The United States during World War II was unprepared for one of Germany's most destructive war efforts: a U-boat assault on Allied ships in the Caribbean that sank about 400 tankers and merchant ships, with few losses to the German submarine fleet. The Germans had set up a network of spies and had the secret support of some dictators, including the Dominican Republic's Rafael Trujillo, supplying their U-boats with fuel.The Caribbean was of crucial strategic importance to the Allies. Roughly 95 percent of the oil sustaining the East Coast of the United States came from the region, along with bauxite, required to manufacture airplanes. The United States invested billions of dollars to build bases, landing strips, roads, and other military infrastructure on the Puerto Rico and secured a 99-year lease on all the British bases located in the Caribbean. The United States also struck an agreement with neutral Vichy France to keep the French Navy in the harbor of Martinique, preventing it from being turned over to the Germans, in exchange for a food supply for the island.

Elsewhere, however, the German blockade was taking a dire human toll. All of the islands experienced a drastic food shortage. The US military buildup created jobs and income, but locals were paid a third as much as continental workers. The military also brought its segregationist policies to the islands, creating further tensions and resentment.

The sacrifice of the Caribbean people was bitter, but their participation in the war effort was also decisive: The U-boat menace more or less disappeared from the region in late 1943, thanks to their work building up the US military operation.

About the Author
Jose L. Bolivar Fresneda is the author of Guerra, banca y desarrollo: el Banco de Fomento y la industrializacion de Puerto Rico; co-author of Battleship Vieques: Puerto Rico from World War II to the Korean War- named Distinguished Academic Title- and Fundador de la Republica.

Federico Perez Carbo y sus combates por la independencia de Cuba (1855-1902); also autor and coeditor of Island at War: Puerto Rico in the crucible of the Second World War, Puerto Rico en la Segunda Guerra Mundial: Baluarte del Caribe and Puerto Rico en la Segunda Guerra Mundial: El Escenario Regional. He is currently a professor at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. Many of his writings and lectures at available at: www.joselbolivar.com.

Reviews

"History is at its most enthralling when we discover something close to home that we could never have imagined. Such is the surprising history of the naval battles and submarines in the Caribbean during the Second World War. It all starts with a simple question: What were the Nazis doing in our sea? Jose L. Bolivar finds remarkable material hidden beneath the beautiful waters. After reading this book, we will no longer be able to see the Caribbean the same way".- Jorge Ramos. Award winning anchor, journalist, and author at Univision.

"For taking on this task and succeeding so well in researching and explaining the many facets of this aquatic, sub-sea, and airborne battlefield, Dr. Jose Bolivar Fresnada should be congratulated. He has done an exemplary job of delivering lively details involving the little-known Caribbean Front of the Second World War." - Eric Wiburg, The Northern Mariner, 2021

Book Information
ISBN 9781558769557
Author Jose L. Bolivar Fresneda
Format Paperback
Page Count 286
Imprint Markus Wiener Publishing Inc
Publisher Markus Wiener Publishing Inc
Weight(grams) 333g