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Measureless Peril

Page 34

by Richard Snow

draftees in, 143

  “flower show” of, 10–12

  growth of, 109–10, 111

  Kriegsmarine’s first battle with, 136–37

  Project LQ of, 174–78

  reduction of, 23

  uniforms of, 17–18

  Navy Department, U.S., 82

  Nazism, 22

  Nelson, Horatio, 161, 169

  Netherlands, 24, 85, 182

  Neunzer, 2, 3, 237, 238–39, 243, 245, 247, 249, 250–51, 253–55, 275, 276–77, 278–82, 284–86, 288, 289, 293, 294, 295, 296, 302, 303, 305, 307, 308, 309, 310–12, 315–17, 322, 323–24, 326

  Neunzer, Ruby Iris, 238

  Neunzer, Weimar Edmund, 238

  Neutrality Act, 81–82, 88

  Neutrality Law, 81, 142

  Neutrality Patrol, 82, 88

  Nevada, 146

  Neville, Lawrence, 175

  Newark, 99

  New Deal, 9, 92

  Coughlin’s denunciation of, 80

  Newfoundland, 74, 82, 94, 214

  New Hampshire National Guard, 65

  New London, Conn., 163

  Newport, N.J., 166

  Newsweek, 290

  New York Harbor, 155

  New York Herald Tribune, 323

  New York Times, 9, 80–81, 100, 214–15

  New York World’s Fair, 8–11, 82, 84, 95, 152, 282

  Niblack, 140–41

  Nigaristan, SS, 134

  Nimitz, Chester, 134

  Non-Aggression Pact, Hitler-Poland (1934), 35

  Norfolk, Va., 15, 237, 278

  Norfolk Navy Yard, 206

  Normandy landings, 287–88

  North Carolina, 174–75

  Norway, 84, 87, 120, 138, 151, 300

  Nova Scotia, 49

  Nuremberg trials, 70, 72n, 321

  O’Hara, Edwin, 185, 187, 188, 190, 193

  oil, transport of, 150, 156

  Oklahoma, 147

  Orange, Tex., 232–37, 239, 244–49, 250

  O’Reilly, Tom, 199–201, 202, 203, 204

  Organization Todt, 103

  Orkney Islands, 22

  Ossman, Carl, 205

  Otter, 303, 308

  Otterstetter, 303, 308

  Pacific theater, 3, 111

  Panama Canal, 240

  Panay, 80

  Patrick Henry, 196, 203

  patrol craft (PCs), 206

  Patterson, 109

  Paukenschlag, Operation, 151

  Pearl Harbor, 135, 144, 145–47, 151, 161, 163, 166, 168, 179, 213, 221, 229, 245, 268n, 273, 301

  Peck, Pat, 156

  Perry, Oliver Hazard, 214–15

  Peterson, 243

  Petroleumhaven, 182

  PG 57, 206–7

  Philippines, 106

  “Phony War,” 83–84

  Pierce, Fort, 172–73

  Piercy, Rodger, 185, 187, 188, 189, 190–92

  Pilar, 171

  Pillsbury, 279, 288, 294, 302, 303

  Placentia Bay, Roosevelt-Churchill meeting in, 120–27, 133

  Plan Dog, 112, 113

  Plough, H. H., 64

  Plymouth, 206

  Poland, 24, 48, 50, 83, 182, 272

  German invasion of, 35, 48

  Pope, 279, 288, 302, 303

  Portsmouth, N.H., 175, 176, 322

  Pound, Dudley, 127

  Pratt, William, 289–90

  President Lincoln, 58

  Primrose IV, 171

  Prince of Wales, 123–24, 126

  Proceedings, 162

  Procter and Gamble, 244

  Prohibition, 170

  Project LQ, 174–78

  Provincetown Harbor, 208

  PT boats, 4

  Purvis, Arthur, 89

  Pushbach, Hans, 75, 76

  Puttkamer, Karl-Jesko von, 73

  Pyle, Ernie, 283–84

  Queen Elizabeth, 61

  Queen Mary, 51

  Quiner (steward’s mate), 285

  Quonset Point, R.I., 277

  Rabi, Isidor Isaac, 263

  race riots, 234

  radar, 260–66, 267, 287, 289

  Radiation Laboratory, 262–64

  radio, Doenitz’s use of, 43

  Raeder, Erich, 22, 30, 73, 74

  air craft carriers desired by, 102

  Athenia sinking and, 71–72

  in attack on Norway, 84

  German navy built up by, 24

  and Hitler’s diatribe on navy, 257–58

  U.S. de facto war on Germany reported by, 137

  in war game, 34

  Z plan of, 25

  Randall, Captain, 76

  Random Harvest, 235

  Rankin, Chief Steward, 53

  Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 196

  Red Deer, 154

  Redhead, 171

  Reichsmarine, 24–25

  Reichstag, 148

  Republican National Convention (1940), 92

  Reuben James, 11, 139, 140, 141–42, 143

  Reykjavik, 292

  Reynaud, Paul, 87

  Ribbentrop, Joachim von:

