UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Forgotten By History: The Panama Canal in World War Two by Andrew Robert Lefebvre A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFULMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA APRIL, 2009 ©Andrew Robert Lefebvre 2009 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49613-8 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49613-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada ii Abstract The Panama Canal was one of the most important strategic targets in the Western Hemisphere during World War Two and absolutely vital to the American war effort. The United States expended valuable manpower and materiel to protect the Canal from a number of threats, perceived or real, during this time. The security of the Canal reinforced American fears that the Latin America was rife with subversion and that the Canal itself was extremely vulnerable. In its defense of the Canal the U.S. military had to prepare for a number of different situations. The military had to prepare the Canal for defense against a direct Axis attack, not unlike the Japanese raid at Pearl Harbor. In order to do this it significantly escalated the American presence in Panama. The military also prepared a fortified perimeter consisting of air and sea patrols from islands that formed a thousand mile ring around Panama. The Roosevelt administration and the U.S. State Department feared that the domestic political environment of Panama would cause problems for the security of the Canal. The 1930s and early 1940s were tumultuous years for Panamanian politics. There were two coups that overthrew the democratically elected governments and a number of violent election campaigns. In addition to domestic politics, the election of the ultra- nationalistic Arnulfo Arias Madrid caused the U.S. government considerable anxiety due to his nationalistic and somewhat anti-American policies. U.S. intelligence services feared espionage and sabotage by Axis subversives. Intelligence officials watched and investigated operatives from all the Axis nations plus a few associates. The Germans and Japanese had strong contingents in Panama. The iii Spanish Falange and the Vichy assisted these primary belligerents with help for their espionage, propaganda and sabotage activities. In order to deal with the sabotage the U.S. military instituted anti-sabotage measures throughout the Canal Zone. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page ii Abstract iii Table of Contents v List of Maps vi Maps vii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The 1930s 10 Chapter 2: U.S. Reaction to the Outbreak of War in Europe 38 Chapter 3; Political Instability on the Isthmus, 1939-1940 60 Chapter 4: Continued Political Instability on the Isthmus, 1940-1941 80 Chapter 5: Foreign Subversive Elements, 1939-1941 106 Chapter 6: War Comes to the Western Hemisphere 126 Chapter 7: Defense of the Canal, 1941-1945 153 Chapter 8: Foreign Subversive Elements, 1941-1945 180 Conclusion 211 Notes 219 Bibliography 252 v LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATAIONS Map of the Panama Canal vii Map of the Canal Zone viii Panama Political Map ix Map of Panama Showing Places Mentioned in the Text ix Map of the Caribbean x Map of Shipping Losses to U-Boats xi Map of U-Boat Losses in Caribbean Theatre xi Map: Location of Clipperton Island, Cocos Island, and Galapagos 24 Map: Location of Las Perlas 30 Map: Location of Pinas Bay 36 Illustration of Third Locks Project 45 Map: Location of el Tigre and Puerto Limon 186 VI MAPS Map of the Panama Canal (Source: http://www.panamaforum.com/images/panama-Canal-map.ipg) vn tv*&h> 6 59'SO' C .«*'• f> »**>• !»*»'•. • F ••::GanaI.Zt)"iife; T : M 1, 1 ".I'. :,.:* "| | ;j |j; i Ummmf*^*? IMoUry^wt6uniM&iMr 4 8*» t.i.M^t^.ll.1, »*»* 8 7»"6o'Um#n«.C *«K W*tt'»»w» DiiKCTtiWtrw' E !**»' (Source: http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/7000/7033/7033.jpg - edited by author) Vlll Panama Political Map Caribbean i #: "-^eklSF--^-^.w. - •^. '-• • f*h> 9*X*j*t»-~ti- I \ ' \ ' T.