blab to your heart's content. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney.... better for us.
Any inquiries regarding the establishment of a more decrepit, run-down, do-nothing, worthless, societal organization, should be forwarded to that host-of-host, FEMA ("We're from the Government and we're looking out for you.").
S/Wonker Don D. "Twice Removed and One Quart Low" Gray aka Assistant Bed Pan Holder/Bearer to Sir Clyde.
What's in The Future Mix?
Topics to be covered in future Newsletters:
Official Log of U-502, provided by Stan Norcom.
Roundtable #6, June 23rd, Westin Hotel, Aruba, N.A., comments and observations.
Special Reports by:
August Neuman on the Gibbins and the situation at Lago after the 02/16/42 attack.
Correspondence between Ray Burson and Jim Duffy.
Dufi Kock and the recovery of the Oranjestad's anchor.
Bill Moyer's and Jerry Casius' translations of U-156's log between late 1941 and early 1942.
And in Closing....
Newsletter #14 should be in your hands no later than August 29, 2009, provided I don't get blown away by a computer glitch. Think positive Gray, think positive.
Please, please. If you change your e-mail or postal address, let me know as soon as possible.
Correspondence. The Newsletter lives, thrives, and breaths on letters and information from you, our Roundtable members. Don't be shy. I have the following on my business card: "You can never ask too many questions, only too few." It's what makes for an interesting Newsletter.
Let's not forget Dan Jensen's web site (www.lago-colony.com) for all information on Lago/Aruba, past present, and future. If I remember correctly, Dan told me, the last time I saw him, that he had over 2+ million hits on his web site. That's 2+ million!!
Larry Riggs' Lago Bulletin Board keeps us informed on what's happening on the Rock. If you're not on his address list to receive the Bulletin, drop him a note. It'll be worth your while.
And finally folks, if any Roundtable member prefers receiving the e-mail Newsletter via postal mail, please provide me with a mailing address.
Lisa Ann, mi esposa, assisted me in editing and proofreading the Newsletter. Let's hear a round of applause for her or at least a glass (quart?) of Pinot' Grigio.
Thank you.
Until next time....
Your man in the trenches....and Davy Jones' Locker.
Don D. Gray, Moderator/Editor
U-156/U-502 Roundtable Newsletter
arubagray@aol.com
Copyright 2009 by Don D. Gray
All rights reserved.