  alliance with Italy and Japan signed by, 101–2

  Anglo-German Naval Treaty negotiated by, 24

  Rio de Janeiro, 192

  Roach, Ottie, 172

  Robert E. Peary, 198

  Robert Frost Library, 325

  Rooney, Mickey, 235–36

  Roosevelt, Elliott, 124, 162

  Roosevelt, Franklin, 159, 277, 295

  Atlantic patrol and, 82, 83, 128

  building of Long Island and, 290–91

  Churchill’s correspondence with, 85, 86–88, 89–90, 91–92, 113–14, 146, 160, 227

  Churchill’s meetings with, 120–27, 133

  Churchill’s request of destroyer loan from, 85

  death of, 302

  destroyers desired by, 227, 228, 229

  destroyers-for-bases deal implemented by, 86–100, 106, 116

  draftees allowed in navy by, 143

  fireside chats of, 115–16, 205

  Greer speech of, 136, 137

  inauguration of, 80

  Kearny speech of, 138–39

  King made COMINCH by, 166

  Lend-Lease desired by, 114–18

  Liberty ships disdained by, 195

  naval expansion bill signed by, 109, 110

  naval tradition of, 79

  NDRC created by, 262

  Neutrality laws and, 81, 82

  at press conference, 116–18

  and sinking of Reuben James, 142

  Stark appointed by, 109

  war cabinet assembled by, 106, 108

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 106, 139, 167

  Roosevelt’s Kampf, 295

  Roper, 215–17

  Roper poll, 89

  Rosyth Dockyard, 98

  Rough Riders, 106

  Royal Air Force, Lorient base bombed by, 104

  Royal Canadian Navy, 5, 144, 201

  Royal Naval Ammunition, 279

  Royal Navy, 5, 77, 226

  battered destroyers of, 88

  in Battle of Jutland, 20, 21

  convoy lanes maintained by, 144

  German invasion in planning of, 91

  number and strength of, 35

  reduction of, 23

  strength of, 89

  U.S. destroyers refitted by, 95–98

  Ruark, Robert, 180, 181–82, 184, 202

  Russia:

  Germany as threatened by, 20

  Japan’s defeat of, 21

  Rutz, Rudolph, 187–88, 190

  St.-Nazaire, 99, 103

  San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, 197

  Saratoga, 163

  Sard, Ellis, 207–10

  Saturday Evening Post, 180

  Savannah (cook), 204

  Sayer, Guy, 96–98

  “Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth” (Clough), 211

  Scapa Flow, British naval base at, 22

  Schelling, J. M., 240–41

  Schepke, Joachim,
322

  Scherbius, Arthur, 270–71

  Schnörkel, 299

  Sea Gypsy, 171

  Sebag-Monteifiore, Daphne, 57

  Seewolf, 299–313

  Senate, U.S., naval expansion bill in, 110

  Shamrock Beer Garden, 18

  Sherlock Holmes in Washington, 236

  Sherwood, Robert, 114, 118, 125, 139, 142

  Shetland Islands, 48

  shore leave, 13

  Sims, 286

  Sims, William S., 128–32, 133

  Singapore, 147

  Sixth Marines, 121

  Smith, Leonard B., 124n

  Smutje (cook), 46

  Snow, Emma Louise Folger, 1, 2, 6, 9, 218, 221, 223, 239, 288, 302, 324–25

  marriage of, 119

  Snow, Richard Boring, 1, 2, 3, 5–6, 7, 220–25, 232, 288, 302, 317–20, 324–26

  as architect, 8–9, 119, 220, 233, 324–25

  on Christmas 1944, 296–97

  at Consolidated yard, 233–37, 238–39, 241–49, 250

  letters of, 6

  marriage of, 119

  on Neuzer, 278–82, 284–86, 293, 310, 315–16, 317, 324

  at Submarine Chasing Training Center, 218–19

  in Tunisia, 282–83

  “Some Ideas About Organization Aboard Ship” (King), 162

  Somerville, James, 100

  sonar (sound navigation and ranging), 251–52, 253–55, 289

  South Africa, 185–86

  Southern Cross, 56, 57, 62, 63, 67

  Southgate Nelson Corporation, 69

  Soviet Union:

