21. In 1944 German agents again came ashore on the US mainland
Operation Elster was a German espionage operation which was designed to gather intelligence on American technological and military facilities in late 1944. The agents dispatched to the United States arrived in Maine, delivered by U-Boat, on November 29. One of the agents was William Colepaugh, an American who had defected to Germany. The other was German intelligence agent Erich Gimpel. As in Pastorius, the agents were spotted, though not confronted, shortly after landing. As in Pastorius they eluded initial pursuit and traveled by train to New York. And as in Pastorius they quickly lost interest in their mission, or at any rate Colepaugh did.
The clubs, bars, steakhouses, and entertainments of New York, as well as the plethora of unattached female company, distracted Colepaugh and within days he abandoned any idea of espionage. Gimpel tried to remain focused on his mission, though he found the bright lights engaging too. During Christmas week Colepaugh abandoned his colleague, taking their operating capital with him. Shortly after that, he reported himself to the FBI. Gimpel was collected by the bureau, and the two were tried by another military tribunal. They too were sentenced to death, though Truman commuted the sentences to life imprisonment. Gimpel was released in 1955; Colepaugh in 1960.