Battle of the Caribbean 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 – 1945 . German U - boat s and Italian submarine s 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 . Background . The Caribbean was strategically significant because of Venezuelan oil fields in the southeast and the Panama Canal in the southwest . The Lago Company refinery on Dutch - owned Aruba , processing seven million barrels per month , was the largest oil refinery in the world ; the refinery at Pointe - à - Pierre on Trinidad was the largest in the British Empire ; and there was another large refinery on Dutch - owned Curaçao . The British Isles required four oil tankers of petroleum daily during the early war years , and most of it came from Venezuela after Italy blocked passage through the Mediterranean Sea from the Middle East . The Caribbean held additional strategic significance to the United States . The United States ' Gulf of Mexico coastline , including petroleum facilities and Mississippi River trade , could be defended at two points . The United States was well positioned to defend the Straits of Florida but was less able to prevent access from the Caribbean through the Yucatán Channel . Bauxite was the preferred ore for aluminum , and one of the few strategic raw materials not available within the continental United States . United States military aircraft production depended upon bauxite imported from the Guianas along shipping routes paralleling the Lesser Antilles . The United States defended the Panama Canal with 189 bombers and 202 fighters , and based submarines at Colón , Panama and on Saint Croix , U . S . Virgin Islands . United States Navy VP - 51 Consolidated PBY Catalina s began neutrality patrol s along the Lesser Antillies from San Juan , Puerto Rico on 13 September 1939 ; and facilities were upgraded at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and at Naval Air Station Key West . The United Kingdom based No . 749 , 750 , 752 and 793 Naval Air Squadrons at Piarco International Airport on Trinidad . British troops occupied Aruba and Curaçao soon after the Netherlands were captured by Nazi Germany . The French island of Martinique was perceived as a possible base for Axis ships as British relationships with Vichy France deteriorated following the Second Armistice at Compiègne . The September 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement enabled the United States to build airfields in British Guiana , and on the islands of Great Exuma , Trinidad , Antigua , and Saint Lucia . On 11 February 1942 , United States forces replaced British soldiers on the Dutch refinery islands and began operating Douglas A - 20 Havoc s from Hato Field on Curaçao and Dakota Field on Aruba . Axis operations . Operation " Neuland " . The first offensive against the Caribbean refineries was organized under the command of Commander Werner Hartenstein aboard with , , and . The first three U - boats launched simultaneous attacks on 16 February 1942 . " U - 502 " sank crude oil tankers " Tia Juana " and " San Nicholas " between Lake Maracaibo and Aruba . " U - 67 " entered Willemstad harbor on Curaçao and torpedoed three oil tankers . The four torpedoes from the bow tubes were duds , but the stern tube torpedoes sank " Rafaela " . " U - 156 " entered San Nicolas harbor on Aruba and torpedoed oil tankers " Pedernales " , " Oranjestad " and " Arkansas " . " U - 156 " then attempted to shell the Aruba refinery with its 10 . 5 cm SK C / 32 naval gun ; but the gun barrel burst when the first shell exploded because the gun crew failed to remove the tampion . The Germans slightly damaged a large storage tank . A Venezuelan gunboat , , assisted in rescuing the crews of several torpedoed vessels ; and A - 20 Havoc light bomber s attacked all three U - boats unsuccessfully . As result an increased American occupation of the island began for its protection . " U - 161 " entered Trinidad ' s Gulf of Paria on 18 February to torpedo " Mokihama " and the oil tanker " British Consul " . As the U - boats settled into routine patrolling , " U - 67 " torpedoed oil tankers " J . N . Pew " and " Penelope " ; " U - 502 " torpedoed oil tankers " Kongsgaard " , " Thallia " and " Sun " ; " U - 156 " torpedoed " Delplata " and oil tanker " La Carriere " ; " U - 161 " torpedoed " Lihue " and oil tankers " Circle Shell " , " Uniwaleco " and " Esso Bolivar " ; and " U - 129 " torpedoed " George L . Torrain " , " West Zeda " , " Lennox " , " Bayou " , " Mary " , " Steel Age " and the oil tanker " Nordvangen " . The " U - 156 " crew used hacksaw s to cut off the damaged portion of the gun barrel ; and , when " U - 156 " ran out of torpedoes , used their sawed - off deck gun to sink " Macgregor " and the oil tanker " Oregon " . On 10 March " U - 161 " entered Castries harbor on Saint Lucia to torpedo " Lady Nelson " and " Umtata " . After leaving Saint Lucia , " U - 161 " torpedoed " Sarniadoc " and sank the United States Coast Guard lighthouse tender " Acacia " with gunfire . Other operations . Five Italian submarines patrolled the Atlantic side of the Lesser Antillies during Operation " Neuland " . " Morosini " torpedoed " Stangarth " and oil tankers " Oscilla " and " Peder Bogen " . " Enrico Tazzoli " torpedoed " Cygnet " and the oil tanker " Athelqueen " . " Giuseppe Finzi " torpedoed " Skane " and oil tankers " Melpomere " and " Charles Racine " . " Leonardo da Vinci " torpedoed " Everasma " and the neutral Brazilian " Cabadelo " . " Luigi Torelli " torpedoed " Scottish Star " and the oil tanker " Esso Copenhagen " . was simultaneously patrolling the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola torpedoing " Gunny " , " Barbara " , " Cardona " , " Texan " , " Olga " , " Colabee " , and oil tankers " Hanseat " and " Halo " between 2 March and 13 March . moved south from Florida to torpedo " Manaqui " . A German submarine shelled the American island of Mona , some forty miles west of Puerto Rico , on March 3 , 1942 . No damage or casualties resulted . An oil refinery on Curaçao was shelled on 19 April 1942 by under " Kapitän zur See " ( Captain ) Ernst Kals . The small engagement ended in a German failure . Kals ordered the bombing of several petroleum storage tanks but after only five shots , a Dutch shore battery responded which forced him to abort . Later a German U - boat attacked a merchantship off Curaçao and was engaged by Dutch anti - aircraft and naval gun batteries but again the submarine escaped harm . Attacks on Allied shipping . was an American - flagged , 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 east of Bonaire . At 03 : 38 , " U - 69 " — under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " ( Lieutenant Commander ) Ulrich Graf — fired two torpedoes from a surfaced position . Both torpedoes missed , so Graf ordered his crew to close the range to and to opened 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 liferafts . 