Information I have read in Gaylord Kelshall’s book, The U-Boat War in the Caribbean, suggests that one U-boat, U-539, was operating near Aruba in late June 1944. On June 24, 1944 the destroyer escort USS Straus (DE-408) left Aruba escorting an oiler to the Panama Canal. That evening the war diary of the Straus records making two attacks on a submerged submarine. They recorded seeing “oil and bubbles” come to the surface before losing contact. If the Straus’s attack was actually on a submarine, presumably it would have been directed against the U-539. However, the records available here at uboat.net do not report an attack made on her at that time. I am new to U-boat research. Are war diaries from surviving boats like the U-539 available? If so, how would I go about accessing any reports covering June 1944? I am interested in confirming or refuting that the Straus actually delivered an attack on a U-boat. Thank you.

Gerry Slattery
gerryslattery@yahoo.com