Attack on Aruba The Attack on Aruba was an attack on oil installations and tankers by Axis submarine s during World War II . On 16 February 1942 , a German U - boat attacked the small island of Aruba . Other submarines patrolled the area for shipping and they sank or damaged tankers . Aruba was home to two of the largest oil refineries in the world during the war against the Axis powers , the Arend Petroleum Maatschappij , situated near the Oranjestad harbor and the Lago Oil and Transport Company at the San Nicolas harbor . The attack resulted in the disruption of vital Allied fuel production . Background . The Dutch 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 . In early 1942 , several Axis submarines patrolled the southern Caribbean with the objective of attacking Allied convoys and disrupting the oil operations . , a long range submarine , entered the waters off southwestern Aruba on 13 February . She was under the command of Commander Werner Hartenstein who wanted a reconnaissance of the area before attacking the Lago Company oil tanks near Oranjestad . Hartenstein commanded the " Neuland Gruppe " , a wolfpack of five German and two Italian submarines . Previously the commander had coordinated an attack on oil related targets in between Aruba and Maracaibo in order to disrupt the production of aircraft fuel . " U - 156 " was assigned to attack the refineries , while the six other submarines attacked merchant ships wherever found . These other submarines were , , and and two Italian submarines . They patrolled the Gulf of Venezuela , to the southwest of Aruba , and other nearby waters for oil tankers . " U - 156 " was armed with six torpedo tubes , one deck gun and one flak gun . Attack . On 16 February , after observing the area for a few days , " U - 156 " came around to the refineries . There in front of her target were two Lago Company flat bottom steamers , and , both British owned oilers . At 01 : 31 , " U - 156 " surfaced in San Nicolas Harbor some offshore and attacked the two British tankers at anchor . Hartenstein ordered the firing of one torpedo from his bow tubes at " Pedernales " . The torpedo attack was successful and " Pedernales " was hit amidship . Loaded with crude oil , the steamer immediately burst into flames , killing eight of her 26 crewmen and wounding her captain Herbert McCall . " Oranjestad " then began to lift anchor and steam away but she was too late and was hit by a second torpedo fired from " U - 156 " . She too burst into flames and an hour later , sunk in about 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 . At 03 : 13 , " U - 156 " attacked the Texaco owned tanker SS " Arkansas " which was berth ed at Eagle Beach next to the Arend / Eagle Refinery . Just one of the torpedoes struck " Arkansas " 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 gun forgot to 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 Dietrich von dem Borne 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 flak gun to continue the attack . 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 . In disgust Hartenstein ordered a cease - fire , and set his course toward the other end of the island . The U - boat continued towards Oranjestad harbor and at 09 . 43 hours torpedoed the " Arkansas " lying at the pier of the Eagle Refinery , after missing with two torpedoes . Meanwhile , the six other Axis boats patrolled the area in search of oil tankers . " U - 502 " under Lieutenant Commander Jürgen von Rosenstiel made contact with at least three Allied vessels that day in the Gulf of Venezuela , two British oilers , SS " Tia Juana " and " San Nicolas " were sunk along with the Venezuelan steamer " Monagas " . " U - 67 " , under Captain Günther Müller - Stöckheim , attacked two additional tankers off Curaçao that morning . Stockheim fired four torpedoes from his bow tubes at the tankers in Willemstad 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 " Rafaela " . One hit and heavily damaged the ship . " U - 67 " then slipped away , unaware a United States Army Air Corps A - 20 Havoc light bomber was in pursuit . The aircraft dropped its payload of both flares and explosives when over the surfaced U - boat but the bombs missed and " U - 67 " submerged and got away . The flames from burning steamers around Aruba were reportedly so large that they could be seen easily from Curaçao . The four other U - boats and submarines were apparently unsuccessful in engaging Allied ships that morning . The Dutch patrol boats did not engage either . Aftermath . After the attack , the Axis force steamed for Martinique , where they offloaded their two casualties for medical treatment . Four allied ships had been sunk accounting for 14 , 149 tons . " Pedernales " , " Arkansas " and " Rafaela " survived the encounter ; though damaged or sunk , they were repaired and put back to use transporting goods for the Allied war effort . During " U - 156 " s attack on " Arkansas " , one of the missed torpedoes slid up " Arend " / " Eagle " Beach and did not explode . On 17 February , four Dutch Marines were killed when it detonated while they were examining it . At least 47 Allied merchant sailors were killed , and several more received wounds . The American " Associated Press " writer Herbert White was on the island during the attack along with an inspection party under Lieutenant General Frank Andrews . 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 though Aruba was never bombarded again during the war .