CHAPTER 8 – TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY
20:26 (New York Time)
Saturday, December 27, 1941
Head Keeper’s residence, Cape Lookout Lighthouse
Cape Lookout Outer Banks, near Beaufort, North Carolina
‘’The winds are fairly strong tonight, James. I hope that no ship will get in trouble because of this weather.’’
‘’Oh, this place has seen much worse in the past, Sadie.” Replied James Archie Newton to his wife. He was well placed to say that, since he had been the head keeper of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse since 1939. It was a tough, low paying job and there was a lot of solitude involved for him and his family, with the lighthouse and the residences attached to it situated on a mostly deserted sandy outer bank island of North Carolina. However, he knew a lot of people who had it much worse than him. Besides, he couldn’t really complain about solitude, not with twelve children of his own. Since the start of the war in 1939, the old Bureau of Lighthouses had been incorporated into the Coast Guard, which gave to its married men a few family support amenities that had been most welcome by James. Having joined the Coast Guard had also motivated most of his nine sons, now grown men, in joining either the Navy or the Coast Guard. Of his three daughters, only his youngest one still lived with him and his wife at the lighthouse. However, James had invited his grand-children and their mothers to spend Christmas with him, since their fathers had seen their holiday leave cut because of the disaster at Pearl Harbor and its aftermaths and could not be home.
A couple of knocks on the front door of the two-storey wooden house made the heads of the family twist towards the entrance. James signaled to his wife to stay in her sofa with their two youngest grand-children and got up from his wooden rocking chair.
‘’I’ll get that! Maybe some fishermen decided to take shelter here because of the bad weather.’’
That kind of event actually happened fairly regularly around Cape Lookout, so James painted a welcoming smile before unlocking his front door and opening it. His smile however disappeared at once at the sight of the tall soldier holding a submachine gun and wearing a steel helmet who was facing him: that soldier was not an American one. While inserting one booted foot to block the door open and pointing his submachine gun at James, the newcomer spoke with a polite tone in a surprisingly good English.
‘’Good evening, sir. Would you mind if me and my friends come in?’’
James knew at once that this was not the time for heroics, not with his grand-children and daughters-in-law present and vulnerable to lost bullets. He thus opened his door wide and got out of the way, letting the newcomer enter. To his shock, three more soldiers entered the house behind the first one and walked in the lounge, making James’ wife and in-laws suck air in. The first newcomer however simply smiled to them and even playfully waved his hand at one of the younger girls, a toddler, before speaking, again in a polite tone.
‘’Good evening, good people! Let me present myself: Leutnant Hugo Margraff of the German Army. I am sorry to disturb you like this at such a time of the year but there is unfortunately a war on. However, be assured that we wish you no harm personally and that we will be here for only an hour or two, time to do a little job. Then we will leave, quietly. I will ask you to all stay in this room for the time being. If you need to go to the bathroom, just say so and one of my men will escort you. By the way, all of my men can speak English. I will now have to speak in private with the lighthouse keeper.’’
Turning around, Margraff gestured to James to go in the nearby kitchen, following him there and pointing his submachine gun while becoming quite serious.
‘’First, do you have any firearm in this house, mister? Please don’t lie to me: you would gain nothing by risking a firefight in a house full of children. On the other hand, I assure you that I have no reasons to harm anyone here, unless somebody acts stupid.’’
James could only nod his head, knowing too well that the German was right about the consequences of a firefight.
‘’I keep a revolver in my bedroom: it is my regulation weapon from the Coast Guard. I have no other firearm.’’
‘’Thank you for being reasonable, mister. Now, are there other adult males around here, assistant keepers and the like?’’
‘’I have one assistant keeper, named Smith. He lives in the house next door with his young wife and baby girl.’’
‘’Then, he will be joining us shortly, mister: three of my men went separately to check the other house.’’
‘’So, why did you come here, if I may ask?’’
‘’Simple: to sabotage your lighthouse.’’ Replied Margraff, a smirk on his face. ‘’First, let’s go get that revolver of yours.’’
James, who could only think about the safety of his family, didn’t put up any resistance and led Margraff to his upstairs bedroom, where he pointed at a bedside table.