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 , the " Potrero del Llano " on 14 May by Reinhard Suhren ' s off Florida , and " Faja de Oro " on 21 May by Hermann Rasch ' s 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 torpedo ed 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 on 11 June about 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 . On 11 September , — under " Kapitänleutnant " ( K / L ) Hans - Jürgen Auffermann — torpedoed the armed Canadian steam merchant 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 , 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 on 3 December 1944 in the Gulf of Maine , and sank . On 5 July 1943 , to the west of Port Salut , Haiti , 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 . On 7 July , " U - 759 " torpedoed a Dutch cargo ship the " Poelau Roebiah " , in Convoy TAG - 70 . The ship sank just east of Jamaica , taking down two men . Sixty - eight others were rescued . After sinking the " 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 . Sunken warships . Axis vessels . " U - 157 " was sunk on 13 June 1942 by the U . S . Coast Guard . The U - boat was surface cruising just southwest of Key West , in position , when sighted by . The German submarine submerged and attempted to flee but " Thetis " gained sonar contact and began a depth charge attack . After several minutes , the action ended when debris and oil were spotted by the Coast Guard crew . " Thetis " sank " U - 157 " . Seven days after escaping attacking Allied ships off Haiti on 8 July 1943 , " U - 759 " was reported sunk ; post war research discovered it was not until an attack on 23 July that she was actually destroyed . An American PBM Mariner at the approximate position of bombed and sank the boat . The freighter was under escort by the American patrol chaser south of the Mississippi River Delta on 30 July 1942 . Suddenly , a torpedo hit " Lee " , and " PC - 566 " discovered the attacking . " PC - 566 " launched depth charges at the submarine and sank her though it was not until after the war sinking was confirmed . On 28 August , was in operation against convoy TAW 15 off Haiti when attacked by American and Canadian escorts . First , an American PBY swooped down and bombed the U - boat , and then RCN corvette s and attacked . " Oakville " fired depth charges which forced the submarine to the surface . The corvette then rammed " U - 94 " twice before it slowed to a stop . Hal Lawrence led a boarding party of eleven sailors from " Oakville " to capture the boat . They boarded the vessel and entered through the conning tower . Only two Canadians actually went through the hatch , they were surprised by two Germans who came running towards them . After ordering halt , the Canadians fired and killed the attacking Germans when they failed to stop . The rest of the crew surrendered without incident . After just barely capturing the vessel , the Canadian sailors realized the Germans had already scuttled the boat and it was taking on water . The Canadians left " U - 94 " and she sank with nineteen of her crew ; " Oakville " rescued 26 , including the commander , " Oberleutnant " Otto Ites . The German auxiliary cruiser was scuttled on 27 September in the Caribbean . This was after " Stier " sank the American liberty ship in a short battle . On 15 May 1943 , the Cuban freighters " Camaguey " and " Honduran Hanks " were being escorted by three small Cuban Navy submarine chaser s from Sagua La Grande to Havana . The convoy was nearing Havana in the Gulf of Mexico when an American reconnaissance aircraft spotted a German U - boat . The aircraft dropped a smoke float over , and the Cuban submarine chaser — under Second Lieutenant Alférez Delgado — picked up the enemy craft with sonar . " CS - 13 " attacked with depth charges and quickly sank the U - boat which killed all of her crew . Allied vessels . French submarine cruiser " Surcouf " , the largest submarine in the world at the time , was rammed and sunk by the freighter " Thomas Lykes " near the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal on 18 February 1942 . There were no survivors . On 23 June , the unarmed USAT " Major General Henry Gibbins " was steaming alone almost west of Key West , Florida when she was attacked by . Two torpedoes hit the coffee laden " Henry Gibbins " on her portside over the course of 20 minutes and she sank soon after . All of her 47 crew and 21 U . S . Army guards survived the encounter and were rescued a day later . SS " Stephen Hopkins " was an armed American liberty ship which fought during World War II . On 27 September , " Stephen Hopkins " was returning to Surinam from Cape Town when attacked by the auxiliary cruiser " Stier " . " Stephen Hopkins " was ordered to stop by the Germans , the Americans refused , so they opened fire with their main battery . A lone gun and a few machine gun s were then put in operation by the Americans and a short but violent battle was fought . Both vessels suffered casualties and by 10 : 00 the American ship was sunk . " Stier " was badly damaged as well and could no longer make steam so her commander scuttled her less than two hours after defeating the American vessel . The American gunboat was escorting Convoy TAG - 20 in the Caribbean between Trinidad and Guantanamo Bay when attacked by a German U - boat in November 1942 . — under Kurt - Eduard Engelmann — surfaced and fired three torpedoes at " Erie " . The Americans spotted the submarine and the torpedoes , then took evasive maneuvers . " Erie " escaped two of them but was hit by the third and badly damaged . Her crew grounded her on the nearby Cuban shore and she burned for several hours before the flames were brought under control . American forces suffered seven killed and eleven wounded in the attack . Later , " Erie " was towed to Curaçao ' s Willemstad Harbor but capsized and sank on 5 December .