-.7* . '•* jf Psmmn i '" "' ... Panama * Nj- * 1 | 4l >• * M fiHimw Caw1 *><*«*!»: •&**'*'(.*"* s»80238S<54(BS (Source: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas/panama.jpg) Map of Panama Showing Places Mentioned in the Text Alnmiur* •*•**• • .«**.« i*|J, g..,.. San A..*** ' Isia 1 Ma ~i* I afiRr"^ Pas- ' ttfcpfr , flsiactfifflsy if joss* Las Perlas "£f GawebhJ c=> f Pnwtnhftfl IT" (Source: http://www.worldheadquarters.com/panama/images/mappanamacountry.gif- edited by author) IX The Caribbean •lATLE STATFS W 1TI. • * •• THE *""*" BAHAMAS •"rtRTifl: tlUU tin! *h Vi-qir HAITI ij, „ MC1„ Sai • J etn.li. C ,ujr ., "" •' ,- «,| CHK-S'TCPHCR Viro' ' J AM) NEVIS P >Mr;: A cr (I, 5 1 Gassolerre ^ "gi j0f,ns iiiiitiRAS DOMINICA Martin Q jc (Fur .Ciulriet Ipr Pu«rto ,'s , ST. LUCIA* K,„B>,.1*ni •*»*««« St VINC1N1 AND * Bnogf l?»n NICARAGUA IKE GRENADINES „ , ^iCRENADA St C»ofQrtw *on o*-Suai" TRINIDAD Puftl»«nn COSTA * AND PICA TORAGO ,Miirii v COLOMBIA fjuf!f>7v4nl.ifii* •c.i 16,000.000 200 Kikrtflftiers MO hi • \ mwi (544517)4-88 (Source: http://www.caribpro.com/Caribbean Map/Caribbean Map Large.gif) x Map of Shipping Losses to U-Boats "' t «.., v . UliHIM tilSM.S - t \::it.ilHN iliMTKE »«W •'. ... -•. * — * I * _ • I ••l—.l : • • • *V;*. •• •*:•'• :•. :• -.:.• -•-. " , -.—••*W •-.".. ." I---. •. •• • -.-•••«*- • •••* - ^ % • • ft.- — (Source: Gaylord T.M. Kelshall, The U-Boat War in the Caribbean, (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1994), following page 290.) Map of U-Boat Losses in Caribbean Theatre VRlMTtOSSES - CASimEAN tHEOJil 1 s M^a* \ / • " .: • \-< ,v= * . -.-••if t ^v •» ». R, IM',1.1 < w*^ ...J. ^ )rv **"**'' Wn'k (Source: Ibid, following page 460.) XI 1 Introduction "Assurance of the impregnability of the inter-oceanic waterways is absolutely vital to the military security of the United States - - a nation which places its initial reliance upon naval forces." Henry Stimson, Secretary of War1 Much has been written about the United States during World War Two. The existing historical literature contains a common refrain: the Panama Canal was an integral component for the defense of the Western Hemisphere that should be defended at all cost. However, few analysts have examined the measures which United States civilian and military officials took to secure the Canal and its outlying region on both the Pacific and Caribbean sides. This dissertation examines the challenges which the administration of Franklin Roosevelt confronted in maintaining the security of the Panama Canal in the late 1930s and during World War II. Clearly, the Panama Canal was an absolutely vital installation for the United States and the Allied war effort. In the years prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, United States policy tended to be isolationist and to concentrate on the security of the Western Hemisphere. The defense of the Panama Canal was a vital component in that strategy. With the outbreak of war in Europe, the American focus on the Canal intensified. The U.S. military expanded its defensive capabilities in the area, and U.S. officials sought to stabilize the political environment and counteract the influence of both domestic and foreign subversive activity on the Isthmus. The devastating impact of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the German declaration of war, and U.S. full engagement in a two ocean war reinforced the strategic importance of the Canal. U.S. military planners worried in World War Two, as they always had, that the continental United States was only as secure as its southern flank and what has been 2 termed the soft-underbelly. Latin-America formed this soft-underbelly, and many U.S. officials believed that Latin American republics were open to Axis intervention and corruption. This dissertation addresses that issue by examining the foreign and domestic threats to the Panama Canal, perceived or real, and whether the American response to those threats was proportionate to the strategic significance of the Isthmus and the Canal. The defense of the waterway was one of the highest priorities for U.S.