Video: A Nazi U-Boat and her victim in the Gulf of Mexico

Immediately after Nazi Germany declared war on the United States in December 1941, Hitler began a submarine naval campaign to strangle Allied shipping and prevent the flow of oil, Aluminum and other key commodities from Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard ports to the theaters of conflict in Europe and the Pacific.

From early 1942 through 1943, German U-Boats terrified the East and Gulf Coasts.At least 56 ships were sunk along the Gulf Coast, while only one German U-Boat was sunk by the US Navy and US Coast Guard in the Gulf.

CNN had a report from a couple of weeks ago (that, sadly, this history buff missed):

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Silent and shadowy, two hulks lie under the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters, unmoved since their deadly encounter 72 years ago during World War II.

Now, the future has come to take a closer look.

From July 6 to 14, the 211-foot research ship Exploration Vessel Nautilus conducted dives to the final resting places of the American steamer SS Robert E. Lee and the German U-boat U-166, about 45 miles south of the Mississippi River delta.

The Robert E. Lee was torpedoed by the U-166 while ferrying victims of other U-boat attacks from Trinidad to New Orleans. The sub succumbed to depth charges fired from an escort ship. These doomed ships are now separated by only two miles of seabed.

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I touched on the terror campaign conducted by the Deutsche Kriegsmarine U-Boat campaign in this post, during coverage of the BP Macondo Oil Spill in 2010. A great many of the ships sunk were oil tankers, ill-equipped to deal with a torpedo amidships.

The point of that post was to explain that tar balls washing up on such pristine beaches as those found from Dauphin Island, Alabama to Apalachicola, Florida are not unusual, and this has been true for decades.

When my father was a boy during WWII, he and his father could see the glow of burning, sinking ships on the horizon at night, and columns of black smoke during daytime hours. In fact, the Gulf and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway systems were built to prevent or blunt attacks on shipping between Gulf and Atlantic Coast ports, with no regard to their economic viability. Shipping between coastal ports in the US was deemed a matter of national security. For all intents and purposes, a relatively shallow draft vessel or barge shipment can travel from Brownsville, Texas to the Manasquan River in New Jersey, virtually unmolested by submarine-based attacks.

In July 1942, a passenger ship converted into a civilian transport vessel, the Robert E. Lee, was torpedoed and sunk by U-166 during the height of Operation Paukenschlag (Operation Drumbeat). At the time, there were at least a dozen German U-Boats prowling in the Gulf of Mexico, and potentially many dozens more prowling the East Coast from Maine to Miami.

When the US finally managed to organize a legitimate coastal shipping defense system in 1943, which included airplanes armed with torpedoes, PT-type boats armed with depth charges and coastal batteries, the carnage dropped off significantly and Germany moved its focus back to the central and northern Atlantic Ocean.

But not before the US got its pound of flesh by sinking U-166.

Today, both sites—located within two miles of each other—are designated as graveyards and are not subject to marine archaeological investigations or salvage.  

Click the image to watch the haunting minute or so of imagery.

Dude… is it 1929 all over again?

History has a way of repeating itself, as the common wisdom goes. If that old adage holds up, you’d better hold on.

There are eerie parallels between the stock market’s recent behavior and how it behaved right before the 1929 crash.

That at least is the conclusion reached by a frightening chart that has been making the rounds on Wall Street. The chart superimposes the market’s recent performance on top of a plot of its gyrations in 1928 and 1929.

The picture isn’t pretty. And it’s not as easy as you might think to wriggle out from underneath the bearish significance of this chart.

Before you stock up on gold, guns and ammunition in preparation for a coming Great Depression Part Deux, there are a few things to keep in mind.

One is that contrary to popular belief, the 1929 stock market crash didn’t cause the Great Depression. That economic calamity was caused by a myriad of factors—an economic perfect storm, if you will. There were growing problems in the agricultural sector that drastically cut production in the heartland of the US. There was a failure by monetary policy authorities in the Fed to understand that liquidity is the mother’s milk of financial stability. In a 1963 landmark book by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, the authors make a case that the Fed caused a rapid and catastrophic contraction in the money supply. Accepted economic principles state that as the money supply grows or shrinks, so do commodity prices and the value of capital. Kill the money supply, kill the economy. Explode the money supply, explode the economy.

Second, there are a number of structural and institutional controls in place now to prevent the sudden evaporation of calm and confidence that together slaughtered financial markets in 1929. Trading rules are exquisitely better defined now, such that a runaway collapse on the NYSE and NASDAQ are automatically halted before they begin (that’s an oversimplification, but I’m trying not to bore you).

Three is the fact that the Fed now takes seriously its role as the “lender of last resort,” which you saw in play during the financial crisis of 2008-09. The Fed will keep the spigot on in any crisis that might manifest itself in 2014, just as it did in 2008.

