[Chris Goss]

The first loss of an aircraft credited to a U-boat occurred on the afternoon of 17 December 1941. U-131 was a type IXC U-boat and commanded by Korvettenkapitän Arend Baumann. She was part of the Wolfpack named Seeräuber which consisted of eight U-boats all of which set sail between 14 and 21 December 1941 with the primary intention of attacking the north-bound convoy HG76. The Wolfpack's first sinking was credited to U-108 on 14 December 1941 and was the neutral Portuguese merchant vessel Cassequel (not part of the convoy) 160 miles south-west of Cape St Vincent. HG76 would then go on to lose two ships to U-boats on 19 December but at the cost of four U-boats, one of these being U-131.
On the morning of 17 December 1941, U-131 was spotted by a Grumman Martlet of 802 Sqn flying from HMS Audacity 22 miles off the port side of the convoy and five warships were immediately sent to intercept. Now submerged, the submarine was damaged by depth charges which forced her to surface and shortly afterwards was strafed by a Martlet of 802 Sqn flown by Sub-Lt George Fletcher. The U-boat's primary defensive armament was a 37mm and a 20mm gun which succeeded in shooting down the fighter which crashed killing the pilot. Shortly afterwards, the U-boat, which was now trying to flee on the surface, was further damaged by shellfire and at 1330hrs, she was scuttled and all 47 crew were captured.