U.S. Announces “Shoot on Sight” Policy during World War II
The "Shoot on Sight" policy, announced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 11, 1941, marked a significant shift in the United States' approach to World War II before its formal entry into the conflict. Initially maintaining a stance of neutrality, the U.S. had been covertly supporting Great Britain and other nations opposing the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—by supplying arms and assistance. As tensions escalated, the U.S. military took more aggressive actions, including the occupation of Iceland and the organization of merchant convoys to protect against German submarine threats.
The announcement came after the USS Greer was attacked by a German submarine, prompting outrage among the American public and government. The policy allowed U.S. naval forces to engage German vessels on sight in designated areas of the Atlantic, effectively initiating limited warfare between the two powers. This period of naval conflict intensified with further incidents involving American destroyers. Ultimately, the "Shoot on Sight" policy was a precursor to the United States' full-scale involvement in World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
U.S. Announces “Shoot on Sight” Policy during World War II
World War II: U.S. Announces “Shoot on Sight” Policy
In the early years of World War II, before the United States formally entered the conflict, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt had an unofficial policy of assisting Great Britain and the other nations fighting the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. This agreement prompted the establishment of a “shoot on sight” policy announced by Roosevelt on September 11, 1941.
Although the United States was supposed to be neutral during the war and Congress had enacted legislation to enforce this status, in the late 1930s the country began to beef up its military, and the Roosevelt administration found ways to weaken or circumvent neutrality restrictions and provide the British with badly needed weapons and other supplies. Further, the American government took increasingly hostile actions against the Axis nations: their assets in the United States were frozen, their consulates were closed, and trade restrictions were imposed. The American military also began to take a more aggressive stance against the Axis, such as occupying the strategic North Atlantic island nation of Iceland with troops and organizing merchant vessel convoys to be escorted by warships through Atlantic waters where German submarines were known to lurk.
Inevitably, these new policies resulted in an incident. The USS Greer was “accidentally” attacked by a German submarine, and the American public was outraged. Therefore, on September 11, 1941, Roosevelt announced that henceforth the United States Navy was to “shoot on sight” any German vessel in parts of the Atlantic loosely defined as those areas necessary for American defense. More incidents followed in the month of October when the American destroyers Kearny and Reuben James were damaged in confrontations with German submarines with considerable loss of life. Open conflict did not begin until after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the United States declared war on the Axis powers, but limited warfare had already begun on the high seas of the North Atlantic between German and American forces.