General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
Posted by:
Rainer
()
Date: February 13, 2012 06:42PM
Hi Stiggy
More pieces for the puzzle:
No Italian submarines operated in the Western Mediterranean on 27 Dec, 1942. Of the three German U-boats in the area, only U-73 reported air attacks on that day and both attackers are known (Wellington LA971 and Hudson AM638). So it is unlikely that any Axis submarine was involved in the loss of Hudson FH426 or Hudson AM689.
The naval war diary for operation "Torch" states for 27 Dec, 1942: [my notes in box brackets]
A/S Operations: One of eight Hudsons on A/S sweeps failed to return. [Hudson 500/W] Another Hudson on a U-boat hunt also failed to return but all the crew were rescued. [Hudson 500/M] The crew of four were located in a dinghy in position 37°18N/01°00E by a Hudson searching for them at 1200. [Hudson 500/U, pilot FLt Barwood] Two of the crew [Wilkins and who?] were picked up by a Walrus at 1500 [Walrus 700/X9561, pilot SubLt Fuller] and later a second Walrus rescued the remaining two. [ID of this aircraft and the two men rescued?] This Hudson was shot down by the U-boat [U-73] which had a gun fore and aft of the conning tower and a machine gun in the conning tower and opened an intensive and accurate fire when aircraft approached. The aircraft was hit in the starboard engine and wing and cannon shell exploded in the cockpit. The aircraft dropped four depth charges straddling the U-boat and in the crew's estimation within lethal range. U-boat gunners were still firing when U-boat submerged. The aircraft became unmanageable and ditched at 0815. Position of U-boat when sighted was 37°20N/01°05E.
Another Walrus sent to the position of the dinghy is also overdue. [ID of this aircraft?] An S.O.S. was received from a Wellington operating from Gibraltar [Wellington 179/T] and BUTE [www.uboat.net] from Oran was ordered to proceed to position 37°32N/00°51E where dinghy with two men in it was reported with aircraft circling above.
The other dinghy mentioned in the last paragraph possibly came from one of the missing Hudsons as it wasn’t from Hudson 500/M and Wellington 179/T made it safely to Tarafanoui. Later entries in the naval war diary mentions that BUTE returned after an unsuccessful search and that Hudsons continued to search for the dinghy until 30 December, but also without success. Sgt. Evans from FH426 is buried in Minturno near Naples, very far from where the wreck of his Hudson was located – maybe he was in the missing dinghy drifting towards Italy with the current...
Best regards
Rainer
Crew member of uboat.net
More pieces for the puzzle:
No Italian submarines operated in the Western Mediterranean on 27 Dec, 1942. Of the three German U-boats in the area, only U-73 reported air attacks on that day and both attackers are known (Wellington LA971 and Hudson AM638). So it is unlikely that any Axis submarine was involved in the loss of Hudson FH426 or Hudson AM689.
The naval war diary for operation "Torch" states for 27 Dec, 1942: [my notes in box brackets]
A/S Operations: One of eight Hudsons on A/S sweeps failed to return. [Hudson 500/W] Another Hudson on a U-boat hunt also failed to return but all the crew were rescued. [Hudson 500/M] The crew of four were located in a dinghy in position 37°18N/01°00E by a Hudson searching for them at 1200. [Hudson 500/U, pilot FLt Barwood] Two of the crew [Wilkins and who?] were picked up by a Walrus at 1500 [Walrus 700/X9561, pilot SubLt Fuller] and later a second Walrus rescued the remaining two. [ID of this aircraft and the two men rescued?] This Hudson was shot down by the U-boat [U-73] which had a gun fore and aft of the conning tower and a machine gun in the conning tower and opened an intensive and accurate fire when aircraft approached. The aircraft was hit in the starboard engine and wing and cannon shell exploded in the cockpit. The aircraft dropped four depth charges straddling the U-boat and in the crew's estimation within lethal range. U-boat gunners were still firing when U-boat submerged. The aircraft became unmanageable and ditched at 0815. Position of U-boat when sighted was 37°20N/01°05E.
Another Walrus sent to the position of the dinghy is also overdue. [ID of this aircraft?] An S.O.S. was received from a Wellington operating from Gibraltar [Wellington 179/T] and BUTE [www.uboat.net] from Oran was ordered to proceed to position 37°32N/00°51E where dinghy with two men in it was reported with aircraft circling above.
The other dinghy mentioned in the last paragraph possibly came from one of the missing Hudsons as it wasn’t from Hudson 500/M and Wellington 179/T made it safely to Tarafanoui. Later entries in the naval war diary mentions that BUTE returned after an unsuccessful search and that Hudsons continued to search for the dinghy until 30 December, but also without success. Sgt. Evans from FH426 is buried in Minturno near Naples, very far from where the wreck of his Hudson was located – maybe he was in the missing dinghy drifting towards Italy with the current...
Best regards
Rainer
Crew member of uboat.net
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
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500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
|
stiggy128 | 02/07/2012 07:15PM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
|
Rainer | 02/09/2012 10:22PM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
|
stiggy128 | 02/10/2012 05:57AM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
|
Rainer | 02/10/2012 07:11PM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
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stiggy128 | 02/11/2012 06:39AM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
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Rainer | 02/11/2012 11:30AM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
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stiggy128 | 02/12/2012 06:13AM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
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Rainer | 02/13/2012 06:42PM |
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Re: 500 Squadron Hudson shot down by U-73 27/12/1942
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stiggy128 | 02/14/2012 07:02PM |
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Re: Hudson shot down 27/12/1942
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Loveday Densham | 06/14/2012 08:47AM |