Battle of the Caribbean

Battle of the Caribbean
Part of World War II, Battle of the Atlantic

The Antilles, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico
Date1941–1945
Location
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Allies:
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Canada
 Netherlands
 Free France[1]
 Cuba
 Panama
 Venezuela
 Mexico
 Colombia
 Peru
other allies
Axis:
 Germany
 Italy
 Vichy France
Commanders and leaders
United States Ernest J. King
United States Jesse Oldendorf
United Kingdom Sir Percy Noble
United Kingdom Sir Max K. Horton
United States of Venezuela Isaías Medina Angarita
Cuba Francisco de Menocal Roldán
Nazi Germany Erich Raeder
Nazi Germany Karl Dönitz
Fascist Italy Romolo Polacchini
Casualties and losses
400 merchant ships sunk 17 submarines[2]

The Battle of the Caribbean refers to a naval campaign waged during World War II that was part of the Battle of the Atlantic, from 1941 to 1945.[3] German U-boats and Italian submarines attempted to disrupt the Allied supply of oil and other material. They sank shipping in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and attacked coastal targets in the Antilles. Improved Allied anti-submarine warfare eventually drove the Axis submarines out of the Caribbean region.

  1. ^ The United States Coast Artillery Command on Aruba and Curaçao in World War II The Coast Defense Study Group Journal, Volume 11, Issue 2.
  2. ^ "The U-Boat War In The Caribbean: Opportunities Lost".
  3. ^ One U.S. naval source gives different dates for the battle. See Smith, Commander C. Alphonso, U.S. Naval Reserve, "Battle of the Caribbean", Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, Vol. 80/9/619, September 1954: "The Battle of the Caribbean lasted nine and a half months—from February 16, 1942, to November 30, 1942."