Nazi Attack on America

While the American mainland was never invaded by Axis forces during World War II, the waters along the eastern coast of the United States witnessed significant German U-boat activity. Filmmakers Kirk Wolfinger and Owen Palmquist's PBS-aired NOVA documentary dives into the Gulf of Mexico—at a spot not far from New Orleans—to locate the remains of the U-166, the only German submarine sunk in those waters. Herbert Claudius, commander of the U.S. Navy sub-chaser PC-566, reported that he sank the U-166 on July 30, 1942, following its attack on the freighter Robert E. Lee, but the Navy dismissed the report as erroneous and credit for the sinking was given instead to the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard airplane. Nazi Attack on America follows world-famous Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard and his crew as they explore the barnacle-encrusted wreckage of the U-166 to determine the exact cause of its fate. The film mixes underwater videography, computer animation, and archival footage to recreate the U-166's final days above the waves. The result is both an invigorating look at a little-known chapter in World War II and the solving of a decades-long controversy. On the latter point, Ballard can claim the honor of reversing an injustice: Claudius, who died in 1981, was posthumously credited with the sinking in a 2014 ceremony, with Navy officials admitting their error. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)