B-24 downed by U-Boat

[Ztex]

I was looking through Joe Baugher's serial number site and came across this entry...

32064 (ex USAAF B-24D 42-40568, VB-107) shot down by U-185 during anti sup sweep out of
Natal, Brazil Aug 11, 1943. 9 MIA.

It never ceases to amaze me how many stories there are in WWII that have never come across my path before.

Looking on line, I find a narrative of U-185 that tells of an epic struggle on the high seas between submarines and aircraft.

Dang...makes me feel inadequate.


http://www.uboat.net/articles/39.html

http://www.uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_4070.html

[ffuries]

It's just amazing what all the U-Boats did!

http://uboat.net/history/aircraft_losses.htm

Mike

[ACarey]

I actually wrote about it in one of my books. I talked to the widow and son of the pilot Bertram J. Prueher. His son became an admiral and later an ambassador.

[JohnB]

The RAF lost several aircraft to U Boats as well.

[TOM WALSH]

One of those Coastal Command aircraft shot down, was a Mk. V Liberator, BZ942 of "M" Flight belonging to No. 224 Squadron based at St. Eval, Cornwall. The aircraft, with a cosmopolitan crew of 11, under the Command of RCAF Flying Officer Ethan Allen II, DFC, took off late on Tuesday, June 6th, 1944, on an antisubmarine patrol over the English Channel. Allen was an American volunteer from Los Angeles. He and his entire crew were killed early on the morning of June 7th, when their aircraft was shot out of the sky by U-256 off the coast of Normandy, France. When the RCAF notified Allen's young wife that her husband was "Missing in Action", the telegram went to the couples address at 215 South Normandie Avenue in L.A.

This is one of the 35 articles in my forthcoming book "REMEMBERING THE CANADIAN YANKS".

Cheers,

Tom Walsh.

[fahnach]

Wolfpack operations
U-185 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Westwall (8 Nov 1942 - 16 Dec 1942)
Attacks on this boat:10 Mar 1943
Attacking convoy KG 123 in the Caribbean (sinking 2 ships) the boat was counter-attacked and forced to abort its second attack. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 219)
14 Jun 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down: British Whitley (10 OTU RAF/G)
U-564 was sunk in this attack. The damaged aircraft had to ditch at sea.
3 Aug 1943
While looking for the U-604 to attack her again a Ventura aircraft (Sqdn VB-107, pilot Prueher) instead found the U-185 and attacked her with depth charges and wounding one man. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 371)
11 Aug 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down: An American B-24 Liberator (Sqdn VB-107). Shot down while alongside the wounded U-604.
4 recorded attacks on this boat.
General notes on this boat:We have a detailed article on the sinking of U-185 with scores of action photos.
12 Jul 1943. On 12 July 1943 some 90 miles off Recife Brazil the boat was attacked by an American B-24 Liberator bomber (VB-107/B-7). The boat was not damaged much and reported the attack by radio, although the bomber crew believed the boat to have sustained serious blows.
Men lost from U-boats:Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-185 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

[Richard Woods]

A Liberator shot down by a U-boat, but got the U-boat with depth charges just before crashing. Here's about the pilot, who got a Victoria Cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Allan_Trigg

[CoastieJohn]

It never ceases to amaze me how many stories there are in WWII that have never come across my path before.

Funny you say that. I was working on a C-54 question last night and came across this tidbit. First time I ever heard about it. Probably lots of untold stories and mysteries out there waiting to be researched and solved. Seen the below on Wiki.

Disappearance (1950)Main article: 1950 Douglas C-54D-1-DC disappearance
On 26 January 1950, a C-54D operated by the United States Marine Corps disappeared during a flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (Alaska) and Great Falls-Malmstrom Air Force Base (Montana) with a crew of 8 and 36 passengers (34 service personnel and 2 civilians).[5][6] No trace of the aircraft or its occupants has ever been found.

[JDK]

The U Boat war was of critical interest to the UK, less so to the US, perhaps, as survival hinged on it for the former. RAAF 10 and later 461 Squadrons flew Sunderlands for Coastal Command, as did many other nations, such as other Commonwealth and many occupied county's airmen, protecting Britain and democracy.

A taster from a book blurb:

In the middle of the Bay of Biscay, shortly after midnight, we spotted firing on the water in the distance. A little later, the radar operator announced that he could see five blips on his radar screen. We pressed on not knowing what to expect to expect. I, somewhat bravely, said to Jarda Friedl, “Let’s go and add a little oil to the fire!” When we had approached to a distance of about ten miles, I gave the wireless operator our exact position.

He then put it in code and sent it back to base in case of an emergency, such as to report the presence of the enemy craft or if we were shot down. I darkened my cabin, prepared my bombsight, switched the depth charges to “ready” and directed the pilot towards the target. But the night was too dark. I lay on the bombsight and when we were quite close, perhaps half a mile away and still descending, I asked the mechanic to drop a flare through the flare chute. The flare was usually attached to a small parachute and normally started to burn immediately on leaving the plane to brightly light up the entire scene.

We were at a height of approximately five hundred feet, still in descent and apparently directly over our target, when the flare illuminated the space below us. To our horror, we saw that we were above four German destroyers accompanying a submarine that was protected in their middle. The convoy opened up at us with all its armoury. It was hell, with tracers flying everywhere and exploding shrapnel drumming on the metal body of the Liberator.

http://fcafa.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/l ... lav-novak/