‘’My revolver is in that table’s drawer, along with my spare bullets.’’
While keeping an eye on James, Margraff went to the bedside table and opened its drawer, effectively finding a .45 caliber revolver and a box of ammunition in it. Hugo then stuffed the handgun and its ammunition in an equipment pouch he was wearing slung from one shoulder.
‘’You are reasonable, mister. I like that. Now, you will show me where your radio transmitter is.’’
‘’I don’t have one. The only radio equipment I have is a radio beacon transmitter, and it is in the ground level room of the lighthouse tower.’’
Hugo Margraff stared for a moment at the keeper, finally deciding that he was telling the truth.
‘’Very well! We will take care of your radio beacon at the same time we will take care of your lighthouse. Now, let’s go back down to the lounge. You lead!’’
Mortified, James went down the stairs, arriving in the lounge just as his assistant keeper, Boyd Monroe Smith, was being marched in with his wife and baby by two German soldiers. Smith, who was half of James age, looked quite pissed and probably would have done something regrettable if not for the fact that his wife and daughter were here, at risk of being shot.
‘’Did they get rough with you, Boyd?’’
‘’No! They did take away my rifle, though.’’
‘’It can be replaced. The important thing is for you and your family to be safe.’’
‘’That is the right thinking, mister.’’ Cut in Hugo Margraff, following behind the keeper. ‘’If you will now go sit down in the lounge with the others, me and my men will go take care of our business. Two of my men will however stay to watch over you in the meantime. Oh, two little things: don’t bother trying to give the alert by telephone once we are gone, as we have cut the lines; second, the deck gun of our submarine is trained presently on this house. If anyone shoots at us from the house as we leave, then this house will be pulverized. We don’t want to hurt anyone here but we have a mission to do and we will do what is necessary to do it. Do you understand me, mister?’’
‘’Yes, I do, Lieutenant Margraff. While I hate to say this, I must thank you for showing restraint towards us.’’
Hugo smiled at those words.
‘’Thank you! Don’t believe all that propaganda about German soldiers being blood-thirsty butchers. Now, please go sit down.’’
The disgruntled James obeyed and sat down beside his wife and two youngest grand-daughters, while Boyd let his wife sit in the rocking chair, their baby girl in her arms. All but two of the Germans then left the house, with the two remaining soldiers taking positions in opposite corners of the lounge, facing the Americans. Detailing them at length, James had to say that the Germans appeared to be well trained, well equipped and disciplined soldiers. They certainly did look dangerous.
‘’So, are we going to let them sabotage the lighthouse without doing anything?’’ Asked Boyd in a near whisper while standing behind James’ sofa. Seeing that the Germans didn’t seem to care about them staying silent or not, James looked up at him.
‘’Are you ready to risk the lives of our families? I believe that we should take those Germans very seriously.’’
‘’But, where do they come from? We didn’t get any word about submarine activity around here.’’
‘’That doesn’t mean that they were not around, Boyd, just that they hid well from our ships and planes. However, I’m afraid that a lot of mayhem could follow along our coasts after this.’’
His wife Sarah, who had been watching nervously the German soldiers, then cut in on the conversation.
‘’When I think that we have German soldiers on American soil. What an outrage! I hope that someone in Washington will wake up after this.’’
‘’I am not sure that the news about this won’t be censured, Sadie.’’ Replied James. ‘’It would embarrass too many people in the Navy and in Washington.’’
His wife nodded her head at that, seeing the logic in his opinion. The group then fell into uneasy silence, at least as far as the adults were concerned. The younger children present however quickly resumed playing between themselves or with their toys, probably not understanding fully what was happening, especially since the two German soldiers present stayed silent and near motionless. At one moment, James tensed up after one of his grand-daughters kicked a ball that rolled up to the feet of one of the Germans. Thankfully, the young soldier simply smiled at that and softly kicked back the ball towards the four year-old girl. That started a back and forth ball kicking exchange between the soldier and the little girl, with the child actually giggling while kicking the ball. The exchange ended when a loud explosion from the outside of the house shook it, followed by the noise of debris falling around. James couldn’t help lower his head then.
