Submarines, saboteurs and spies: United States Navy counterespionage operations in Florida, 1941–1945

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ABSTRACT Before and after Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence established several counterespionage schemes to prevent the Axis powers from infiltrating the United States with saboteurs and spies. The State of Florida fell under the auspices of three different naval districts. U.S. Navy intelligence officers and the U.S. Coast Guard collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to prevent individuals from aiding and abetting the enemy. The navy utilized the services of paid civilian agents and volunteer confidential informants on land and sea not only to alert the navy of enemy activity but to report any unpatriotic activity on the part of anyone including people in various ethnic and religious communities. Simultaneously, naval intelligence officers screened survivors of U-boat attacks and people entering the U.S. The surveillance measures imposed on Florida were unprecedented. However, the U.S. Navy created them with the intent of defending the country against subversion and preventing enemy operations and not to engage in enhanced domestic spying.