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To the Downs Family: Ray, Ina, Lucille, Terry, and Sonny
PROLOGUE
World War II began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and Great Britain and France tried to halt the Nazi takeover of Europe. At that time the United States had not joined in the war. Tensions were high not only between the United States and Germany but also between the United States and imperial Japan. Like Germany, Japan had been invading other countries. The United States responded by not selling Japan any more oil. This was a serious blow to Japan, which imported 90 percent of its oil.
Despite the embargo, Japan refused to withdraw its troops from countries it had invaded. Japanese leaders believed that war with the United States would break out sooner or later. They decided that their best chance to win this war would be by striking first. Japan did that in a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
Three days after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany also declared war on the United States. (Germany, Italy, and Japan—the main Axis powers—were engaged against the Allied nations, which included Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, in World War II.) One of the first acts taken by German leader Adolf Hitler against the United States was to send German submarines, called U-boats, toward American shores.
The U-boat commanders were instructed to take the war to North America and told that more U-boats would follow to ramp up the attacks. The detailed orders, written by Vice Admiral Karl Dönitz, gave the U-boat commanders the freedom to torpedo any large U.S. ship they came across. By sinking any big ships, including merchant ships in addition to U.S. Navy ships, Germany would hurt the entire U.S. war effort. This strategy would also reduce America’s capacity to transport fuel and supplies to its ally Great Britain and to strike back at Germany.
Each U-boat would keep track of the approximate tonnage of the ships it sank so that Dönitz and Hitler could measure the success of the plan. Called Unternehmen Paukenschlag, or Operation Drumbeat, the mission would bring devastation to the doorstep of the United States.
The United States was ill prepared to defend itself against the U-boats, even though the British—who had cracked the Enigma machine the Germans used to send coded messages—gave ample warning. The U.S. Navy had most of its limited resources deployed in the Pacific and had done little to prepare for the U-boat onslaught. Many coastal cities ignored blackout requests, while navigational buoys and lighthouses shone brightly, helping the enemy enter shipping lanes and establish positions for spotting ships. American freighters and tankers also traveled alone in coastal waters, rather than in convoys or groups, protected by warships. Many ships remained lighted and frequently used their radios, which the Germans monitored.
U-boat commanders could not believe their good fortune when they surfaced at night and saw the clear silhouette of a ship steaming by. Often, there were multiple targets to choose from, and commanders had to decide which one to home in on first.
U-boats sank approximately 170 ships off the eastern coast of North America and in the Caribbean in just four months, from January through April 1942. Finally, in May 1942, the United States improved aircraft surveillance of German subs while also experimenting with the convoy system. These changes, however, were employed only along the East Coast. Admiral Dönitz responded by simply diverting some of his subs to the Gulf of Mexico, where the good hunting could continue.
Two U-boats, U-506 and U-507, were the first to head toward the Gulf. Commanding U-506 was Erich Würdemann, a young and daring opponent who had shown considerable skill. Würdemann’s hunt would take him deep into the Gulf, just off the coast of New Orleans, Louisiana, and toward a freighter, the SS Heredia, which carried the Downs family of San Antonio, Texas. This is the story of that family, U-boat 506, and what happened when their paths intersected on a May night in 1942.
PART I
“Some experts think that if Hitler had had fifty more U-boats in 1939, he would probably have won the last war.”
—WOLFGANG FRANK, THE SEA WOLVES
1
A TIRED OLD WORKHORSE
Eight-year-old Raymond “Sonny” Downs Jr. was disappointed by the drab gray freighter called Heredia looming above him at a port in Costa Rica. Sonny had steamed from the United States to South America 11 months earlier aboard a cruise liner with all the comforts of a five-star hotel. Now, on May 12, 1942, his return trip to the States would be aboard the Heredia. She was an old ship that primarily transported produce rather than pampered passengers. The big difference, however, between his earlier voyage and the one he was about to embark on was the risk. The United States had entered World War II five months earlier, and Germany had sent its U-boats toward the Americas for what they considered easy “hunting.”
Sonny was aware that war had broken out, but at this moment he was more intrigued by the giant cargo nets full of bananas that were being loaded onto the Heredia. He and his 11-year-old sister, Betty Lucille, who preferred the name Lucille over Betty, ran up the gangplank to the ship’s deck. From this vantage point they had a better view of the stevedores, the workers who loaded the vessel, stowing the cargo below.
Brown-eyed Lucille, who had a dimpled chin and stood a full head taller than Sonny, hadn’t known there were this many bananas in all of Costa Rica and Colombia, where they had been living the past few months. Other workers were loading heavy sacks onto the ship. Sonny, never shy, asked a senior crew member of the Heredia what was in the sacks.
“Coffee, young man,” said the sailor. “All bound for the U.S.”