‘’There goes my poor lighthouse…and my job.’’
Maybe two minutes later, Hugo Margraff and his four soldiers returned into the house. Giving first a few orders in German to his soldiers and making them walk out, Hugo then bowed slightly at James.
‘’Thank you for being reasonable, mister. We will now leave you and your family in peace. Goodbye!’’
Sarah waited until Margraff was gone before speaking.
‘’He was really polite…for a German.’’
‘’Well, I bet that they are not all as polite as this Lieutenant Margraff, Sadie. Boyd, we will wait another two minutes before going to inspect the damage they have done. In the meantime, let’s close the lights in the house: I want to see if we can catch a glimpse of the submarine they came in.’’
Getting his binoculars from the closet of the vestibule, James went to one of the windows facing the sea and started scanning the beach and waters, helped in this by a half moon.
‘’I see those Germans: they are carrying a pneumatic boat to the water’s edge.’’
A flashing light signal out at sea then attracted his attention.
‘’I see a dark mass at sea, maybe a mile away. It is quite difficult however to make out its silhouette in detail. It is exchanging light signals with those German soldiers… The soldiers have now gotten aboard their boat and are starting an outboard engine… They are now on their way to their submarine.’’
James then looked at his assistant while lowering his binoculars.
‘’I think that it is safe now to go inspect the damage caused to the lighthouse.’’
‘’Agreed!’’
Putting first their coats on, the two men then went out of the house and walked towards the 163 foot-high brick tower. From the outside it looked intact but numerous glass debris lying around the sand told James that he should not be too optimistic about what he would find. Effectively, evidence of the passage of the German soldiers became evident as soon as the two keepers entered the tower: the radio beacon transmitter housed on the ground floor had been smashed to bits. Climbing the spiral staircase leading up to the lighthouse lens system, James felt his heart sink when he emerged from the staircase: all the glass surfaces of the panoramic window had been blown out by an explosion, while the central lens assembly was reduced to a mass of distorted metal and broken prisms.
‘’Jesus! The whole lens assembly will have to be replaced.’’ Said Boyd while looking in discouragement at the damage. ‘’It will take weeks to restore our lighthouse.’’
‘’Weeks during which many ships could founder because of the lack of a coastal beacon.’’ Added James, bitter. ‘’I hope that the Navy will wake up to reality after this.’’
‘’You are talking about the same people who refused to provide us with a radio transceiver under the pretext that there was no money available for getting one? Dream on, James!’’
23:35 (New York Time)
Monday, December 29, 1941
U-800, on the surface off the port of Miami
Florida
As per his habit, Otto was the first to step on the deck of the open bridge once his submarine had surfaced. With four sailors scrambling to take their lookout positions, Otto scanned with his binoculars the port of Miami and its anchorage area. As with the other American ports he had seen to date, it was fully illuminated and the ships at anchor or at quayside all showed at the minimum a few lights.
‘’Himmel! How long will it take those Americans to learn their lessons?’’
Reminding himself that this same indolence was making his job both easier and safer, Otto started classifying the possible targets of interest for him in and around the port as his U-800 continued its quiet approach on the surface at five knots, using strictly its electric motors on battery power. He already knew from the reports of his electronic warfare section that there were no radars operating presently in the area of the port, while radio traffic had been characterized by one of his operators as ‘a bunch of busybodies exchanging gossip on the air’. It took Otto less than a minute to spot and locate what had to be an American Coast Guard station, just beside the main entrance channel of the port, between Miami Beach and Fisher Island. He also spotted a fuel tank farm on the nearby Virginia Key Island. The dark silhouette of a large cargo ship anchored off the port and near Virginia Key Island then caught his eyes: it was the only ship in and near the port that showed no lights at all. Intrigued and made curious by that, Otto studied in detail the dark ship, soon recognizing a British flag flying from its stern. Further examination also showed him that the cargo ship was armed, with at least two medium caliber deck guns visible on its bow and stern. However, the caution showed by the British merchantman had been cancelled by the fact that, on top of standing out as the lone blacked out ship, the lit port installations and other ships silhouetted it, making its blackout measures ineffective. Taking a quick decision, Otto activated the intercom box of the open bridge.