But don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. From 2009 through June of last year, the Fed began a program known as quantitative easing, in which it purchased trillions in the short term obligations of financial institutions. Those institutions used the cash to invest in capital markets as well as extending loans to businesses and individuals at historically low real interest rates. Stocks recovered steadily, despite anemic growth in the broad economy. In June 2013, the Fed started tapering off on the policy, reducing the flow of money through the system and causing a nearly 700 point drop in the Dow. Chairman Ben Bernanke then decided to slow the pullback of the easing policy, but it restarted a few months later.

This is similar to what happened with the money supply in 1928-29, which could be why there is such a scary correlation between Wall Street in 1929 and Wall Street in 2014. Remember: kill the money supply, kill the economy.

In short, there’s no sustainable way to continuously pump money into the economy. Although the Fed can create money out of thin air, at some point, a massively easy credit policy can only do so much. There also has to be a responsible fiscal policy that allows the private sector to grow and recover the traction it had before the crisis began.

What’s your hope for a responsible fiscal policy with this administration?

World War II, every day

I can’t not share this. I’m a history buff, you see. Despite knowing that I needed a business degree to get ahead in the world, I still followed through with the requirements to also get a degree in History. As a kid, I tagged along with my dad to the local branch of the public library. While he checked out biographies of Kennedy, Onassis and JP Morgan, I checked out stacks of kids’ books on World War II.

EmperorTigerstar has created an animated map showing the world on a daily basis during the conduct of the world’s most devastating conflagration. He used nothing more than ordinary online and library resources, Microsoft Paint and Movie Maker.

Despite these crude tools, the map is remarkable in displaying how the Allied and Axis territories changed during the course of the war.

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Use the full screen version to get the best effects.

By the way, he also has an animated map of the US Civil War.

On budget deal, conservatives should take a lesson from Sam Houston

Yesterday’s vote on a budget framework—which passed with broad bipartisan support—did not a produce a very good deal at all if your blood runs Crimson Red. It trades spending today for “cuts” tomorrow, a shenanigan that Congress routinely employs in order to say that they’re reducing the deficit when they actually aren’t.

About ten weeks ago, bona fide conservatives in Congress outmaneuvered the establishment leadership and pushed a government shutdown over a legitimate, sensible and prescient effort to defund Obamacare.

That proved to be a political and tactical mistake, even though it was based on sound policy.

At the same time, the HealthCare.gov rocket exploded on the launchpad, and conservatives were handed a rallying point that will resonate (almost) as musically as “REMEMBER THE ALAMO!” And that’s probably going to be true through the 2014 November midterm elections.

I agree with Heritage, FreedomWorks, Sean Hannity, Erick Erickson and the horde of bona fide conservative pundits who decried the budget deal hacked out by bona fide conservative Paul Ryan and not-quite-as-liberal as we thought Patty Murray. Good deal? Hell no. The best we can get on this battlefield? Probably so.

If you know me well, you know that I am a staunch, dyed-in-the-wool conservative. I named this website “I Bleed Crimson Red” for a reason. But I am also a realist, and I know when to fight and when to withdraw.

As a student of History, this is where I believe the lesson so aptly taught by Sam Houston comes in. In 1836, Houston, with a poorly trained, poorly equipped and vastly outnumbered force of volunteers, repeatedly retreated rather than fight the Mexican Army in the struggle to liberate Texas. His apparent refusal to take a stand and fight the demonstrably brutal General Antonio López de Santa Anna dismayed his officers and political supporters, but it was an effort to buy time and avoid a crushing defeat. Santa Anna had already overrun and massacred the defenders at the Alamo near San Antonio, and had ordered the mass execution of approximately 300 to 400 members of the Texas Militia at Goliad.

Houston wanted to fight on his terms, not Santa Anna’s, so he waited until Santa Anna made a mistake. Santa Anna did just that—dividing his forces in an attempt to surround Houston’s growing force of Militia and well trained regulars.

At the battle of San Jacinto, Houston made his move. In about 20 minutes’ time, Houston’s forces surprised and overwhelmed Santa Anna’s, ending the struggle and forcing Santa Anna into signing the treaty of Velasco, ending Mexican rule of Texas and paving the way for Texas to join the United States of America.

What can be learned from this, in the context of the current political struggle to wrest control of this great country from the grip of the brutally oppressive leftists?

In warfare and politics, it’s important to choose your battles wisely. Don’t strike when your enemy is strong and you are not. This is a divided government, but conservatives have control of only one house of Congress. No stand taken on principle has a prayer in hell of getting adopted and made the law of the land.

Bide your time. Consolidate your forces. Let your opponent make a mistake. The more arrogant and self-confident your opponent—as both General Santa Anna and Democrats (along with a sycophantic media) are—the more likely it is that your opponent will make a mistake that neither he nor his allies saw coming.

That mistake is the three-and-a-half-year-old, completely botched and utterly disastrous Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “ObamaCare.” The rollout of the website was only a hint of the damage that is to come to President Obama and Congressional Democrats. In 2014, it’s going to prove to be as disastrous to their election prospects as Santa Anna’s foolish decision to divide his forces was to his attempt to maintain control of Texas.

