Pearl Harbor spurs Broward County and Fort Lauderdale defenses for WWII

 

Fort Lauderdale Beach 1941
 State of Florida Archives

By Jane Feehan

The focus on Fort Lauderdale and Broward County war relief efforts for England shifted to defense activities after Pearl Harbor. Three weeks after that attack, the Broward County defense council reported the following to the Fort Lauderdale Daily News (Dec. 19, 1941) about its efforts:

• Near completion of the air raid warden system and more than 350 air raid warden identification cards issued to volunteers.
• Broward County defense council advises residents not to be alarmed by sudden power shut downs.
• Warning of practice blackouts with due notice through the press and radio.
• Students in their last semester will be eligible for diplomas to enter the armed service if their work is deemed up to set standards.
• The Broward School Board passes a resolution to pay expenses for architect Clinton Gamble to attend a course on building protection conducted by the University of Florida; Gamble will return to Broward and supervise air precaution work on school buildings.
• The defense council asks all taxi and truck owners in the county to register their vehicles with the council.
• Also all private car owners who want to volunteer use of their autos are urged to register with the council.
• Sheriff Walter Clark conducted a meeting of ex-service men and former police officers to form an auxiliary unit under direction of his office. They will observe and track down illegal activities when paid officers were occupied with other duties.

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Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, WWII in Broward County, Fort Lauderdale during World War II, film research, Clinton Gamble, Broward County history, History of Fort Lauderdale, architects

Deadliest Florida maritime incident of WWII off Jupiter

Gulfland burning off Jupiter 1943
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

 

By Jane Feehan

From 1942 to 1943, German U-boats sank more than 600 merchant ships off the U.S. East Coast. According to writer and Florida-during-World War II historian Eliot Kleinberg, 16 ships were sunk during the war off Florida between Cocoa Beach and Boca Raton.

The Florida maritime incident during the war that claimed the most lives, however, did not involve a U-boat.

Eighty-eight of 116 crewmen perished when two tankers collided off Jupiter Inlet October 20, 1943. The ships were running in opposite directions off Jupiter’s coastal bulge with lights out under war conditions. The Gulf Belle, emptied of cargo, and the Gulfland, heavy with a shipment of high octane fuel, ran into each other without warning; collision was followed by a fiery explosion seen from land.

Gulfland towed to Hobe Sound and sank
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory 

The Coast Guard Temporary Reserve, with its flotilla of cabin cruisers and fishing boats, responded to the emergency and saved 28 from both ships. A small dog was rescued from an engine room of one of tankers.  The Gulf Belle was towed into port where bodies of the crew were removed. The Gulfland burned for weeks in Hobe Sound and then sank.

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Sources:

Palm Beach Post, Oct. 24, 1943

Palm Beach Post, Apr. 23, 1944.

Tags: Maritime incident, Florida in WWII, Jupiter maritime incident, Jupiter history

German U-Boat close enough to see Miami Beach sunbathers 1943

 

Tanker Republic hit by German sub
off Jupiter 1942 Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

First deployed during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, German U-Boats* played their most significant role in economic warfare, sinking merchant vessels throughout the North Sea, Atlantic, and Caribbean during the World Wars. Many patrolled waters off South Florida during World War II.

In a 1987 gathering of former U-Boaters in Key Largo, attendee Heinz Rehse recounted his 1943 trip to South Florida. U-Boat 511 travelled across the Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale and headed south to Miami. The Germans were close enough to see tourists on the beach and in the ocean through a periscope, Rehse, who later became a U.S. citizen, said the crew got off the sub and swam in waters near a lighthouse in the Keys. They were never spotted. From their South Florida stop they set sail for the Caribbean where they sank eight merchant ships.

“War nerves” were credited for some of the silly stories that emerged in Miami after sub incidents. When one U-Boat was captured, rumors spread about authorities finding milk cartons from a Dade County dairy aboard. Also part of the lore was the tale of ticket stubs from a Flagler Street movie house discovered in U-Boat officers’ quarters.

German officers and their minions could have used some amusement. About 39,000 sailors served on the 1,200 U-Boats launched before and during World War II. Only 7,000 survived.

