The Bombardment of Curaçao refers to a 1942 German naval bombardment of a Bullen Baai Company

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

storage facility on the

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

island of Curaçao during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The raids purpose was to ignite and destroy the petroleum held on Curacao. This attempt failed and the German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

responsible was unsuccessfully engaged by a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

shore battery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

Background

On 16 February 1942, the '' Kriegsmarine'' ''

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...

Werner Hartenstein Werner Hartenstein (27 February 1908 – 8 March 1943) was a German naval officer during World War II who commanded the U-boat . He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary ...

devised a coordinated submarine attack against Caribbean targets including the

island of Aruba. The Attack on Aruba turned out to be somewhat successful, the Germans sank or damaged several oil tankers but did not set ablaze the large oil tank on Aruba. Hoping to further disrupt a major Allied oil supply, Hartenstein ordered his U-boats to continue operating against the Aruba and Curaçao refineries.

Bombardment

, a German Type IXC submarine under ''

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

Ernst Kals Ernst Kals (2 August 1905 – 2 November 1979) was a '' Kapitän zur See'' with the ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. He commanded the Type IXC U-boat on five patrols. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Career Kals joined ...

, approached western Curaçao on 19 April 1942. Its objective was to bombard and damage the Bullen Baai tank farm, located several miles west of

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...

. At about 02:15, Kals ordered his gunners to take up ''U-130''s

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

and then he ordered them to fire. In the short engagement, the Germans fired at least five shells at the petroleum tanks. None hit their target but the sound of the explosions woke up the sleeping Dutch

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

detachment on the island. They rushed to their two naval gun battery that protected the tanks and opened fire. The Dutch let loose only one shot at the German boat which alarmed them but missed. Captain Kals decided to abort the operation and ordered his crew to submerge the U-boat, they then escaped. There was no damage to the petroleum farm along with no casualties sustained by either side that morning.

Aftermath

Though only a small skirmish the German bombardment of Curaçao is remembered as a key event in the

Battle of the Caribbean 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. German U-boats and Italian submarines attempted to disrupt the Allied supply of oil and other ma ...

. In August 1942, the Germans returned to Curaçao, attacked a tanker, and then received fire from a Dutch shore battery before slipping away.

References

https://www.bevrijdingintercultureel.nl/bi/eng/antillen.html http://www.historiadiaruba.aw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26

Bibliography

*Woodman, Richard. The Real Cruel Sea; The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939–1943 (2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Curacao, Bombardment of Caribbean Sea operations of World War II Naval battles of World War II involving Germany Battles and conflicts without fatalities 1942 in Curaçao and Dependencies Naval battles of World War II involving the Netherlands April 1942 events Germany–Netherlands military relations

Background

Bombardment

Aftermath

See also

References

Bibliography