The budget deal that passed the House yesterday—and which will almost certainly pass the Senate next week—was bad policy. But it’s good politics to let it pass, and it’s good tactics. A much more lucrative opportunity lies less than one year ahead. Napoleon Bonaparte famously advised that when your enemy is in the process of destroying himself, it is wise not to interfere. Sam Houston understood that message.

Conservatives should, also.

August 23, 1864: Union Troops Occupy Fort Morgan

On this day in 1864, the Confederate Garrison at Fort Morgan raised the white flag of surrender, and Union troops and Marines occupied the fort. But only after a three-week long siege, during which its formidable withstood near constant barrage from Union land and sea-based artillery. 

Construction of Fort Morgan was completed in 1834, and named after Revolutionary War hero, Daniel Morgan.

During the remainder of the Civil War, Union troops used the bastion as a staging ground for reconnaissance, raids and launching site for  attacks on Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, the latter of which was the last major battle of the Civil War.

After the war, the fort fell into disrepair until receiving upgraded, concrete batteries between 1900 and 1904.  The Army eventually abandoned the fort in 1924.

In April 1942, the Army re-occupied the fort and constructed an adjacent airfield. Initially, the Coast Artillery brought five Model 1918 155mm gunsplacing two on top of Fort Morgan on mounts that permitted 360 degrees traverse. The remaining three guns stood on the Fort's parade ground.

The Coast Artillery disbanded in 1946, and the  Army again abandoned the Fort, turning it over to the State of Alabama in 1947.

 

 

In 1960, Fort Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark.

The fort still stands today and serves as a popular tourist destination, but in 2007 it was designated as "one of the nation's 10 most endangered battle sites" by the Civil War Preservation Trust in History Under Siege: A Guide to America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields. 

Fort Morgan is just one of many historic  and fascinating places along the northern Gulf Coast.  The area is steeped in more than 300 years of colonial and early American history. And on this day in 1864, Fort Morgan’s guns fell silent, never to be used again in anger.

For History buffs: Civil War POW Camp Lawton located. Updated

CNN: Missing Civil War POW camp found

This is exciting news for History and Civil War buffs.  Both Camp Lawton and Andersonville were horrendous places to survive, with disease, starvation and infection claiming many lives.  To be a POW in the Civil War—regardless of which side you fought for—was either a slow death sentence or a primal struggle for survival.  The camps were so nasty because frankly, neither side had ever dealt with such large numbers of POW’s, and neither side really had the funding to maintain even basic living conditions.

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For nearly 150 years, its exact location was not known, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Georgia Southern University said. Georgia Southern students earlier this year began their search for evidence of the wall timbers and interior buildings.

"Archaeologists call it one of the most significant Civil War discoveries in decades," a joint statement read.

Officials would provide no details until the formal announcement Wednesday morning at Magnolia Springs State Park, five miles north of Millen in southeast Georgia. An open house for the public will follow from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Life at Lawton, described as "foul and fetid," wasn't much better than at Andersonville, with the exception of plentiful water from Magnolia Springs.

In its six weeks' existence, between 725 and 1,330 men died at the prison camp. The 42-acre stockade held about 10,000 men before it hastily closed when Union forces approached.

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It’s a fascinating, if horrifying chapter in the Civil War.  I managed a few construction projects in the area last year, and this part of Georgia is steeped in colonial, antebellum and Civil War history.  So this find marks a real breakthrough in documenting that history and its satisfying to me, personally.  Like most “Old South” Southerners, I can trace my heritage back and find numerous ancestors who fought and died in the Civil War.

Update: The History Channel site has a much deeper exploration of the Camp’s history.

Update: And Fox News site has a story on this.

Another Update, describing some of what was found at the site:

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They found a corroded bronze buckle used to fasten tourniquets during amputations, a makeshift tobacco pipe with teeth marks in the stem, and a picture frame folded and kept after the daguerreotype it held was lost.

Georgia officials say the discoveries, announced Wednesday, were made by a 36-year-old graduate student at Georgia Southern University who set out to find Camp Lawton for his thesis project in archaeology.

He stunned experienced pros by not only pinpointing the site, but also unearthing rare artifacts from a prison camp known as little more than a historical footnote on the path of Gen. William T. Sherman's devasting march from Atlanta to Savannah.

"What makes Camp Lawton so unique is it's one of those little frozen moments in time, and you don't get those very often," said Dave Crass, Georgia's state archaeologist. "Most professional archaeologists who ever thought about Camp Lawton came to the implicit conclusion that, because people weren't there very long, there wouldn't be much to find."

Camp Lawton imprisoned more than 10,000 Union troops after it opened in October 1864 to replace the infamously hellish war prison at Andersonville. But it lasted barely six weeks before Sherman's army arrived in November and burned it.

The camp's brief existence made it a low priority among scholars. While known to be in or near Magnolia Springs State Park outside Millen, 50 miles south of Augusta, the camp's exact location was never verified.

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I really look for History Channel, NatGeo or PBS to do a special on this in the not-to-distant future.  Not only is this a truly incredible find, it also tells a story about the suffering Americans endured at the hands of their own brothers during the Civil War.

Gimme some feedback in the comments.