World War Ii And The Delaware Coast

Within weeks of Pearl Harbor, German U-boats arrived off the Delaware coast and attacked numerous ships along the vital shipping lanes to Philadelphia and Wilmington. On February 28, 1942, two German torpedoes hit the destroyer Jacob Jones, which was carrying more than one hundred American sailors. It sank in less than an hour. A center for military activity, Lewes became a refuge for many survivors from such attacks. The dunes along Cape Henlopen hid the massive artillery batteries of Fort Miles. Residents of the beachfront communities rallied amid the blackout regulations and air raid drills with rationing and scrap drives. Spotters watched for enemy warships in concrete towers that still line the coast. Author Michael Morgan tells the remarkable story of a coast at war.

From the beginning of World War II, Delaware's movie theaters played a starring role in the state's war effort. Delaware and every town in it - from Claymont to Delmar - did its part to support the war. From base theaters to opera houses to movie palaces, Delaware's theaters sold hundreds of millions of dollars in war bonds. They served as WAAC recruiting stations. They were collection points for resource drives. They screened countless newsreels and documentaries about every aspect of the war. And they hosted the likes of Fay Wray, Gene Lockhart, Gail Patrick, Paulette Goddard, and other Hollywood stars who came to the state to keep morale high, support strong, and dollars flowing. Author Michael J. Nazarewycz recounts how the First State, the Greatest Generation, and the Dream Factory joined forces when America's forces needed them most.

When driving south along the Delaware Atlantic Coast between Rehoboth and Bethany, several concrete towers, weathered by the ocean, can be seen on the beach. They are symbols of a nation at war, built to safeguard the Atlantic Coast from a German sea invasion during World War II. When the towers were built, there were soldiers stationed along the coast and even a German POW camp. McKenna is a young woman living with her family in Ocean View, Delaware during World War II. Her lifeand the lives of the people she lovesis turned upside down by the arrival of a young man named Kurt. Kurt grew up in Germany. With the rise of Hitler, his father moved quickly up the military ranks, so Kurt was eventually expected to do the same. He begrudgingly became a German spy. Undercover in America, Kurts loyalties wander, especially when he meets McKenna. Fighting the darkness of war, they find light in each other, but how can Kurt love her while living a lie? Its time to make a choice: will he forsake the woman he loves or the country he serves? The horrors of war are wrought with difficult decisions as Kurt and McKenna struggle through tragedy, patriotism, and the power of self-discovery.

Libraries, archives, and museums reveal clues to the colorful characters lining the history of Delaware, from its earliest colonial days to the invention of the "beach resort" and the founding of the nation's "Summer Capital" to World War II and the present. Author Michael Morgan brings together this kaleidoscopic view of the men of the sea and the beachfront tycoons who shaped Delaware and its role in the development of America, in war, politics, and business, from the Europeans' arrival at Cape Henlopen until modern times. While the intrepid patriot Henry Fisher and the infamous serial killer Patty Cannon are not known beyond the boundaries of southern Delaware, others such as William Penn, Captain Kidd and the DuPonts enjoy more widespread reputations. Here, tales of shipwrecks and rumrunners combine with the politics of slavery and suffrage to illuminate the history of one corner of the United States, a microcosm that synthesizes light on various facets of the development of the United States in a broader context. * Michael Morgan pens a weekly column, "Delaware Diary," in the Delaware Coast Press and has authored many stories for The Baltimore Sun, Maryland Magazine, Civil War Times Illustrated, America's Civil War and other periodicals for the past 15 years. He is a frequent guest speaker at historical societies in Lewes, Georgetown, and other towns along the Delaware coast.

The Delaware Bay at War! The Coastal Defenses of the Delaware Bay during World War II The defense of America's seacoast has been one of the key concerns since the earliest years of the Republic. American coast defense steadily evolved through the age of muzzle loading cannon, ever larger breech loading weapons, and finally the culmination of the large, long range guns capable of targeting the largest and most heavily armed warships of their age. By the end of World War Two, the United States had some of the strongest coast defenses in the world. Given the importance of the military-industrial complex along the banks of the Delaware River, including the large Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and explosive factories of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, the defense of the Delaware River had a prominent role in America's military planning from the American Revolution to the end of World War Two. This book tells the story of the American coastal defenses of the Delaware Bay during World War Two. While the Delaware River has been defended and fought over since colonial times, in the years approaching the World War Two its defenses were either obsolete or lacking. Starting in 1930's the US Army and Navy developed plans for new defenses at the Delaware Capes which led to an intense construction and manning period from 1941 to 1944. While assaulted by German U-Boats, the surface attacks did not reach Delaware Bay so after 1944 the soldiers and sailors manning these defenses were mobilized overseas. By 1946 most of these defenses were abandoned, although new Cold War defenses in the coming years used this infrastructure to defend the United States against new threats. Over one hundred rare black & white US Army photographs and plans help document our nation's extensive effort to defend against possible naval attacks and raids from Nazi Germany. A collection of over 50 recent color photographs are also included allowing the reader to survey the surviving elements of these mighty defenses. A product of extensive research, this book brings together for the first time rare images and the little known military history of the Delaware Bay.

Using the First State as a representative example for all three American shorelines, Delaware’s Ghost Towers reveals how the mysterious World War 2 concrete sentinels standing along Delaware’s ocean beaches were used to guard against penetration by powerful German battleships bent on shelling Philadelphia and the oil refineries of Wilmington. The book tells the story of the nearly forgotten Coast Artillery soldiers, who were the front-line, standing a combat-ready watch during the anxious early months of the war, when the first invasion of the Homeland since the War of 1812 was considered a frightening real possibility. From a slow start during neglectful pre-war days, the Coast Artillery grew to operate the US’ most heavily armed installations, pointing the Army’s biggest guns of the war out to sea. Their mission is described against a background of surrounding World War 2 events, German naval and commando operations in US waters and on US beaches - an important Last Stand worth remembering.

This naval history of the Delaware Estuary spans three centuries, from the arrival of the Europeans to the end of the World War II. The author describes the shipbuilders and infrastructure, and the ships and men who sailed this surprisingly active waterway in peace and in war. From Philadelphia to the Delaware Capes, the story of the nascent U.S. Navy and key historical figures emerges. Dozens of historic images and four appendices are included.