history · 17 December 1941 · 83 years ago
German submarines U-67, U-107, U-108, U-131, and U-434 shadowed Allied convoy HG-76 en route from Gibraltar to Britain. At 0925 hours, 230 miles northeast of Madeira, a Martlet aircraft from carrier HMS Audacity discovered U-131. At 1247 hours, U-131 was forced to surface. U-131 opened fire and shot down the Martlet aircraft (which was the first Allied aircraft to be shot down by an enemy submarine), but she was soon damaged by British warships. U-131 was scuttled at 1330 hours; all 47 aboard were captured.
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