During World War II, German U-Boats (Unterseeboote, or submarines) brought the war to the shores of the United States in what became known as the Second Happy Time or Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag). Beginning in January 1942, shortly after the U.S. entered the war, German submarines prowled the East Coast, targeting merchant and military vessels with devastating effect.
The U-Boats took advantage of unprepared coastal defenses and the lack of convoy systems. Cities like New York, Norfolk, and Miami kept their lights blazing at night, silhouetting ships for easy attacks. German subs sank dozens of ships within sight of American beaches, creating a wave of fear and shock among coastal communities.
At the peak of the campaign, some U-Boats were sinking more than a ship per day. The East Coast essentially became a hunting ground, with over 600 ships sunk in U.S. waters by the war’s end, costing thousands of lives and millions of tons of cargo.
The tide turned by mid-1942 as the U.S. Navy implemented coastal convoys, improved air patrols, and used radar and sonar technologies more effectively. German losses increased, and U-Boat effectiveness declined significantly.
Despite the eventual U.S. success in countering the threat, the U-Boat campaign off the East Coast remains one of the lesser-known but most striking chapters of the war at sea.