Under the command of Korvettenkapitan Werner Czygan, the Type IXB boat U-118 left Bordeaux on 25 May 1943 to refuel U-boats in the North Atlantic. On 12 June 1943 it was caUght on the surface 520 miles south-west of the Azores by a TBF-1 Avenger flown by Lieutenant (jg) R.L. Stearns and an F4F-4 Wildcat flown by Lieutenant (jg) R.L Johnson, both of Composite Squadron VC-9 from the escort carrier USS Bogue commanded by Captain G.E. Short. Their attacks were followed by two more Avengers and two more Wildcats, until the U-boat was destroyed. Forty of the crew lost their lives, including Czygan, but fifteen were picked up to become prisoners. Ref: ADM 199/1408
