[AndyW]

I have read that "Operation Drumbeat" (the attack of German u-boats on the U.S. coast early 1942) was also so successfull because the Hotel and bar owners on the Florida coast refused to black-out, because they were concerned that this will harm the tourist business. As a result, the german u-boats found ships perfectely illumiated from the nearby coast.

After the german u-boats had sunk a few tankers thanks to that, the hotel and bar owners around the Florida coast had a different problem, as the beaches were now full of oil, wreckage and here and then bodies of dead sailors. That was the time they agreed that a black-out would have been the lesser problem for thier business.

Cheers,
AndyW