I have been going through some of my father-in-law's old military files from World War II. In these files he reports that as an Army air Corps pilot he dived bombed a submarine on May 25th 1942 at approximately 1508 hrs. He said that this attack occurred at 28° 41 minutes North / 89° 22 minutes West. This would put the location somewhere near New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The submarine was moving northwest, apparently trying to intercept and attack of freighter which was nearing the entrance to the South West pass. The attack on the submarine began when the bombardier dropped one depth bomb from a 50 foot altitude about 100 feet in front of the periscope. The pilot then made a 360° turn and two or more bombs were released, one on each side of and not more than 20 feet from the periscope, which was still showing. The last bomb was dropped on the third attack and hit the center of a massive oil and air bubbles rising between two of the explosions. The periscope disappeared. Divebombing was employed. The evidence resulting from the attack convinces the pilot and crew at the submarine was either severely crippled or permanently sunk. Two small Navy boats hurried to the scene of the attack and when they reach the area the attack aircraft left for home."

Could this have been involved in the patrol path of any of the U-boats? My understanding is that both U-166 and the U-171 were in this area. Please let me know if you have any information regarding this incident. Thank you, John Kane