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and partially sank her but the damage was moderate and caused no casualties. Commander
Hartenstein then steamed further around Aruba and directed his men to take to the deck guns and prepare for a naval bombardment of the large oil tank in view. The crew of the 105 mm (4.1 in) gun forgot to
107:
826:. Both men witnessed the attack. The United States military, with the approval of the Dutch government, had just sent a large occupation force to guard the islands and oil refineries from Axis attacks and it now proved to be needed although Aruba was never bombarded again during the war.
637:. She too burst into flames and an hour later, sank in about 70 m (230 ft) of water. Fifteen of her 22 crewmen were killed. At this time, several Dutch sailors flocked to their small wooden patrol craft at harbor in order to get them away from the burning oil of the tankers.
487:
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was wounded badly, one foot having been severed. His comrade and trigger man
Heinrich Büssinger was badly wounded as well and died several hours after the attack. Hartenstein ordered the 37 mm (1.46 in) flak gun to continue the attack.
676:
Sixteen rounds from the 37mm AA gun were fired, but only two hits were found by the Allies: a dent in an oil storage tank and a hole in a house. Hartenstein ordered a cease-fire, and set his course toward the other end of the island. En route,
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island of Aruba had two major oil installations. The production of aviation fuel had been expanded to supply
British requirements prior to the American entry into the war. It was the largest such refinery in the world and a strategic target.
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some 1.5 km (0.81 nmi; 0.93 mi) offshore and attacked the two
British tankers at anchor. Hartenstein ordered the firing of one torpedo from his bow tubes at
1114:
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686:
610:
502:
In early 1942, several Axis submarines patrolled the southern
Caribbean with the objective of attacking Allied convoys and disrupting the oil operations.
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The four other U-boats and submarines were apparently unsuccessful in engaging Allied ships that morning. The Dutch patrol boats did not engage either.
744:
Harbor. All four failed to hit their targets or failed to explode. Stockheim tried again and fired two more torpedoes from his stern tubes at the Dutch
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remove the water cap from the barrel, so when
Hartenstein ordered them to fire, the gun blew up in the faces of the two gunners. Gunnery Officer
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survived the encounter; although damaged or sunk, they were repaired and put back to use transporting goods for the Allied war effort. During
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was assigned to attack the refineries, while the six other submarines attacked merchant ships wherever found. These other submarines were
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were killed when it detonated while they were dismantling it. At least 47 Allied merchant sailors were killed, and several more wounded.
762:
was in pursuit. The aircraft dropped its payload of both flares and explosives when over the surfaced U-boat but the bombs missed and
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submerged and got away. The flames from burning steamers around Aruba were reportedly so large that they could be seen easily from
740:, attacked two additional tankers off Curaçao that morning. Stockheim fired four torpedoes from his bow tubes at the tankers in
411:
785:, where they offloaded their two casualties for medical treatment. Four Allied ships had been sunk accounting for 14,149 tons.
944:
454:. Other submarines patrolled the area for shipping and they sank or damaged tankers. Aruba was home to two of the largest
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which took off from
Oranjestad, Aruba at 05.55 hours and dropped a number of 8 kg (18 lb) or 80 mm improvised
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508:, a long range submarine, entered the waters off southwestern Aruba on 13 February. She was under the command of
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bombs without achieving a hit. The U-boat continued towards
Oranjestad harbor and at 09.43 hours torpedoed
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then began to lift anchor and steam away but she was too late and was hit by a second torpedo fired from
711:
made contact with at least three Allied vessels that day in the Gulf of
Venezuela, two British oilers,
808:, one of the missed torpedoes slid up "Arend"/"Eagle" Beach and did not explode. On 17 February, four
625:, the steamer immediately burst into flames, killing eight of her 26 crewmen and wounding her captain
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Previously the commander had coordinated an attack on oil-related targets in between Aruba and
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writer
Herbert White was on the island during the attack along with an inspection party under
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came around to the refineries. There in front of her target were two Lago Company steamers,
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Meanwhile, the six other Axis boats patrolled the area in search of oil tankers.
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The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939–1943
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lying at the pier of the Eagle Refinery, after missing with two torpedoes.
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939:, Daniel Hagedorn, Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., Tonbridge, 1993, p.135,
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at the San Nicolas harbor. The attack resulted in the disruption of vital
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Naval battles and operations of the European theatre of World War II
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next to the Arend/Eagle Refinery. Just one of the torpedoes struck
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The Gulf of Venezuela; Aruba is located just northeast of the gulf.
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of the area before attacking the Lago Company oil tanks near
451:
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Naval battles of World War II involving the United States
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On 16 February, after observing the area for a few days,
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in the world during the war against the Axis powers, the
114:, heavily damaged after being struck by a German torpedo.
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Naval battles of World War II involving the Netherlands
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1115:Naval battles of World War II involving Germany
576:and two Italian submarines. They patrolled the
462:, situated near the Oranjestad harbor, and the
725:. were sunk along with the Venezuelan steamer
781:After the attack, the Axis force steamed for
363:
339:German casualties were caused by an accident.