‘’Leutnant Margraff, report to the open bridge at once!’’
Otto then resumed his observation of the port while waiting for the commando officer to show up. The young lieutenant showed up less than two minutes later, dressed in combat uniform.
‘’You wanted to see me, Herr Kapitän?’’
‘’I certainly did, my dear Margraff. You see that cargo ship to our ten o’clock, the one that is kept dark? It is an armed British merchant ship, which means that there will be at least a few trained military men aboard. Do you think that you and your men could discreetly board it and take control of it quietly?’’
Otto then passed his binoculars to Margraff, so that the commando officer could examine in detail the ship in question. After about one minute of visual examination, Hugo nodded his head and gave back the binoculars to Otto.
‘’I believe so, Herr Kapitän. We could do part of the way on outboard power, then row the rest of the distance and climb quietly aboard. We do have a few silenced weapons that will facilitate the job. However, to take effective control of this big a ship, half measures won’t do: I will have to systematically kill at least the Royal Navy sailors found aboard to avoid having them spread the alarm.’’
‘’I understand. British bombers don’t mind targeting our civilian population, so do what needs to be done, Leutnant.’’
‘’Thank you, Herr Kapitän. For what purposes exactly do you want me to grab control of that particular ship?’’
‘’For a number of reasons, actually. First, we will be able to then siphon off the diesel in its tanks and thus replenish our own fuel tanks. Second, we will probably be able to find some fresh food on it, either in its pantry or as part of its cargo. After nearly three weeks at sea, our reserves of fresh food are about empty and we could use some fresh supplies to supplement our canned foodstuff, even though our Smutje is doing miracles with what he has. Third, I am in mind of using the deck guns of that cargo ship and turn them on the port installations, particularly against a Coast Guard station that I spotted a few minutes ago.’’
Hugo grinned on hearing that.
‘’Herr Kapitän, you would have been at home with the Brandenburg Regiment.’’
‘’Me, a landlubber?’’ Exclaimed Otto with a false expression of horror on his face. ‘’Get the hell off my bridge and prepare your men for action, Leutnant Margraff!’’
Hugo obeyed him at once, laughing to himself as he slid down the access hatch of the bridge.
00:21 (New York Time)
Tuesday, December 30, 1941
M.S. CALYPSO, anchored off Virginia Key Island
Port of Miami open anchorage area, Florida
It was taking young Seaman Arthur Bonham all of his will not to close his eyes and fall asleep as he stood guard at the top of the metallic access ladder extending down from the side of the merchant ship facing Miami Harbor. Armed with a Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle and exposed to the fresh wind from the sea, the 21 year-old Royal Navy sailor dearly wished that someone would bring him a cup of hot tea soon. The growing noise of an approaching motor boat then chased away some of his fatigue and he looked in the direction of the noise, trying to see through the darkness. In that he was imitated by the other Royal Navy sailor on duty at this late hour, Able Seaman Fred Jones, standing as lookout watchman atop the aft deck gun platform. Jones soon shouted at him, having spotted something first.
‘’SMALL BOAT APPROACHING FROM THE STERN! GET READY TO CHALLENGE THEM!’’
‘’GOT IT, ABLE SEAMAN!’’ Replied Bonham, who then looked for the boat in question. It came out of the dark a few seconds later, coming from the direction of the main entrance of the port and heading towards the bottom of the access steel ladder of the M.S. CALYPSO. The young sailor was soon able to detail the three occupants of what was actually an inflatable boat with outboard engine. One of them wore a Navy rubberized trench coat and an officer’s cap, while the two others looked like simple sailors wearing baggy rain suits. Bonham didn’t bother taking his rifle off his shoulder when the boat stopped against the foot of the ladder, with the navy officer deftly jumping on the platform situated just above the water and starting to climb the steel stairs. Instead, he came to attention and saluted when the visitor, wearing a U.S. Coast Guard service cap, got up to the level of the deck and stood a mere two meters from him.
‘’Welcome aboard the M.S. CALYPSO, sir. What is the purpose of your visit?’’
