Attack on Aruba

Attack on Aruba
	Part of World War II, Battle of the Caribbean
	; Pedernales, heavily damaged after being struck by a German torpedo.
Date	16 February 1942
Location	off Oranjestad, San Nicolaas Harbor, Aruba, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Venezuela
Result	Axis victory Oil operations disrupted;
Belligerents
Netherlands; United States	Germany; Italy
Commanders and leaders
Frank Andrews	Werner Hartenstein
Strength
Land:; ~300 artillery; ~6 artillery pieces; 3 shore batteries; Sea:; ~3 patrol boats; Air:; 2 light bombers	7 submarines
Casualties and losses
~51 killed; 6 tankers sunk; 2 tankers damaged	1 killed; 1 wounded; 1 submarine damaged
	German casualties were caused by an accident.;

The attack on Aruba was an attack on oil installations and tankers by Axis submarines during World War II. On 16 February 1942, a German U-boat attacked the small Dutch island of Aruba. Other submarines patrolled the area for shipping and they sank or damaged tankers. Aruba was home to two of the largest oil refineries in the world during the war against the Axis powers, the Arend Petroleum Company, situated near the Oranjestad harbor, and the Lago Oil and Transport Company at the San Nicolas harbor. The attack resulted in the disruption of vital Allied fuel production.

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