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370:
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937:Central American and Caribbean Air Forces
71:Learn how and when to remove this message
1100:Caribbean Sea operations of World War II
748:; one hit and heavily damaged the ship.
617:. The torpedo attack was successful and
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477:
34:This article includes a list of general
605:, both British owned oilers. At 01:31,
428:was an attack on oil installations and
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544:in order to disrupt the production of
687:Netherlands West Indies Defense Force
351:
981:"Ships hit by U-boats - San Nicolas"
20:
16:World War II battle in the Caribbean
890:"Ships hit by U-boats - Oranjestad"
866:"Ships hit by U-boats - Pedernales"
450:attacked the small Dutch island of
13:
957:"Ships hit by U-boats - Tia Juana"
40:it lacks sufficient corresponding
14:
1141:
1065:Pedernales, The Phoenix of Aruba
914:"Ships hit by U-boats - Arkansas"
1029:"Ships hit by U-boats - Rafaela"
1005:"Ships hit by U-boats - Monagas"
685:maritime patrol aircraft of the
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836:American Theater (World War II)
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621:was hit amidship. Loaded with
464:Lago Oil and Transport Company
1:
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752:then slipped away, unaware a
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754:United States Army Air Corps
681:was found and attacked by a
523:. Hartenstein commanded the
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490:Aruba in the Caribbean Sea.
10:
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443:. On 16 February 1942, a
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738:Günther Müller-Stöckheim
168:Oil operations disrupted
533:of five German and two
460:Arend Petroleum Company
381:Battle of the Caribbean
99:Battle of the Caribbean
55:more precise citations.
841:Bombardment of Ellwood
670:Dietrich von dem Borne
491:
483:
233:Commanders and leaders
1125:1942 in the Caribbean
1062:, retrieved 7/11/2010
1059:, February 23, 1942,
709:Jürgen von Rosenstiel
489:
481:
315:Casualties and losses
1130:February 1942 events
706:Lieutenant Commander
1055:"Shells at Aruba",
611:San Nicholas Harbor
331:1 submarine damaged
1070:Woodman, Richard.
821:Lieutenant General
513:Werner Hartenstein
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258:Werner Hartenstein
578:Gulf of Venezuela
470:fuel production.
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324:2 tankers damaged
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204:United States
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164:Axis victory
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897:. Retrieved
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873:. Retrieved
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804:s attack on
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760:light bomber
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537:submarines.
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441:World War II
425:
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294:patrol boats
288:
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179:Belligerents
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141:San Nicolaas
111:
95:World War II
67:
58:
39:
18:
722:San Nicolas
661:Eagle Beach
192:Netherlands
53:introducing
1089:Categories
1038:2014-09-08
1014:2014-09-08
990:2014-09-08
966:2014-09-07
923:2014-09-07
899:2014-09-07
875:2014-09-07
847:References
787:Pedernales
783:Martinique
757:A-20 Havoc
742:Willemstad
655:which was
640:At 03:13,
631:Oranjestad
619:Pedernales
615:Pedernales
602:Oranjestad
596:Pedernales
521:Oranjestad
474:Background
437:submarines
320:~51 killed
309:submarines
137:Oranjestad
112:Pedernales
36:references
1033:Uboat.net
1009:Uboat.net
985:Uboat.net
961:Uboat.net
918:Uboat.net
894:Uboat.net
870:Uboat.net
777:Aftermath
715:Tia Juana
623:crude oil
542:Maracaibo
510:Commander
329:1 wounded
275:artillery
830:See also
806:Arkansas
791:Arkansas
733:, under
720:SS
713:SS
695:Arkansas
665:Arkansas
652:Arkansas
650:SS
594:SS
531:wolfpack
327:1 killed
264:Strength
143:Harbor,
131:Location
93:Part of
1074:(2004)
1050:Sources
795:Rafaela
768:Curaçao
746:Rafaela
735:Captain
727:Monagas
657:berthed
535:Italian
439:during
430:tankers
405:Curaçao
394:Neuland
216:Germany
49:improve
1078:
943:
704:under
646:Texaco
584:Attack
468:Allied
448:U-boat
445:German
201:
160:Result
38:, but
852:Notes
802:'
799:U-156
702:U-502
679:U-156
642:U-156
635:U-156
607:U-156
590:U-156
573:U-161
567:U-129
555:U-502
550:U-156
505:U-156
496:Dutch
452:Aruba
400:Aruba
273:~300
270:Land:
227:Italy
145:Aruba
1076:ISBN
1057:Time
941:ISBN
793:and
764:U-67
750:U-67
731:U-67
718:and
599:and
570:and
561:U-67
529:, a
494:The
434:Axis
424:The
298:Air:
289:Sea:
135:off
123:Date
659:at
432:by
292:~3
278:~6
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878:.
371:e
364:t
357:v
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68:(
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59:(
45:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
