The Hollywood blockbuster of fall 1942 was Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Released in August, it became a nationwide hit, with its standout number, “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin, resonating deeply during the war. By late November, the song had sold over 600,000 records and a million copies of sheet music, offering a sense of hope during a bleak Christmas in the United States.
The holiday season of 1942 was marked by darkness, both literal and symbolic. With an energy crisis gripping the northeast and Ohio River Valley, outdoor holiday lights were dim, travel was restricted, and coal, oil, and gasoline were rationed to support the war effort. A cold, snowless winter further dampened spirits as Americans longed for the “white Christmas” Berlin had captured so poignantly.
This energy shortage was a direct result of German Admiral Karl Dönitz’s aggressive U-boat campaign, which targeted Allied shipping, especially tankers. From January to June 1942, German submarines sank 64 tankers off the U.S. east coast, with more losses following in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Dönitz even boasted that Americans could see the “red glows” of burning tankers from shore. By year’s end, hundreds of ships had been destroyed, leaving oil supplies strained and forcing sacrifices on the home front.
Amidst the darkness and war, “White Christmas” became a symbol of longing and resilience for millions of Americans at home and abroad.
Harold Ickes, Roosevelt’s oil tsar, coordinated efforts to replace lost tanker capacity through pipelines, rail, barges, and accelerated tanker construction.
On March 23, 1942, engineers and representatives from 67 oil and pipeline companies, part of the Petroleum Industry War Council, met in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to devise a domestic pipeline strategy for the war emergency. Over three days, the Temporary Joint Pipeline Sub-Committee analyzed every mile of existing pipelines, pumping stations, and storage facilities to optimize oil transportation to critical war zones like the northeast.
The resulting Tulsa Plan recommended reconfiguring and extending pipelines, using old materials for new lines, reversing flow directions, and tearing up unused pipes to extend routes. Despite these measures, the committee concluded that building two large pipelines from Texas to the Atlantic Coast was the only real solution if tankers remained unavailable.
The plan was approved by Ickes on May 11, 1942, and optimism grew that the War Production Board (WPB) might reconsider its opposition. On May 25, Ickes, now backed by the army and navy, presented the plan again, emphasizing the urgent need following the loss of 100 tankers off the East Coast and in the Caribbean.
On June 10, the WPB approved a 24-inch crude oil pipeline, known as Big Inch, from Longview, Texas, to Norris City, Illinois, where oil would transfer to rail for delivery further east. Four months later, the Petroleum Administration for War pressed for extending the pipeline all the way to the East Coast.
On October 26, 1942, approval was granted for a 24-inch pipeline from Norris, Illinois, to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, with two 20-inch branches to New York City and Philadelphia. Simultaneously, plans were announced for a second line, Little Big Inch, a 20-inch pipeline to carry refined products from Beaumont, Texas, to Linden, New Jersey. Initially approved to Norris, its extension to Linden was authorized on April 2, 1943.
By early 1943, two major pipelines were underway, capable of delivering a combined 500,000 barrels of oil daily—solving the lack of pipelines from Texas to the East Coast. Additional lines, like the Plantation Line to Richmond, further eased shortages in the Southeast.
The Big Inch and Little Big Inch pipelines were critical. Completed between 1943 and 1944, they transported crude oil and refined products from Texas to the East Coast, delivering a combined 500,000 barrels daily. Railroads and barges also played key roles, increasing overland deliveries to 1.4 million barrels per day by 1944.
Simultaneously, rapid shipbuilding efforts, including the production of modern, fast T-2 tankers, helped restore sea-borne oil deliveries, which rose to 450,665 barrels daily by 1945.
While U-boats continued to operate in the Caribbean into late 1942 and 1943—and sporadically for the rest of the war—their impact was blunted by the rapid construction of over 1,000 miles of pipeline. The German submarine service’s temporary success in disrupting Caribbean oil supplies in 1942 was ultimately outmatched by the Allies’ immense industrial capacity, particularly that of the United States.
Thousands of welders, pipefitters, engineers, machine operators, and laborers worked tirelessly to overcome the U-boat threat, ensuring the flow of vital oil and neutralizing the world’s most formidable submarine force.
By Christmas 1944, holiday lights returned across the U.S. and U.K., symbolizing recovery.
Read the book: The Long Night of the Tankers: Hitler’s War Against Caribbean Oil