‘’I have an important classified advisory message to show to your captain, young man.’’ Answered the man in excellent English. ‘’Where could I find him?’’
‘’I believe that he is presently sleeping in his cabin, sir, but I can lead you to the duty officer on the bridge instead, sir.’’
‘’That will do just fine! Lead on, Sailor!’’
Not bothering to get first a replacement sentry for his post, the inexperienced Bonham started walking on the main cargo deck towards the bridge superstructure amidships, leading the visitor. As soon as they were out of direct line of sight of the lookout on the aft gun platform and of any lookout that may stand on the ship’s bridge, Hugo Margraff took his silenced-LUGER pistol from under his coat and shot the young British sailor once in the back of the head, then hurriedly grabbed him and his rifle before they could make noises by falling on the deck. Dragging the corpse to a dark spot under a staircase, Hugo also hid the rifle before climbing the stairs towards the ship’s bridge. A dark silhouette wearing a hooded coat and a white service cap greeted him as he was about to step on the port side open bridge wing, speaking English with a strong British accent.
‘’Good evening, mister. What can we do for you at this hour?’’
Hugo made a quick salute as he replied to the man.
‘’Lieutenant Huntzinger, U.S. Coast Guard. I came to bring you an important classified advisory message. Could we go inside, where there would be some light?’’
‘’Of course! This way, please.’’
The man opened a hatch and walked inside the ship, leading Hugo into what turned out to be the bridge, which was lit only by red light lamps. There was no one on the bridge at the time and the British continued to a door at the back of the bridge. That door led into the ship’s chart room, with an open side door showing the radio room, where a sleepy radio operator sat in front of his radio sets, evidently bored to death. The British, a merchant navy lieutenant, turned to face Hugo and extended his right hand.
‘’You may show me that advisory now, mister. What is it about exactly?’’
‘’It is about German saboteurs roaming the Miami port area.’’ Answered calmly Hugo at the same time that he took out his silenced pistol and shot the British twice in the chest. As the merchant navy officer crumbled to the deck with a grunt of pain, Hugo pivoted on his heels and shot the radio operator between the eyes from a distance of six meters. Walking quickly inside the radio room to make sure that nobody else was inside, Hugo found that the operator had been alone. He was about to walk out of the radio room when his eyes caught on a small book with a brown leather cover that bore a ‘MOST SECRET’ stamp in red letters. Holding his breath, Hugo went to the book and leafed through it, feeling triumph as he recognized what it was: he was now holding a current copy of the British Royal Navy codebook! Quickly pocketing the precious book, Hugo next went back to the open bridge wing, where he went aft to see what the British sentry on the stern gun platform was doing. The man turned out to be smoking a cigarette while leaning against the big deck gun, using its bulk to cut part of the fresh wind sweeping the deck. He also happened to be turning his back to Hugo. However, the distance was too great to risk a pistol shot that could miss and put the sentry on alert. Hugo thus went to the nearest set of stairs and climbed down as silently as he could, stepping on the stern gun platform and approaching the sentry with very cautious steps. He was still about nine meters away from the British when the latter somehow sensed his presence and started turning his head. He barely had time to see Hugo’s dark silhouette before he was shot three times in the chest and fell back against the deck gun, dead. Quickly looking around him and seeing nobody else on deck, Hugo took out a flashlight and, pointing it aft, sent a prearranged signal that would tell the second part of his commando team that it was now safe to board the ship. Returning to the access ladder lowered against the hull of the cargo ship, he motioned to his two men that had waited near the top of the ladder after tying up their boat to it.
‘’Let’s go! We have work to do. Haussmann, you stay here to greet our other men and then lead them inside the superstructures to find and neutralize the crew quietly.’’
Followed by Obergefreiter Michel Drücker, Hugo ran quietly to the superstructures block and entered it by a deck level hatch. He and Drücker were now inside a lit passageway with doors spaced along it on both sides. Reading the plaques on each door, Hugo nodded his head in satisfaction.
‘’We are in the section containing the officers’ cabins, as I had expected. You watch my back while I deal with the occupants one at a time.’’
‘’Understood, Herr Leutnant.’’
