From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Operation Drumbeat was the code name for a set of German U-boat attacks on the eastern seaboard of the United States in January, 1942. This series of attacks resulted in the sinking of over 300 Allied vessels.
In German, the attack was known as Paukenschlag, literally, "a roll on the kettledrum." It was also known to the U-boat-men as the second Happy Times.
The operation was ended in mid-1942 by the use of navy convoys to escort ships safely past the U-boats.
