Friday, December 21, 2018

Movie review: Deep Sea Detectives: U-Boats in the Gulf

 
 During WWII when Nazi U-boats were terrorizing the Gulf of Mexico the U.S. engaged and sank only one boat, the U-166. Finally found in 2001 after almost 60 years, the U-166 was resting 140 miles from where it was reportedly sunk. Investigation into the sinking with historians, scientists, and crewmen led to the rewriting of history with new theories about what actually happened.

War activity in the Gulf of Mexico was suppressed from the media at the time it took place and as a result isn’t something a lot of people in the U.S. realize took place. Dozens of German U-Boats infiltrated the Gulf of Mexico and sank hundreds of U.S. ships in 1942. Effectively impacting the shipping of oil, fuel, and other supplies from the U.S. to troops abroad, the strategy nearly crippled military operations and brought WWII to the shores of the U.S. Originally thought to have gotten away from a U.S. PC boat, the U-166 was believed to have been sunk by a U.S. aircraft dropping mines. Now 60 years later research shows that the boat was actually sunk by the PC boat and it was another submarine attacked by the aircraft.

Excellent wartime footage and underwater video of both the U-166 and its most famous victim, the Robert E. Lee passenger and cargo liner. The sequence of events leading to the discovery of the ships was interesting, as was the process of creating new theories about what actually happened to the U-166 in 1942.

Although this was a good documentary, there was a lot of redundancy with repeated video, interviews, and technical points. I would recommend this to anyone with interest in submarines, WWII, or U-166, as a good introduction.

Nothing here to limit audience age.

Released: 2004
Reviewed: 12.11.18
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: History, Documentary

copyright ©2018 Dave Riedel

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