Operation Teardrop: The Hunt for Nazi Germany's Top Secret Ballistic Missile Submarine
Thought to be carrying V-2 ballistic missiles, the U.S. Navy hunted for Attack Group Seewolf, a U-boat wolfpack destined for the U.S. East Coast.
The U.S. Navy responded with overwhelming force against a potential threat to the continental United States—but proved too willing to bend its principles on the treatment of prisoners of war, escalating the use of torture when the prisoners did not confirm the interrogator’s incorrect assumptions, as often happens.
Ironically, it would actually be two U.S. submarines that first tested submarine-launched cruise missiles two years later. The weapon: an American copy of the V-1 buzz bomb.
Sébastien Roblin holds a Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring.
This article was originally published in 2016.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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