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 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.