An American sailor killed by a torpedo blast from a U-371 submarine aboard the USS Menges.
On the night of May 2, 1944, the German U-371 submarine was detected by escort ships of the GUS-38 convoy at the time of charging the batteries, was driven into the water, a day later (May 4 at 4:30) surfaced due to depletion of the batteries and air reserves and was sunk (49 German submariners escaped, 3 died).
During this hunt at 1:20 am, the Mengès escort ship (USS Menges DE-320) was hit by the acoustic torpedo Gnat, launched from the U-371 submarine. The torpedo explosion killed 31 people, 25 were injured; the ship lost part of the stern, but remained afloat and was towed to the repair site in one of the ports of North Africa.
In the photo, one of the dead American sailors lies in the stern area near the torpedo tubes.
Menges was later fully restored and returned to service. March 18, 1945 participated in the drowning of the U-866 submarine of the Nazi Kriegsmarine.
Location: Mediterranean Sea
Photo date: May 1944
Photo by: Arthur Green