01 Jul ‘Operation Drumbeat’ exhibit opens

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into the Second World War. Shortly thereafter, Nazi Germany declared war on the United States. In a campaign called “Operation Drumbeat,” Admiral Karl Doenitz of the German Navy unleashed attack submarines—known as “U-boats”—against shipping along the east coast of North America. “Operation Drumbeat,” the new exhibit within the main gallery, explores this activity that turned the east coast of the United States into the world’s most dangerous area for merchant shipping.