January 1942
Along the Atlantic coast, Americans could see angry red flames and clouds of smoke rising into the air. Hitler had just launched a vicious submarine attack that targeted American and British ships. They sank hundreds of vessels. More than 5,000 seamen lost their lives. But their next target would be even more devastating. The RMS Queen Mary, traveling down the coast to Brazil, carried 8,398 American servicemen. Hitler promised the equivalent of $250,000 to any captain who could take it out.
How did the Germans know the locations of these vessels? Someone was watching them and passing along the information to Germany’s leaders. The US Coast Guard had intercepted radio messages from spies in South America. But they were all in code. No one could read them.