“We thought so,” said Lucille. “We thought we could smell coffee.”
“Well, you’re too young for coffee, but would you two like a Coke?”
“You bet!” exclaimed Sonny.
“Okay, follow me to the galley.”
Lucille shouted down the gangplank, telling their parents they were going to the galley, where meals were prepared and served. The two kids skipped away, Sonny barefoot. Maybe this trip is going to be a good one, thought Sonny. It doesn’t matter how old the ship is if the crew is nice.
Sonny was correct: It wasn’t every day that children were on board the freighter, and the crew was more than accommodating. In fact, only six of the 62 people aboard the ship were civilian passengers. Six others were members of the navy, assigned to man the guns mounted on the highest deck. The rest of the people on board were crew members. And, yes, the 4,700-ton Heredia had steamed many a mile since she’d been built 34 years before, in 1908. Powered by an oil-burning engine that turned a massive propeller, the steel ship was 378 feet long and had a large funnel that belched black smoke from the burned fuel.
Although the vessel was originally a passenger ship named the General Pershing, it had been converted to a freighter by the United Fruit Company and renamed Heredia. Most of its former elegance had been worn away by time and rust, and now it was a tired old workhorse. But as S
onny and Lucille Downs bounded after the crewman toward the galley, they couldn’t wait to get underway and explore every inch of the freighter. The journey was expected to last seven days before they reached New Orleans, Louisiana.
* * *
The children’s father, Raymond Downs Sr., worked as a railway steam engine mechanic for the United Fruit Company in Colombia and Costa Rica, South America. He, too, looked forward to the voyage and a return to the States. When Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, Ray had decided it was time for him and his family to leave South America and return home. At 36 years old, he was hoping to join the U.S. Marines. Ray was certainly in good enough shape to fight. He was six feet tall and weighed 200 pounds, with plenty of upper-body strength and unending stamina. His fit condition, coupled with his dexterity and quick fists, made Ray a formidable opponent should anyone underestimate him in a challenge.
Ray lived life in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner and taught his kids that if they worked hard, good things would come. That mindset had served Ray well, and his job with United Fruit in Colombia had paid handsomely. Now, however, he was anxious to get home and be a part of his country’s response to Japan’s sneak attack. Like many young men at the time, Ray had patriotism running high in his veins. He wanted to see his family secure in their hometown of San Antonio, Texas, before he joined the military.
Sonny had some of his dad’s characteristics, showing athletic promise even at a young age and sharing a competitive and determined nature. But while Ray, with his close-set eyes, had an intense, even threatening, look about him, Sonny usually wore a wide, welcoming smile. The boy would strike up a conversation with anyone nearby. He had tremendous respect for his father but recognized that his dad was set in his ways and often unyielding. Sonny knew better than to try to argue with him.
When Ray announced that the family was going to leave South America, Sonny hadn’t been happy, but he didn’t question his father’s decision. Instead, he told his mother, Ina, that he wanted to stay right where they were because he was having fun. Ina, however, was in complete agreement with her husband, although for a different reason.
Ina Downs was a beautiful woman who was every bit as strong-willed and opinionated as her husband. While she understood Ray’s desire to return home with a war underway, the 33-year-old mother’s primary concern was her children’s well-being. Besides Sonny and Lucille, she and Ray had a third child, 14-year-old Terry, who was living back in the United States with his grandparents. Terry had made the trip with the family to South America but had stayed only a couple of months before returning to Texas to continue his schooling.
Ina missed Terry terribly. She also felt out of place in South America, as she didn’t quite fit in with either the locals or the other Americans who worked for United Fruit. Even before the war broke out, she had broached the subject of returning home, especially after she observed a couple of wild parties hosted by other American workers. It bothered her that excessive drinking was happening all around them while she was trying to raise Sonny and Lucille with strong values.
Now, as Ina looked up at the towering gray hull of the ship that would take them home, she said a silent prayer that her family would be safe. Reliable news about the German U-boat threat had been hard to come by, but she knew of a couple of attacks in the Caribbean and off the east coast of Florida. She was unaware of any attacks in the Gulf of Mexico, through which the family would be traveling. Like most people, she assumed the Gulf was out of U-boat range.
Ina reflected on the months the family had spent in Colombia and Costa Rica, and despite her desire to leave, she did not regret the experiment of living abroad or her husband’s decision to take a job there. His position at the United Fruit Company had enabled them to save a considerable sum of money, which was sorely needed. That money, along with their furniture, personal belongings, and car—all their earthly possessions—was being loaded onto the Heredia. Prior to Ray’s job in South America, the family had struggled financially. But now they were returning home in good shape and might even be able to buy a house. When we came down, Ina thought, we barely had two nickels to rub together, so the grand adventure was worth it.
