18. The US Navy did not have the ships to convoy along the American coast
Admiral Ernest King, in command of the United States Navy, lacked the ships necessary to convoy merchantmen along American shores. He needed those he did have to escort lend-lease convoys to Britain and Murmansk, and especially troopships. From January until August 1942 the German U-boats often had a free hand off American shores, in the Caribbean, and in the Gulf of Mexico. Several Gulf ports were effectively blockaded by U-boats. The situation worsened as the spring dragged into summer. By August, 609 ships were sunk by the Germans, a total of 3.1 million tons of shipping.
Most of the casualties were the result of the carnage at sea during America’s first eight months of the European war were civilians. They were the crews of the merchant ships and tankers that went with their ships to the bottom. American air reconnaissance was ineffective. So were air defenses. The British looked at the sinkings with alarm, and made several recommendations on how they could be reduced, based on their own bitter experience. They were mostly ignored. Not all of the ships destroyed in American waters were US-flagged vessels, but the majority were.
