Torpedoes in the Gulf: Galveston and the U-boats, 1942-1943

At the beginning of America's involvement in World War II, Galveston Island was a recreation center for servicemen. Every evening throngs of soldiers, sailors, and Marines strolled along the seawall, basking in the warm sun and soft Gulf breezes. It was paradise on earth. Small wonder that German U-boat commanders caught Americans totally unprepared for a Gulf attack. Between 1942 and 1943, twenty-four German submarines entered the Gulf of Mexico and attacked American and Allied ships, sinking fifty-six merchant ships and damaging fourteen more. Although responses were initially chaotic, Americans soon established a defense system that could cope with the threat.