  capitalist nations seen as threat to, 80

  Germany’s nonaggression pact with, 35, 77

  Liberty ship used by, 195

  Nazi invasion of, 122, 147, 148, 195, 259

  Spain, 21, 24, 106, 181

  Spanish-American War, 21, 106, 181

  Spargel, 42

  Speer, Albert, 22

  Springwood, 79

  Stafford, Edward P., 232, 233, 295

  Stalin, Joseph, Hitler’s pact with, 35, 77

  Stalingrad, 195, 212, 257

  Stallings, Laurence, 80–81

  Stanford, Alfred, 170

  Stanford University, 220

  Stanvac Calcutta, 183

  Stark, Harold R. “Betty,” 108–9

  Atlantic patrol and, 83, 118, 120, 128

  Atlantic planning by, 111, 120, 122, 128

  convoy escorts sought by, 123, 229

  and destroyers-for-bases deal, 93, 100

  four options for U.S. forces set down by, 111–12, 145

  made CNO, 108–9, 163

  naval enlargement bill and, 109, 110

  Star of Oregon, 196

  Stephen Hopkins, 181–82, 184–86, 187, 189–92, 193, 194

  Stewart, 239–40

  Stier, 182–83, 186, 187–89, 192, 193

  Stilson, Ford, 186–87, 190–91

  Stimson, Henry, 222

  made secretary of war, 106–7

  power in Atlantic urged by, 118, 122

  radar inspected by, 263–64

  stock market crash (1929), 14

  Stockton, 97

  Stoltz, Iral, 138

  Stonegate, 75, 76

  Submarine Chasing Training Center, 218–19

  Submariners of Today (Schepke), 322

  submarines, 23

  Germany banned from construction of, 23–24, 30

  see also U-boats

  Suez Canal, 27, 203

  Sydney, 183

  Taft, Robert, 116

  Taft, William Howard, 106

  tankers, 203

  Tannenfels, 183, 193

  Teardrop, Operation, 301

  Tenth Fleet, 269, 273, 275, 299, 301, 315

  Texas, 164

  Texas, oil shipments from, 150

  TF (Task Force) 62, 278, 282

  Theen, Heinz, 47

  Third Naval District, 223

  Third Neutrality Law, 81

  Thomas, Lowell, 78

  Thomaston, Maine, 154

  Thompson, Cyril, 197

  Through the Wheat (Boyd), 81

  Tilyou family, 282

  Tirpitz, 99, 202

  TNT, 252–53

  Todt, Fritz, 103

  Topp, Erich, 139–40, 141

  torpedo boats, 30–31, 226–27

  torpedoes, 32, 34, 36, 44–45, 156, 277–78

  Torpedo Junction (Hickham), 217

  Townsend, George, 189

  trawlers, 130

  Trepuni, William, 214

  Tri-Partite Act, 101–2, 148

  Tromsoe, 77

  Tsushima, battle of, 21

  tugs, 130

  Tunisia, 282–83

  Turkey, 24

  Turner, R. M., 247

  Tuscaloosa, 114

  U-26, 41

  U-30, 48, 50, 70, 71, 72, 103

  U-38, 105

  U-39, 27

  U-48, 105

  U-71, 156–57

  U-85, 215, 216, 217

  U-106, 41

  U-110, 272, 273

  U-123, 152–53, 154–55, 177, 282

  U-333, 157, 259

  U-503, 214

  U-505, 294, 295, 316, 322–23

  U-546, 300, 301, 303, 308–9, 310, 311

  U-552, 139–40

  U-568, 138

  U-653, 47

  U-656, 214

  U-805, 315

  U-954, 266

  U-1206, 37

  U-1230, 298

  UB-68, 27, 28, 29

  U-boats, 4–5, 8, 20, 27–28, 31, 35, 145, 212, 270, 278, 287

  Biscay bay bases of, 102–4

  Biscay Crosses carried by, 265

  crew of, 41–46

  deck guns on, 40

  design of, 36–43

  destroyers designed for combat with, 228

  diesel engines of, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42

  diving by, 42, 46–47

  Doenitz’s building of, 32–33

  food on, 38, 40–41

  Greer’s encounter with, 136–37

  joint attacks by, 31

  maintenance of, 38–39

  Project LQ and, 174–78

  radar used by Allies against, 265

  ships sunk by, 73, 105–6, 120, 129, 132, 167, 210; see also Athenia; specific ships

