U-664

The Type VIIC boat U-664 left Brest on 21 June 1943 for a fifth war cruise, under the command of Kapitanleutnant Adolf Graef. On 8 August it was at a rendezvous west of the Azores with the Type VIIC boats U-760 and U-262 when it was attacked by a F4F-4 Wildcat and TBF-1 Avenger from the Composite Squadron onboard the escort carrier USS Card, commanded by Captain A.J. Isbell. The combined fire from U-664 and U-262 brought down both aircraft and the U-boats escaped immediate damage. U-664 mets its end later on 9 August 1943 when attacked by three more aircraft from the escort carrier Card. This took place in clear weather under broken cloud. The first was a TBF-1 Avenger, flown by Lieutenant (jg) G.G.Hogan, which dropped two 500 lb depth bombs with contact fuses in two separate attacks. Between these attacks Lieutenant N.D. Hodson in his F4F-4 Wildcat raked the U-boat with gunfire. Then Lieutenant (jg) J.C.Forney dropped another depth bomb from his TBF-1 Avenger. He refrained from dropping the other when he saw the crew abandoning the U-boat. Eight of the crew were killed but forty-four were picked up and taken prisoner by one of the destroyer escorts. Kapitanleutnant Graef was one of the survivors. The Swordfish emblem on the conning tower of the U-boat was that of the 9th Flotilla at Brest. Ref: ADM 199/1408