When Nazi U-Boats Ambushed the American Coasts

On a cold January evening in 1942, a German U-boat surfaced in New York City’s lower bay undetected. As her commander, Kapitänleutnant Reinhard Hardegen, stood on the bridge, the bright skyline of Manhattan lay before him. To Hardegen’s astonishment, though the U.S. had been at war for over a month, the East Coast sparkled undimmed from New York to Miami. It was as if America was untouched by the global conflict. But this was about to change.