*For more on U-Boats off South Florida, see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-american-shooting-season-of-wwii.html


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Sources:
Miami News, Feb. 17, 1955
Miami News, Feb 2, 1987
A definitive source on U-Boats – Sharkhunters, Inc. preserves U-Boat history: http://www.sharkhunters.com/


Tags: U-Boats off Miami, U-Boats off South Florida, U-Boats in American waters during World War II, U-Boats and WWII, German U Boats, film researcher, Miami history

"The American Shooting Season" of WWII: HMS Tanker "Eclipse" torpedoed off Florida

HMS Eclipse (Creative Commons)

By Jane Feehan       

German U-Boats were not an uncommon sight off Florida's coast during World War II, especially during early 1942. That was before  residents were required to turn off lights, pull shades closed or partially tape car headlights to lower odds of being targeted by the enemy. Germans discovered much of the U.S. coastline illuminated early that year, calling it the "American Shooting Season."

For the same reason, Allied ships sailed the Atlantic with a blackout policy. For protection they traveled in convoys as did British steam tanker Eclipse (9,767 tons). The tanker separated from its convoy in the Bahamas May 3, 1942 to continue to Port Arthur, Texas. The next day, in broad daylight, German U-Boat 564 (Type VII sub) sighted the tanker off Florida’s coast between Boynton Beach and Fort Lauderdale and torpedoed it, killing two. The stern of the Eclipse settled in shallow waters but the ship was salvageable and was later towed to Port Everglades.

What’s interesting about this incident is crew members reported the torpedo coming from between the tanker and land; the Eclipse was only a mile and a half to two miles from the coast, well within U.S. territorial waters.

Considering the record of U-Boat 564 - 18 ships sunk, one war ship sunk and four damaged – the Eclipse fared well. Considering the proximity of enemy ships to the coast, South Floridians fared even better.

Temporarily repaired, the Eclipse was towed to Mobile for more maintenance and re-entered service December, 1942. U-564 was sunk by British aircraft June 14, 1943.

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Sources:

Weidling, Philip and Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966.

https://www.westpalmbeach.com/when-a-german-u-boat-attacked-palm-beach-county/

http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1600.html

Tags: Florida in WWII, Fort Lauderdale history, South Florida during WWII, U-boats off Florida coast, German U-Boats

Tourism in 1942 Fort Lauderdale : Jungle Queen, horseback riding and ...

 

Abeona - Everglades cruises
 Florida State Archives

 1942

The "season" of 1942 went into full swing in Fort Lauderdale, despite the war, blackouts and ships being torpedoed off the Atlantic coast. The Fort Lauderdale Times frequently advertised things to do in the area for recreation: a ride on the "Good Ship" Jungle Queen (still operating), horse back riding, boating, drinking ... and more as posted in the ad below.

Fort Lauderdale Times, 1942

Jungle Queen, Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

Tags: History of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale tourism, Fort Lauderdale during WWII

Lustron House: Solution to post WWII housing comes to Fort Lauderdale

Lustron house in Fort Lauderdale

By Jane Feehan


A housing shortage affected the nation—and South Florida—after World War II. Among the reasons was pent up demand and a dearth of building materials.

California Lustron house

Carl G. Strandlund, then 48, set out to remedy the problem with his idea for a prefabricated house. He launched Lustron Corporation in 1947 with $1,000 jointly invested with his wife, some other private capital and a loan of about $37.5 million from the federal government. It was a controversial loan because of its risk, one that had many detractors in Washington, but the housing need, as defined by President Harry S. Truman, was critical. Strandlund, an engineer, put up his patent for his prefab house as collateral.

Strandlund’s plan was to build 150 a day or a total of 17,500 houses in a plant in Columbus, Ohio with thousands of employees. Lustron Corp. built about 2,500 units, which were delivered as kits. Walls, ceilings and roofs were made of porcelain-enameled steel. Plumbing fixtures were constructed of enamel. The automotive and aircraft industries provided the templates for wiring and lighting. The houses were low maintenance, simple structures of one or two bedrooms but they had low curb appeal.

