The mob proved invaluable during WWII. Nothing went on at the docs without them knowing about it.
What actually happened there is that Lucky Luciano had Albert Anastasia stage an attack on the S. S. Normandie; then he offered to "help" in return for parole. It was basically a shakedown scam akin to the mob offering "protection" to shopkeepers after smashing up their store, only in this case the shopkeeper was the US government:
Salvatore Lucania A.K.A Charlie "Lucky" Luciano
Luciano had come up with a plan to get himself out of jail and be able to help the war effort. Luciano had to find something that was front page news and had to do it quickly. Then, it finally came.
"Costello got in touch with me right away. Albert had worked this idea out with his brother, Tough Tony. Albert said that the guys from Navy Intelligence had been all over the docks talkin' to 'em about security; they was scared to death that all the stuff along the Hudson, the docks and boats and the rest, was in very great danger. It took a guy like Albert to figure out somethin' really crazy; his idea was to give the Navy a real big hunk of sabotage, somethin' so big that it would scare the sh*t out of the whole ****** Navy."
The sabotage that Albert and his brother Tony were talking about was the sinking of a ship in the West Side Manhattan port -- the French luxury liner, the SS Normandie -- a ship that was being slated to be turned into a troopship for the Allies. Luciano thought it was a great plan. It would get the attention of Naval Intelligence and wouldn't truly affect the war effort since the ship was no where ready for war. The plan was set in motion. Within twenty-four hours the SS Normandie was gutted and wrecked. Naval Intelligence was charged preventing anything like this to happen again, since it was obvious that German spies had done this. That is when the U.S. Government turned to organized crime for help and began the idea of "Operation Underworld." Naval Intelligence officers, working out of their headquarters in Manhattan, went directly to Joseph "Socks" Lanza, the czar of the Fulton Fish Market, for help along the docks. But, the illustrious Joe "Zox" could only help the Naval officers so much. There were some areas that were blocked to him, especially by Tough Tony. Luciano personally setup this blockade, forcing the Naval officers to come to him for help. Luciano agreed, but only if it meant that it would reduce his sentence. That's when Naval officials sought out the D.A.'s office for this favor. Since it was a matter of national security, there could be no way that the D.A.'s office could refuse, even if Dewey was still the D.A. But Luciano wanted too much -- to be paroled and set free for the obvious reason of picking up the reins of control to organized crime. Dewey agreed to parole, but only after Luciano agreed to be deported to Italy.
Actually they set the fire and made it look like Nazi sabatouers. I think some navy guys died too.