Operation Underworld
Encyclopedia
Operation Underworld was the United States government's code name for the cooperation of organized crime figures from 1942 to 1945 to counter Axis
spies and saboteurs along the U.S. northeastern seaboard ports, avoid wartime labor union strikes, and limit theft by black-marketeers of vital war supplies and equipment.
In the first three months after the Attack on Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941, the U.S. lost 120 merchant ships to German U-boats and surface raiders in the Battle of the North Atlantic and in February 1942 the cruise ship SS Normandie
– a captured French ship that was being refitted as a troop ship in New York harbor – was allegedly sabotaged and sunk by arson in the Port of New York. The Mafia
boss Albert Anastasia
claimed responsibility for the sabotage. After the war, Axis records showed no sabotage operation had existed and no evidence has ever been produced on the Allied side to indicate there had been underworld sabotage. The loss of the Normandie was almost certainly an accident.
Nevertheless, fears about possible sabotage or disruption of the waterfront led Commander Charles R. Haffenden of the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence
(ONI) Third Naval District in New York set up a special security unit and sought the help of Joseph Lanza
, who ran the Fulton Fish Market
, to get intelligence about the New York waterfront, control the labor unions and identify possible refuelling and resupply operations for German submarines with the help fishing industry along the Atlantic Coast. To cover Lanza’s activities, he suggested to approach Charles Luciano who was an important boss of the five New York Mafia crime families. Luciano agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of consideration for early release from prison.
Luciano was in Dannemora
at the time, serving a 30 to 50 year sentence for running a prostitution ring. For his cooperation he was moved to a more convenient and comfortable open prison in Great Meadows
in May 1942. How effective or crucial Luciano’s influence was in stopping sabotage remains unclear, but authorities did note that strikes on the docks stopped after Luciano’s attorney Moses Polakoff contacted underworld figures with influence over the longshoremen and their unions. In 1946 Luciano's sentence was commuted – after serving 9½ years – and he was deported
to his native Italy
.
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
spies and saboteurs along the U.S. northeastern seaboard ports, avoid wartime labor union strikes, and limit theft by black-marketeers of vital war supplies and equipment.
In the first three months after the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on December 7, 1941, the U.S. lost 120 merchant ships to German U-boats and surface raiders in the Battle of the North Atlantic and in February 1942 the cruise ship SS Normandie
SS Normandie
SS Normandie was an ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat; she is still the most powerful steam turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built.Her novel...
– a captured French ship that was being refitted as a troop ship in New York harbor – was allegedly sabotaged and sunk by arson in the Port of New York. The Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
claimed responsibility for the sabotage. After the war, Axis records showed no sabotage operation had existed and no evidence has ever been produced on the Allied side to indicate there had been underworld sabotage. The loss of the Normandie was almost certainly an accident.
Nevertheless, fears about possible sabotage or disruption of the waterfront led Commander Charles R. Haffenden of the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
(ONI) Third Naval District in New York set up a special security unit and sought the help of Joseph Lanza
Joseph Lanza
Joseph A. "Socks" Lanza was a New York labor racketeer and a member of the Genovese crime family.Born in Palermo, Sicily, Lanza immigrated to the United States and settled in New York working as a handler in Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market...
, who ran the Fulton Fish Market
Fulton Fish Market
The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in The Bronx, New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and produce...
, to get intelligence about the New York waterfront, control the labor unions and identify possible refuelling and resupply operations for German submarines with the help fishing industry along the Atlantic Coast. To cover Lanza’s activities, he suggested to approach Charles Luciano who was an important boss of the five New York Mafia crime families. Luciano agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of consideration for early release from prison.
Luciano was in Dannemora
Clinton Correctional Facility
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Correctional Services state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison itself is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its actual name is derived from its location in Clinton County,...
at the time, serving a 30 to 50 year sentence for running a prostitution ring. For his cooperation he was moved to a more convenient and comfortable open prison in Great Meadows
Great Meadow Correctional Facility
Great Meadow Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in New York in the USA. The prison is in Comstock, a hamlet right outside of Fort Ann, in Washington County, New York. As of September 3, 2008 it was home to 1,663 inmates...
in May 1942. How effective or crucial Luciano’s influence was in stopping sabotage remains unclear, but authorities did note that strikes on the docks stopped after Luciano’s attorney Moses Polakoff contacted underworld figures with influence over the longshoremen and their unions. In 1946 Luciano's sentence was commuted – after serving 9½ years – and he was deported
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
to his native Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.