Lustron Corporation declared bankruptcy in February 1950. There were production delays and lack of a distribution strategy. Also, little thought went into community or site planning. But a few were sent to Florida, with the largest number to Sarasota. 

Records indicate there was one located at 110 Hendricks Isle in Fort Lauderdale. One remains in this city, the Alfred and Olive Thorpe Lustron House, at 1001 NE 2nd Street (see Broward link below for photo). It was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. A Lustron house in Boca Raton is recorded as demolished. One may still exist on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami and another is listed as being on 59th Street near the Miami International Airport.

The largest assembly (60) of Lustron houses, was at the U.S. Marine military base in Quantico, VA. Information and history about the low-maintenance units is still being researched and compiled by the Lustron Preservation Organization (www.lustronpreservation.org). Some estimate that 2,000 still exist, a testimony to their structural integrity. Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.


Sources:

* Fetters, Thomas A. Lustron Home: The History of a Postwar Prefabricated Housing Experiment. McFarland and    Company. Jefferson, NC: 2002

*Lodi News-Sentinel, March 26, 1948

*Miami News, Jan. 13, 1951

* lustronpreservation.org

* www.broward.org/History/NationalRegister/Pages/AlfredandOliveThorpeLustronHouse.aspx

* Wikipedia

Tags: history of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, SOFLA home construction history

Dooley's coffin nails - building ships for WWII in Broward County

Fort Lauderdale beach today

By Jane Feehan

Thousands of military trained in South Florida in preparation for World War II, but training was only one aspect of Broward County’s contribution to the war effort. On Labor Day, Sept. 7, 1942 Dooley’s Basin and Dry Dock (later Broward Marine) launched three war craft, the largest mass launching of such vessels in Florida at the time. 

A 110-foot sub chaser (P-710) and two 104-foot rescue craft (P-150) slid into the New River in Dania. The sub chaser was to be outfitted with guns and armaments and the rescue boats with hospital facilities before deployment.

The boats were christened with bottles of wine by an employee and the wives of two other employees—one of whom had four sons serving in the war. In accord with the federal War Production Board's wishes, there was no other observance of Labor Day. It was back to work for the company’s 300 plus employees.

The company’s president, Paul Dooley, said the vessels were another nail in the coffin of the enemy; he hoped there would be many more. By war’s end another sub chaser and 95 other rescue boats were produced by Dooley’s shipyard. The nation built 124,000 ships of all types during World War II. (America’s ramped-up production of military weapons and aircraft during World War II was remarkable. According to historian Stephen E. Ambrose, the U.S. produced 800 military airplanes in 1939. By 1942, it was producing 4,000 a month; at the end of 1943, the monthly count was up to 8,000.)

Dooley’s Basin and Dry Dock was recognized by the American Legion for its hiring of vets after the war. However, business did not fare well for long. Military contracts came to an end and Dooley’s government contract for pre-fabricated houses fell through in 1945. More than half its employees were laid off. The company was purchased in 1948 by Frank Denison and was then known as Broward Marine, once the county’s largest employer. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Miami News, Sept. 7, 1942

Miami News, Feb. 13, 1945

Miami News, Sept. 19,1945

Ambrose, Stephen E. D-Day June 6, 1945. New York: Simon & Schuster (1994)

www.nationalww2museum.org

https://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/

Tags: Broward County history, Broward County in World War II, Broward County shipbuilding in WWII, Broward County in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale historian, Miami historian

Mystery of Flight 19 and the Bermuda triangle myth - Fort Lauderdale

  

By Jane Feehan

One of the most enduring stories of Fort Lauderdale and World War II is that of missing Flight 19.

Lieutenant Charles C. Taylor led a squadron of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that took off from the U.S. Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale, at about 2 p.m. December 5, 1945. This mission was to take 14 crewmen (an additional member remained ashore because of a hangover) on its last training flight. The planes were to fly 77 miles due east to Great Stirrup Key, then 84 miles north to Great Sale and back to Fort Lauderdale. Another squadron flew the same route 30 minutes ahead.

