Attack on Aruba

Part of World War II, Battle of the Caribbean

Pedernales, heavily damaged after being struck by a German torpedo.

Date

16 February 1942

Location

off Oranjestad, San Nicolas Harbor, Aruba, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Venezuela

Result

Axis victory

Oil operations disrupted

Belligerents

Allies:

Netherlands

United States

Axis:

Nazi Germany

Kingdom of Italy

Commanders and leaders

Frank Andrews

Werner Hartenstein

Strength

Land:
~300 artillery
~6 artillery pieces
3 shore batteries
Sea:
~3 patrol boats
Air:
2 light bombers

7 submarines

Casualties and losses

~47 killed
6 tankers sunk
2 tankers damaged

1 killed
1 wounded
1 submarine damaged

German casualties were caused by an accident.

Axis victory

The Attack on Aruba was an attack on oil installations and tankers by Axis submarines 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.

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. U-156, 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 U-502, U-67, U-129 and U-161 and two Italian submarines. They patrolled the Gulf of Venezuela, to the southwest of Aruba, and other nearby waters for oil tankers.

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Wikipedia