Hi Stiggy

I already did some research about the aircraft lost on A/S patrols in the Western Mediterranean on 27 Dec, 1942. We know that three Hudson aircraft were lost on that day:

Aircraft: Hudson Mk. V AM638 (500 Sqn RAF/M)
Crew: P/O Pugh, Sgt Broomfield, Sgt Wilkins, Sgt Emberson (all survived)
Op: A/S patrol, took off from Bilda at 06:04 and was ditched at 08:15 after being hit by AA fire while attacking U-73 in 37°20N/01°05E

Aircraft: Hudson Mk.IIIA FH426 (233 Sqn RAF) ex USAAC A-29A-LO (41-37227)
Crew: Sgt Greaves, Sgt Brown, Sgt Griffin, Sgt Evans (all KIA)
Op: A/S patrol, took off from Gibraltar North Front at 07:45 and went missing. Supposedly sent a radio message that they were about to attack a surfaced submarine.
The wreck of a Hudson was located July 1990 by two Spanish fishing trawlers from Santa Pola in position 37°48’08N/00°05’03W. It was subsequently recovered and identified as the FH426 from the US serial number and the old style USAAC markings still visible on the wings. A further evidence was the “TR” marking of its fuselage, the code of 59 Sqn RAF to which FH426 belonged before being assigned to 233 Sqn.

Aircraft: Hudson Mk.V AM689 (500 Sqn RAF/W)
Crew: F/Lt Varian, Sgt Walker, Sgt Southcott, Sgt McKendrick (all KIA)
Op: Mascara No. 1, took off from Bilda at 09:00 and went missing.

U-73 reported two air attacks about 40 nautical miles north-northwest of Ténès during the morning of 27 December 1942. The first was at 07:15 and the attacker identified as Beaufort, which was hit by AA fire while approaching from astern without strafing the U-boat, veered off and was last seen flying towards the coast after it jettisoned its bombs. The second was at 08:17 in roughly the same position; the Hudson was hit by AA fire during the initial strafing run and dropped four bombs that only caused light damage. Aircraft was last seen heading for the African coast. U-371 and U-565 were the only other German submarines in the area and they did not report an air attack on 27 December. Another Hudson was claimed by a German reconnaissance aircraft of 1.(F)/122 south of Cartagena at 10.45 hours on 27 Dec, 1942. This unit was using Ju88D aircraft to fly convoy recce in the Western Mediterranean from Sardinia.

Now my theory is that the AA gunners of U-73 actually downed two Hudson aircraft on 27 Dec, 1942. The second attack was undoubtedly carried out by Hudson “M” of 500 Sqn, but who carried out the first? I searched the Admiralty war diaries of Gibraltar and Torch and the proceedings of the A/S assessment committee for any other reports of air attacks on U-boats on that day and only found references to the attack carried out by P/O Pugh. To my knowledge no Beauforts operated in the area in December 1942 so the Germans apparently misidentified the type of the aircraft. This means that the first attack on U-73 was most likely carried out by one of the missing Hudsons and because it happened before the Hudson “W” of 500 Sqn even took off, the only possible candidate is Hudson FH426, which was apparently damaged by AA fire and subsequently ditched east-southeast of Cartagena. Hudson “W” was probably downed in the air combat mentioned above.

But to be certain we should try to answer some questions:
Did FH426 really send a last radio message about an imminent attack on a submarine and if yes, when was it sent?
Where was the A/S patrol area of “Mascara No.1”?
Were Italian submarines operating in the Western Mediterranean and did they report any encounters with Hudson aircraft on 27 Dec, 1942?

Best regards
Rainer

Crew member of uboat.net