At around 4 p.m. Taylor radioed that both his compasses were not working. He said he was in the Keys but didn’t know how far down and wasn’t sure how to get back to Fort Lauderdale. The last discernible radio transmission at 5:25 p.m. estimated location  at about 200 miles north of Miami.

The dark blue 14,000-pound Avenger, built by Eastern Aircraft under license from Grumman, was the largest single-engine plane ever built; it proved to be a reliable aircraft during World War II. On the December 5 mission, Flight 19 had enough fuel until 8 p.m. that night. The planes would have sunk immediately if ditched into the ocean.

Avenger aircraft 
Florida State Archives

A decision was made to search for Taylor and the squadron two hours after the last communication.

A sixth plane with 13 on board tasked as a rescue team took off at 7:30 p.m. and also not heard from again. A ship's crew reported having seen a mid-air flame, possibly an explosion and later an oil slick. For five days hundreds of planes searched for the 27 missing crewmen. Nothing more was ever found of the rescue plane or the five Avengers of Flight 19.

The U.S. Navy assumes Flight 19 ran out of fuel east of Florida and sank in storm-churned waters. Lieutenant Charles Taylor was absolved of responsibility for its fate; bad weather was deemed as probable cause of the mystery. Some of his peers thought Taylor to be a poor navigator. A news story written years after the disappearance reported he once got lost flying out of a base in the Keys and wound up on a raft in the Caribbean for five days.

Flight 19 has been the subject of myth since 1945, and at times, attributed to Bermuda Triangle energies—especially after the idea was first floated in the Miami Herald, Sept. 17, 1950.  One certainty prevails: it hasn’t been the only flight – military or civilian – that’s gone missing in those waters or in other oceans of the world. 

See Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum, A salute to Flight 19:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2014/03/naval-air-station-fort-lauderdale.html

Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:

Miami News, Dec. 5, 1985.

Palm Beach Post, Dec. 7, 1945.

Miami News, Dec. 7, 1945.

Weidling, Philip J. , Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press (1966).

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq15-1.htm

Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, lost military flights, Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale during WWII, World War II in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, 

film researcher, Fort Lauderdale historian, Miami historian

A carload of plaster and a bit of screen: Dark days for South Florida builders during WWII

Fort Lauderdale 1948
Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

One carload of plaster, and screening for five houses was available in Florida to build houses in 1945 when the U.S. was still at war with Japan. Supplies were few throughout the nation but the problem was acute in South Florida, which was fast becoming a tourist destination in need of hotels. It was also growing in year-round population looking for permanent homes.

At a chamber of commerce meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Aug. 1, 1945, the North Florida director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), M.M. Parrish, told an anxious crowd of 200 prospective home builders that it was going to be tough to get a “priority” (a word of war time ration culture) for permits to build until the war was over.  It was impossible to guarantee enough materials.

He warned the builders that one should not buy a lot or hire an architect until assured of obtaining one of the 100 priorities available.

Families of permanent citizenship status with several children would be given priority if they used masonry construction and planned to live in the homes themselves.  Parrish dictated other rules for builders: 

• They could not spend less than $3,500 on construction;
• Houses could not be sold for more than $7,500, even if $15,000 was spent on construction;
• FHA would have final say over types of materials, rental, sale and even the layout of a home;
• FHA would maintain control until the end of the war.

The FHA was formed in the 1930s during the Great Depression with the purpose of providing lenders sufficient insurance. During World War II they kept strict control over home building. Today, the FHA assists those who cannot afford a down payment on a home.

By August of 1945, the City of Fort Lauderdale collected the highest taxes of its history: $656,000. U.S. unemployment rate was 1.9 percent. Japan surrendered August 14, 1945.

By 1948, construction picked up; more supplies were available. Estimated Fort Lauderdale building costs on permits in July topped $1,5 million. Permits increased that year in communities throughout South Florida,

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Sources:

Miami News, Aug. 2 1945

Fort Lauderdale News, July 31, 1948

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale during World War II, Florida during WWII, Fort Lauderdale during the 1940s, historical researcher