Although the PBY crew reported the sub as damaged because they did not see it sink, postwar research confirmed that U-194 was destroyed that day in the North Atlantic. This technology was a revolutionary development in aircraft based ASW. 2458 carried a new and secret weapon – – a “FIDO” acoustic homing torpedo. What was unknown to the sub crew at the time was that PBY Bu. The Captain of U-194, realizing that the PBY would not give up, attempted to disengage from the Catalina by diving. After depth charging the sub on the surface, and exchanging gunfire, the combatants fought to a standstill. Joseph Beach on June 24, 1943, it proved it still had the heart of a hunter, spotting U-194 on the surface south of Iceland. Rebuilt at a depot, it reentered the fleet assigned to VP-84, in Reykjavic, coded as 84-P-7. 2458 is listed as being wrecked on June 20 by friendly fire from a nervous convoy and subsequently destroyed on landing. Hazardous sea conditions, and even friendly fire, were deadly to the Catalinas. 2459 was the only one of those first 5 PBYs built that flew until the end of the war. Only half of VP-73’s allocated PBY aircraft survived their first deployment. This attack brought VP-73’s score to two sunk, both by Bu. The U-Boat, one of 16 deployed against the convoy, went down with all hands. They sunk this sub as it was organizing a wolfpack attack. The plane’s crew, headed by Chief Aviation Pilot M. 2459 was flying the last P-73 convoy mission of its deployment, protecting HX-209. 2459 the one to have! But it brought additional good fortune to the Navy. Hopgood sent an “in the clear” radio message that would become iconic in the USN’s patrol community: “Sunk sub, open club!” After seeing the sub’s crew rescued by a fishing boat, and an oil slick from the sunken vessel, Lt. RB Hopgood’s crew in 2459 discovered and sunk U-464. The ASW detachment in Iceland had been attempting to sink a U-Boat for some time, and the commander of the base, believing that too many late nights at the “O Club” were responsible for the lack of success, had closed the club. Assigned to VP-73 as aircraft number 9, it was the first PBY to sink a U-Boat. It was pressed into action immediately upon arrival. 2459 was the fourth amphibious PBY built for the United States Navy. Accepted by the Navy on December 22, 1941, Bu. Due to extremely hazardous sea conditions off Iceland, its group was sent to VP-73 as soon as they rolled off the assembly lines. 2459 was one of the first five PBY-5A amphibians built. On the production line during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bu. It is the USN’s highest scoring U-Boat distroyer aircraft in history and the oldest operational PBY Catalina, having been flown continuously since its construction. 2459, accounted for three destroyed U-Boats and one damaged that never sailed again. PBY type aircraft destroyed 38 German U-Boats during the war. It began to protect convoys before the advent of aircraft carriers and the evolution of surface ship technology were able to assist them. The PBY Catalina was capable of excellent endurance (15-20 hours) over the hostile North Atlantic. The Allies first triumph in the Battle for the Atlantic was modifying the prewar PBY Catalina patrol plane into the ASW, for Anti-Submarine Warfare. The British Isles were being starved by the actions of the U-Boats. That the Island Nation was under siege was not new, but the effectiveness of the Kriegsmarine’s U-Boat campaign was very clear. The Battle of the Atlantic was the only part of the Second World War that truly worried Winston Churchill.
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