Hoping to further disrupt a major Allied oil supply, Hartenstein ordered his U-boats to continue operating against the Aruba and Curaçao refineries.

[citation needed] U-130, a German Type IXC submarine under Kapitän zur See Ernst Kals, approached western Curaçao on 19 April 1942.

None hit their target but the sound of the explosions woke up the sleeping Dutch coastal artillery detachment on the island.

[citation needed] Though only a small skirmish the German bombardment of Curaçao is remembered as a key event in the Battle of the Caribbean.

In August 1942, the Germans returned to Curaçao, attacked a tanker, and then received fire from a Dutch shore battery before slipping away.