page_title: Battle of the Caribbean
section_title: Attacks on Allied shipping
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Caribbean / Axis operations / Attacks on Allied shipping
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Kommerzielle Tanker SS Sylvan Arrow zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Fertigstellung im Januar 1918, vor ihrem Dienst in der United States Navy.
context_page_description: The Battle of the Caribbean refers to a naval campaign waged during World War II that was part of the Battle of the Atlantic, from 1941 to 1945. German U-boats and Italian submarines attempted to disrupt the Allied supply of oil and other material. They sank shipping in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and attacked coastal targets in the Antilles. Improved Allied anti-submarine warfare eventually drove the Axis submarines out of the Caribbean region.
context_section_description: SS Norlantic was an American-flagged, 3,860 GRT cargo ship that was sunk on the morning of 13 May in the Caribbean by a U-boat. She was transporting a load of random cargo from Pensacola, Florida to Venezuela when attacked by U-69 90 mi (78 nmi; 140 km) east of Bonaire. At 03:38, U-69—under the command of Kptlt. Ulrich Graf—fired two torpedoes from a surfaced position. Both torpedoes missed, so Graf ordered his crew to close the range to 2,200 yd (2,000 m) and to open fire with the deck gun at 03:47. U-69 began shelling Norlantic as she attempted to flee the scene. After several hits the American ship signaled the Germans to cease fire so they could escape the inferno in their life-rafts. The Germans failed to hold their fire while two lifeboats were lowered, then at 04:11 they fired a coup de grâce which hit Norlantic's boiler room. She sank, taking six men down with her, two men were killed by the torpedo and four men killed from the shelling. Norlantic's surviving crew were then adrift at sea for several days before being rescued by Allied ships.
  German U-boats sank two Mexican tankers, Potrero del Llano on 14 May by Reinhard Suhren's U-564 off Florida, and Faja de Oro on 21 May by Hermann Rasch's U-106 off Key West. Sixteen men died in the two attacks. This prompted Mexico to declare war on Germany on 1 June.
  SS Sylvan Arrow was a tanker of the Standard Oil and Transportation Company during World War II when U-155 torpedoed her. The attack occurred on 20 May just southwest of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea. Attempts to tow her to port did not succeed, and she sank on 28 May, at position 12° 50' north, 67° 32' west.
  The tanker SS Hagan was sunk by U-157 on 11 June about 5 mi (4.3 nmi; 8.0 km) north of the Cuban coast. The American ship holding thousands of barrels of molasses was hit in the engine room. The torpedo destroyed the engines and caused a boiler to explode and a moment later another torpedo hit the ship. Six men were killed and 38 survivors made it to shore. Two days later, U-157 was sunk by a United States Coast Guard cutter.
  U-171 attacked the 6,511 GRT Mexican tanker SS Amatlan on 4 September at the position 23°27′N 97°30′W / 23.45°N 97.5°W / 23.45; -97.5. The Mexicans evaded three attacks of two torpedoes each before being hit by one in a final spread. Amatlan sank with 10 men and another 24 sailors survived.
  On 11 September, U-514—under Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Auffermann—torpedoed the armed Canadian steam merchant SS Cornwallis off the coastline of Bridgetown. The ship sank in shallow waters after a short exchange, but was raised and towed to Trinidad in December 1942 and later towed to Mobile, Alabama, arriving on 24 January 1943. The ship was repaired and returned to service in August 1943, but was torpedoed a second time, this time by U-1230 on 3 December 1944 in the Gulf of Maine, and sank.
  On 5 July 1943, 70 mi (61 nmi; 110 km) to the west of Port-Salut, Haiti, U-759 encountered the American-flagged steamer Maltran, which was part of Convoy GTMO-134. U-759 fired torpedoes and at least one hit the vessel. Maltran sank within 15 minutes of being hit, though all of her crew survived and escaped the danger in lifeboats.
  The crew was later rescued by USS SC-1279. On 7 July, U-759 torpedoed the Dutch cargo ship Poelau Roebiah, in Convoy TAG-70. The ship sank just east of Jamaica, taking down two men. Sixty-eight others were rescued. After sinking Poelau Roebiah U-759 was chased down and attacked by the U.S. Navy the following day. A PBM Mariner flying boat first dropped a load of explosives over the sub, and then for seven hours American surface vessels depth charged the area, but U-759 escaped without damage or loss of life.
caption: SS Sylvan Arrow in 1917.
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