Opening first the door of the Captain’s cabin and entering it silently, Hugo went to the bunk bed where a man was snoring quite loudly. That snore was abruptly cut by a 9mm bullet to the head. Then repeating the procedure and entering each cabin in succession, Hugo killed without remorse the men sleeping inside. By the time that he was finished with the British officers, his four other soldiers had joined up with him. Keeping his voice low, he gave them a few quick orders.
‘’The officers are now dead and the bridge has been cleaned up. This leaves the crew and the Royal Navy gunners assigned to this ship. We will go eliminate them as quietly as possible. If any of those British manage to survive and give the alarm somehow, then our whole plan will be kaput, so kill silently without hesitation and be thorough. Stein, you lead Weiss, Lang and Haussmann down to the next deck. I will take the rest with me and finish cleaning up this level. Let’s go!’’
Less than forty minutes later, with the whole crew now dead, Hugo returned to the aft gun platform and, using his flashlight again, sent the signal that would tell the U-800 that it could now approach the cargo ship. With this done, he then returned on the bridge, searching it and the chart room for a copy of the ship’s manifest, finally finding it posted on a clipboard suspended inside the chart room. Grabbing it and reading quickly the list of the various merchandises and cargo loaded on the ship, Hugo smiled to himself.
‘’A refrigerated stores ship…perfect! Kapitän Kretschmer will be most pleased.’’
Taking the cargo manifest off the clipboard and pocketing it, Hugo went out on the open bridge wing on the side facing the open sea. Using a pair of binoculars taken from the bridge, he was happy to quickly see the U-800 as it was silently approaching the M.S. CALYPSO, its dark blue-green hull paint making it all but invisible in the night. Another few minutes and it would be mooring itself by the side of the cargo ship. Running down the stairs leading to the main open deck, Hugo went to collect his six men. Their first task was to lower the access ladder on the open ocean side amidships, so that the sailors of the U-800 could climb easily aboard. They then inspected together the various guns arming the ship. The main armament of the CALYPSO turned out to be quite powerful, probably thanks to its displacement of over 10,000 tons. The stern gun was a QF 4.7inch Mark V dating back from World War 1. Hugo grinned on examining one of the 20.41 kg shells used by the old gun, of which a good forty rounds were stored nearby in a ready-shell locker.
‘’This should give us quite a punch against this port tonight, men. We will let the gunners from the U-800 handle it, but we will help them in handling and carrying ammunition for it when the time comes to fight. Now, let’s go see the other guns on this ship.’’
Hugo was leading his small group towards the bow gun when they met with Otto Kretschmer, who was leading his own party of sailors. Otto was the first to speak, shaking the hand of Hugo.
‘’Excellent job, Leutnant Margraff! Your men are true professionals. Were you able to find what this ship is carrying?’’
‘’Yes, Herr Kapitän! First, this ship, the M.S. CALYPSO, is indeed powered by diesel engines, so you will be able to replenish your own fuel tanks from its tanks. Second, it happens to be a refrigerated stores ship carrying lots of foodstuff. Here is the cargo manifest I found in the chart room aft of the bridge. I also found this in the radio room.’’
Taking first the cargo manifest, then the code book from Hugo, Otto’s face quickly lit up with a smile when he saw what the book was.
‘’Himmel! Just getting this amply justified this boarding operation. This could make our life much safer around the British Caribbean islands.’’
Pocketing the precious code book, Otto then quickly read the cargo manifest, using the light of a flashlight, nodding his head with satisfaction at the end.
‘’This ship has everything that we needed in terms of fresh foodstuff…and more. What about its armament?’’
‘’We just inspected the stern deck gun: it’s a big 4.7inch gun. I was on my way to inspect the bow deck gun when we met.’’
‘’Good! I will let you continue the inspection of the armament. Make sure to locate where the reserves of shells are at the same time: we may just start quite a bombardment program once we will be finished transferring stuff between this ship and our submarine. My first priority will be to start pumping diesel fuel out to the U-800, then I will get men to transfer selected types and quantities of fresh foodstuff. I will be on the bridge of this ship in the meantime, using its height to su