Analysis of a world war II battle in the Gulf of Mexico: the German U-boat, U-166, and U.S. Navy Patrol Craft 566

Abstract

ABSTRACT The passenger freighter Robert E. Lee steamed through the Gulf of Mexico one hot July afternoon in 1942. With the danger of German U-boats in the Caribbean and along the United States Coast, the freighter was escorted by U.S. Patrol Craft 566, unaware U-166 lay in wait. As they neared the Mississippi River, a torpedo ripped through the freighter’s side. PC-566 engaged the U-boat with depth charges. Losing contact with the U-boat, the crew felt they had destroyed it. A U.S. Military Review Committee, however, determined the attack was ineffective allowing the U-boat to escape. The historical evidence and archaeological remains lying in nearly 1,500 metres of water tells a much different story. Through detailed analysis of the data, the battle sequence is reconstructed mathematically. The story it tells vindicates the PC-566’s commander and crew shedding new light on one of the Gulf of Mexico’s only World War II battlefields.