  sinking of, 214, 217

  submersion of, 38

  toilets on, 37

  Type I, 33

  Type II, 33

  Type VII, 33, 39, 41, 44, 47, 48, 151, 157, 273

  Type IX, 39, 41, 47, 151, 300

  Type XIV, 273

  Type XXI, 299

  U.S. ships avoided by, 118

  in war game, 34

  in World War I, 26–29

  in Z plan, 25

  Uboot-Zieloptik (UZO), 153

  Ulithi, 3

  Ultra, 273–74, 275, 277, 289

  Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 21

  Union Pacific Railroad, 107

  United Fruit Company, 185

  United States:

  in destroyers-for-bases deal, 86–100, 101, 106, 116

  four options for forces of, 111–12

  German declaration of war against, 148–49

  German naval attacks as viewed in, 139

  Iceland occupied by, 120–22

  Kriegsmarine’s move against, 149, 150–57, 160–61, 162, 298–313

  North Africa invaded by, 259

  radar developed by, 261

  in Spanish-American War, 21, 106

  sympathy for Britain in, 93

  war declared on Japan by, 145

  Upshur, 133

  U-tankers, 274

  Vanderbilt, William K., II, 206

  van der Vat, Dan, 178

  Van Doren, Mark, 6

  Varian, 303, 307, 308, 309

  Vema, 171

  Versailles Treaty, 22, 24, 30

  Veterans Administration, 217

  Vickery, Howard, 291

  Vietnam War, 323

 
Vincennes, 145

  Vortice (submarine), 280

  Wade, Russell, 138

  War at Sea, The, 273

  Warner Bros., 198–99

  War of 1812, 12, 168, 215, 238, 294

  War Shipping Administration, 199

  Washington, 19, 122, 253

  Washington Naval Conference, 23

  Wasp, 121

  “Weakly Report, The,” 198–99

  Weddigen Flotilla, 33

  Wells, Leading-Signalman, 135–36

  Wenner-Gren, Alex, 56, 57

  West Virginia, 146

  What Price Glory (Stallings and Anderson), 80–81

  Wheeler, Burton, 116

  Whitehead, Alfred, 226

  Whitman, Arthur R., 241

  Widomaik, S. E., 294

  Wilhelm II, Kaiser of Germany, 21

  Wilhelmshaven, 71

  Wilkes, Daniel, 52

  Wilkes, E. J., 52

  Wilkes, Mrs. E. J., 52

  Willett, Kenneth M., 184, 186, 188, 189, 190, 192–93

  Williams, Wirt, 252, 270, 295

  Willkie, Wendell, 92

  Wilson, Woodrow, 79

  Winant, John, 146

  Winiewski, Louis F., 241

  “wolf pack,” 105, 287, 293

  Wolfsschanze, 257

  women, 18–19, 231

  Woodring, Harry, 107

  “World of Tomorrow, The,” 10

  World War I, 11–12, 15, 17, 21, 22–23, 26–29, 58, 59, 87, 128, 131, 132, 161, 182, 227, 245, 251, 262, 267

  Anderson and Stallings’s denunciation of, 80–81

  French army in, 89

  World War II:

  first U.S. casualties in, 138

  see also Atlantic, Battle of; specific combatants and events

  Wouk, Herman, 317–18

  Wright, Russel, 9, 84

  Wyoming, 11

  yachts, 130, 206–10

  Yankee Skipper (Gainard), 58

  Yorktown, 239

  YP-438, 207–8, 212, 301

  YPs, 223–24, 225, 229

  Zentrale, 42

  Zonfrello, Peter, 241

  Z plan, 25, 26

  About the Author

  Richard Snow was born in New York City in 1947, and he graduated with a BA from Columbia College in 1970. He worked at American Heritage magazine for nearly four decades and was its editor in chief for seventeen years. He is the author of several books, among them two novels and a volume of poetry. Snow has served as a consultant for historical motion pictures—among them Glory—and has written for documentaries, including the Burns brothers’ Civil War, and Ric Burns’s PBS film Coney Island, whose screenplay he wrote. Most recently, he served as a consultant on Ken Burns’s World War II series, The War.

  (Author’s collection.)

  The peril: one of Admiral Doenitz’s “excellent” Type VII U-boats on the prowl during a war patrol in rough North Atlantic waters.

  The Esso tanker R. P. Resor, her back broken, burns five miles off the New Jersey coast in February 1942, not long after German submarines arrived off American shores. Only two of her crew survived.

  The four-stacker destroyer USS Toucey puts on speed.

  Built for service in World War I, she was identical to the fifty ships Roosevelt turned over to Great Britain in 1940. Two newly created warships of the “Hooligan Navy” do their best to look martial.

 

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