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RE: Oil Targets

Posted by: Fin Bonset ()

Date: December 06, 2000 12:25PM

<HTML>Hi Romulo, Captain D., Rich, and all,

Romulo, your account from Aruba is correct. I actually grew up as a teenager in that part of Aruba. My house there actually over-looks the site of the batlle. My parents are there right now. Some additional facts. Two shells did land in the refinery. One missed and just created a small crater and the other actually hit a very large fuel tank but it did not blow-up! It instead left a huge ding in the side of it which can still be seen today. If that shell had detonated, there would have been a chain reaction because there are about 20 other huge oil tanks in close proximity to that one.

In addition, the account in that book \"Uboat War in the Caribbean\" is not entirely accurate in terms of the sinking of the ships and the location of their sinking. The Oranjestad actually sank right in the harbor and the Pedernales partially sank right off the docks. The large 155 mm shells were not fired at the u-boat. The reason being that the location of those guns were in a direct line with the refinery houses and that would have been unsafe. I have spoken with a witness and he said that smaller shells were fired from within the harbor where the U.S. had set up several guns. They were definitely not 155 mm.

When I go back for Christmas, I\'m going to do more research on the incident as I didn\'t get much of a chance the last time I was there.

Best to all,

Fin Bonset</HTML>

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Subject	Written By	Posted
Oil Targets	Craig McLean	12/05/2000 02:06PM
RE: Oil Targets	Anders Wingren	12/05/2000 02:35PM
RE: Oil Targets	Fin Bonset	12/05/2000 02:49PM
RE: Oil Targets	Fin Bonset	12/05/2000 02:46PM
RE: Oil Targets	TL	12/05/2000 03:14PM
RE: Oil Targets	kurt	12/05/2000 05:41PM
RE: Oil Targets	TL	12/06/2000 01:27PM
RE: Oil Targets	kurt	12/06/2000 11:49PM
RE: Oil Targets	Rich Mickle	12/05/2000 11:15PM
RE: Oil Targets	Fin Bonset	12/06/2000 12:25PM
RE: Oil Targets	Capt. George W. Duffy	12/06/2000 12:17AM
RE: Oil Targets	Romulo Figueiredo	12/06/2000 02:03AM

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Fin Bonset Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> <HTML>Hi Romulo, Captain D., Rich, and all,
> 
> Romulo, your account from Aruba is correct.  I
> actually grew up as a teenager in that part of
> Aruba.  My house there actually over-looks the
> site of the batlle. My parents are there right
> now.  Some additional facts.  Two shells did land
> in the refinery.  One missed and just created a
> small crater and the other actually hit a very
> large fuel tank but it did not blow-up!  It
> instead left a huge ding in the side of it which
> can still be seen today.  If that shell had
> detonated, there would have been a chain reaction
> because there are about 20 other huge oil tanks in
> close proximity to that one.
> 
> In addition, the account in that book \"Uboat War
> in the Caribbean\" is not entirely accurate in
> terms of the sinking of the ships and the location
> of their sinking.  The Oranjestad actually sank
> right in the harbor and the Pedernales partially
> sank right off the docks.  The large 155 mm shells
> were not fired at the u-boat.  The reason being
> that the location of those guns were in a direct
> line with the refinery houses and that would have
> been unsafe.  I have spoken with a witness and he
> said that smaller shells were fired from within
> the harbor where the U.S. had set up several guns.
> They were definitely not 155 mm.
> 
> When I go back for Christmas, I\'m going to do
> more research on the incident as I didn\'t get
> much of a chance the last time I was there.
> 
> Best to all,
> 
> Fin Bonset</HTML>