January 11

Washington, D. C. • January 11, 1942 On this date in 1942 the German Kriegsmarine launched Operation Drum­beat (Unter­nehmen Pauken­schlag, or “roll of the kettle­drums”), intending to destroy U.S. coastal shipping, particularly oil ship­ments from the Gulf of Mexico, and disrupt the stream of troops and key resources (e.g., agri­cul­tural pro­ducts, steel, and oil) crossing…