Reality can be stranger than fiction, but sometimes the two intersect, as it did when Sharon Coldiron recently was reading James Lee Burke's 1994 novel, "Dixie City Jam."
In it, the best-selling author's main character, Dave Robichaux, finds himself at the center of a conflict between opposing forces who want to raise a sunken Nazi U-boat only miles from Louisiana's coast.
Of course, Burke's story is fiction, but Coldiron was intrigued.
Is it true?
"Is there really a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico?" the Deville resident asked. "If it is, why? And where, exactly, is it located?"
The story is true. The German sub officially was known as U-166. It was among a fleet of 23 sent to the Atlantic Ocean in the spring of 1942 on a mission called Operation Drumbeat, the Nazi code name for submarine attacks on Allied shipping off U.S. coasts.
"Over the course of that summer, German U-boats stalked defenseless tankers and transport ships in the effort to cut American oil supply lines through the Gulf of Mexico," Eli Haddow wrote in the July 2021 edition of The Historic New Orleans Collection's "First Draft" blog. "In about a year's time, more than 56 vessels were destroyed by the German Kriegsmarine, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management."
Haddow was a marketing associate for the collection when he wrote the piece, which was inspired by a framed draftsman's map. He's no longer with the museum but now works for the Peter Mayer Agency in New Orleans.
"But I was doing a lot of social media then. I would spend time walking around the galleries, and I always found this map fascinating," he said.
An intriguing map
The map was created by draftsman Carl D. Vought, who documented how the U-boat fleet of 20-plus crisscrossed the Gulf, easily picking off targets.
"The marks on the map represent sunken or damaged ships whose names are listed on the right side," Haddow said. "The section of the map nearest the mouth of the Mississippi, marked 'DA90,' was particularly dangerous."
It's in this section, about 45 miles off the Louisiana coast at Houma, where Vought's map shows the U-166's proposed location.
Why did it sink?
So, how did the submarine find its way to the Gulf's floor? Well, U-166 became a bit ambitious and torpedoed the civilian passenger ship Robert E. Lee on June 30, 1942. The ship's escort, U.S. Navy boat PC-566, immediately retaliated by dropping depth charges on the sub.
" ... but the small oil slick that appeared suggested that the crew had only damaged the U-boat, not destroyed it," Haddock wrote. "According to the Navy Times, the boat's captain, Lt. Cmdr. Herbert Claudius, was sent to anti-submarine school to improve his tactics. A couple of weeks later, a Coast Guard plane off the coast of Houma spotted a sub and dropped its own depth charge. A larger oil slick appeared -- U-166 had been sunk."
Meanwhile, most of the Robert E. Lee's crew of 131, six merchant marine officers and 270 passengers, escaped by lifeboats or rafts.
Attacks by the German fleet peaked in the summer of 1942. It wasn't until later that year, when merchant ships traveled with military escorts, that the killing abated.
"However, until then, many vessels were doomed," Haddock wrote. "Illuminated coastlines silhouetted ships, making them easy to see in the night. Slow and unarmed vessels became easy prey for the nimble U-boats."
Mandated blackouts
The government remedied this by mandating blackouts along the coast, meaning homes and businesses were required to turn off all lights at night, thereby hampering the Nazi fleet's night vision.
Haddow was aided in his research by Historic New Orleans Collection Chief Curator Jason Wiese, who located World War II posters designed by Federal Arts Project artists during this time. The posters were community service pieces created by the Works Progress Administration War Services for the Office of Civilian Defense in New Orleans, reminding American citizens to adhere to the blackouts and keep all information about the Port of New Orleans' ship schedules confidential.
It's interesting to note here that one such poster was created by noted WPA artist John McCrady of New Orleans, known for his public murals, French Quarter art school and such paintings as "The Shooting of Huey Long."
Along with the posters, Wiese also unearthed a letter from the Office of Civil Defense dressing down New Orleans' Antoine's Restaurant for failing to turn off a light in one of its rooms.
Wasn't the first time
However, the summer of 1942 wasn't the first time Louisiana's coast was under threat by a German Navy.
"What's also interesting is there are photos taken in 1919 or 1920 after World War I, when a German U-boat was captured," Haddox said. "They sailed it up the Mississippi River and kind of showed it off in New Orleans."
As for the U-166, there was vindication for Claudius, lieutenant commander of U.S. Navy boat PC-566.
Location was wrong
"Geologists scanning the Gulf floor in 2001 found the felled German submarine close by the wreckage of the Lee, far away from its assumed resting place off of Houma," Haddox writes. "The submarine hit by the Coast Guard plane, it was discovered, was damaged but managed to escape. The US Navy corrected the error in 2014 and gave Claudius and PC-566's crew credit for sinking U-166 -- 72 years after it happened."
According to other historic accounts, this places the U-166 about 45 miles east of where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf.
Photos of wreckage
Finally, in 2014, The Associated Press published a story of marine geologist and geophysicist Robert Ballard's exploration of the wreckage. Remote photos taken from his vessel, Nautilus, show both U-166 and Robert E. Lee about a mile beneath the Gulf's surface.
Ballard is best known for his photos of the Titanic's wreckage in the North Atlantic Ocean. His crew videoed and mapped the Gulf vessels for a National Geographic documentary.
Ballard's photos show that the U-boat itself was broken in two by the U.S. Navy ship's depth charge. The article also points out that the submarine's commander, Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Günther Kuhlmann, and his crew of 51 died in the wreckage.