Ina let her mind drift back to the beginning of the journey …
2
INA AND THE SOUTH AMERICAN VENTURE
(SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER)
There was so much to do to prepare for the year in South America: digging up birth records, sewing travel outfits for the growing boys and Lucille, saying goodbye to friends at church.
No one in Ina’s immediate family had had a passport before. Yet she had confidence that she’d clear all the hurdles, from gathering the children’s birth certificates to getting documents from relatives swearing to her and Ray’s own birth dates. Getting passport photos of the family taken meant pressing clean clothes and going downtown to a studio, where the photographer stood under the hood behind a large black camera. She only hoped to get the children home and changed into their play clothes before anything happened to the Sunday outfits they wore for the picture.
The passport photos caught the family in an adventurous mood, the children smiling brightly behind their young mother, the boys with their hair slicked to one side. Their resemblance to their father was unmistakable, but Ray’s photo showed him unsmiling, even grave. Perhaps his brow was knit with the weight of the decision to move his family to another country. Sitting for a photo was something they’d done only once or twice before, so the children knew it was an important occasion.
For Ina, a hardworking Texas girl, redundant organizing her family’s papers and possessions was a welcome distraction from thinking about being away from home for more than a year. In letters, she tried to reassure her parents about the decision to move to Colombia; in the process, she was reassuring herself as well. She’d never been far from her home state before, not even across the great Mississippi River.
Ray and Ina put great faith in United Fruit as their ticket to the future. They hoped to own a home on a nice lot and drive a newer car someday. They knew Ray had the ability and the skills to succeed as a railroad mechanic; he just needed an opportunity to prove himself. At night, the couple talked quietly about Ray’s new job and the upcoming adventure.
For Ina, arriving at their South American home would be like winning the lottery. They’d been told that United Fruit would provide them with a home that featured a dining room, a kitchen with an electric range and a refrigerator, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry room. And the company would try to find them an even larger home over the coming months so that there would be plenty of room for the children. Ina laughed when she first heard that news: If only they could see how we live now!
Indeed, the family home in San Antonio was a bit cramped and always humming with activity. Lucille had the second bedroom, and the boys shared a large storage room as their bedroom. But there was always space for Ina to spread out her sewing—she made most of the kids’ clothes, in addition to sewing for her employer, a costume shop.
It wouldn’t be easy for the children to leave the home they’d known all their lives, Ina knew, and she worried about it. On Denver Street, they roamed freely with other children after school. Terry, then 13, had a job sweeping up in the store down the block, as well as selling copies of Liberty magazine to neighbors for a nickel apiece. Lucille tagged along with him when he delivered one of Ina’s fresh-baked pies to a customer. And the boys in the neighborhood knew that Lucille, a girl tall for her age, could keep up with them in running races and stickball games. Denver Street would be hard to duplicate in far-off Colombia.
The family packed up in early June and left San Antonio with only the things they needed. It was nearly a day’s drive to Ina’s parents’ home in Gainesville, Texas, where the kids tearfully left the family dog, named Boy. While Ina’s parents were saddened to see the family leaving for such an extended period of time, they knew Ina and Ray had to follow the money and job opportunity south. They stood on the porc
h and waved the young family goodbye, holding back their emotions as best they could. The house seemed small and quiet after the tumult of the children’s voices and energy.
* * *
Before Ina’s dream home in South America would become a reality, the family had a rough trip to the port in New Orleans. “Everything seemed to go wrong,” Ina wrote to her parents. First, the sky opened up and it rained in sheets, dampening everyone’s spirits. In Huntsville, Texas, the car broke down and Ray had to get out in the rain and fix it. They stayed the night with friends and in the morning discovered a flat tire. There was another blowout on the short drive from Houston to Beaumont. Then a racket began coming from the car’s engine near the state line, making the car almost impossible to drive.
Limping into Louisiana, the Downses found the streets in the small town of Vinton quiet. Fortunately, they located an understanding Chevrolet mechanic, who allowed the bedraggled family to bring their car in at quitting time—5:00 P.M. The tired and dirty children, haggard parents, and worn-out car had been treated roughly by the road, so the mechanic agreed to set things right. He got to work immediately, with Ray watching over his shoulder while Ina fed the children from a picnic basket in the office.
When the mechanic was finished, it was midnight. As Ina packed the sleepy little ones back into the car, Ray settled up. They’d need extra tires, because flats were a regular part of travel, and the family had a schedule to keep. But the $12.45 in repairs and new tires was more than Ray could pay out of pocket, so he asked the mechanic if the man would take his wristwatch for a portion of the bill. It was agreed, and he slid it off over his hand while Ina looked away through tear-filled eyes. But she set her jaw and got back in the car before they drove off into the night. Everything would work out fine once they got to Colombia.
Attacked at Sea Page 1
