By now everyone has heard that U-166, the only German U-boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, has been definitely located. Why has it taken so long to find this boat when the location of her sinking by the US Coast Guard aircraft crewed by White and Boggs, was so clearly indicated? The exact location was known and the water was only 60 feet deep - where was the wreck of U-166? Here is the official L'S Coast Guard report on the sinking:

From Commanding Officer. Coast Guard Air Station, Biloxi
Commander . Gulf Sea Frontier Subject Action Reports.

Reference (a) The Commander in Chief, United States Fleet letter dated 7 March 1942 (FF1/A16-3 Serial: 0332 Confidential)

Enclosure: (A) Original and one copy of Action Report form "U. S. Aircraft Action with Enemy", dated 31 July, 1942. (B) Original and one copy of Action Report form. "U. S. Aircraft Action with Enemy", dated 1 August, 1942.

1. Enclosures (A) and (B) are forwarded herewith.

2. The pilots of the airplanes engaged in the action referred to in enclosures (A) and (B) have been interrogated and the actions have been analyzed and studied, and the errors made have been pointed out.

3. Regarding the action on July 31, 1942, enclosure (A), it is believed that the pilot was apprehensive of anti-aircraft fire from the submarine, and that in judging the point of release of the bomb he failed to consider the difference in the sighting and dropping angle at 500 feet as compared to the lower altitudes of 100 and 200 feet. Also it is believed he relied too much on the pointing of the plane's nose on the target when he was merely in a gliding attack (35°) and not in a dive bombing attack.

4. The attack on 1 August, 1942, enclosure (B), appears to have been good in all respects and the pilot is confident that the bomb explosion was very close to the submarine.

EDITOR NOTE - this is the attack by Henry C. White that actually sank U-166. . . .. or so it appeared.

5. An analysis of these actions has been disseminated to all pilots and instruction has been given and additional bombing practice is being carried out under different and varying conditions including the conditions encountered in the two actions referred to above, enclosures (A) and (B).

Here is the report of the actual attack and sinking on 1 August 1942, as told by US Coast Guard pilot Henry C. White: STATEMENT OF PILOT (Henry C. White): "While patrolling an assigned area on a course of 065° from a buoy marking a sunken United Fruit ship, a submarine was sighted on the starboard bow at 1337 Roger, Lat 28.37'N, Long. 90.45'W, on surface not underway but pointed 270° True It was thought that by circling and making the attack from the stern would be most effective, however, while circling the submarine began to submerge The attack was started immediately from abeam at altitude 1500 feet and a distance of one-half ('h) mile on course 180°. As submarine was going under fast, heading 270°, I went into a dive of about 45 to 55 degrees and the bomb was released from an altitude of 250 feet

EDITOR NOTE - White reported that the submarine was visible during the entire approach

The submarine was visible during the entire approach - being just under the water but still clearly visible when the bomb was released. My radioman was sitting to the right of me; when the bomb was released he put his head out of the window and followed the bomb down and saw it strike the water alongside or within ten (10) feet of the starboard side of the submarine and then explode. The explosion appeared to be a direct hit. I pulled out of the dive and came around. No debris was seen to rise, however, there was a small oil slick of about 10 to 15 feet in diameter which increased to 50 feet in diameter.

EDITOR NOTE - White reports that his radioman also watched the depth charge strike the water alongside the submarine and explode within ten feet of the boat.

This oil was of a brown rusty color except that the oil on the western side of the slick was darker brown with a few streaks of light oil. At about 100 to 200 feet to the west of this oil slick there were a number (10 to 15) scattered patches of light oil. Outside of these oil patches there was no sign of any moving oil or bubbles coming up.

Since both White and Boggs in the US Coast Guard aircraft had visual contact, without any doubt, and they knew where they had attacked U-166, how did this big Type IX-C boat remain hidden from all the searchers for nearly seven decades? The answer may surprise you.

Using the location of the sinking on 1 August 1942 by the US Coast Guard aircraft flown by White and Boggs, U-166 was sunk to the WEST of the Mississippi passes, or delta. But the boat was recently discovered by two major oil companies to the EAST of the Mississippi passes. How could there be such a huge error in the location of the wreck, especially since White and Boggs had such outstanding visual contact on the submarine not only during the attack, but for some time before the attack?

It turns out that U-166 lies very near her last victim, the steamer ROBERT E LEE which she sank on 30 July 1942 to the east of the Mississippi passes. As soon as the torpedo hit ROBERT E LEE, her escort, PC-566, ran down the torpedo track and quickly dropped her six depth charges where she thought U-166 would be, but had to return to the sinking steamer to rescue survivors.

With the new information provided by the oil companies, it is obvious that PC-566 was successful with her counter attack and sank U-166, even though they were not able to remain over the submarine long enough to establish whether they hit her or not They certainly did, and U-166 was sunk not to the west of the Mississippi passes as US Coast Guard airmen White and Boggs claim, but to the east of the passes. Further, U-166 was sunk a full two days BEFORE White and Boggs made their attack, during which they clearly and definitely saw the submarine.

Obviously, they did not see any submarine since U-166 was the only U-boat in the area and she had been sunk two days earlier a very long way from their attack They were so certain that they had seen a submarine and for a prolonged period of time that it is probably safe to rule out a mistaken attack on a whale. This was not unheard of, but the pilots in those cases were never certain that they were attacking a submarine. In those cases, they thought there was a sub, but White and Boggs stated that they were absolutely certain that they were attacking a submarine, so it is highly unlikely it was a mistaken whale or anything else.

So if they `were certain' that they were attacking a submarine and yet there was no submarine since it had been sunk two days earlier and in a totally different area, and this was probably no case of a mistaken target, what really happened? Could it be that their eyes were really that bad? Doubtful, as they would not have been flying with bad eyesight. Did they see something that they thought was a submarine? Doubtful, as their reports were not at all ambiguous but they were absolutely certain that they had located, stalked and attacked a submarine. Is it possible that they totally invented this attack and sinking for their own personal glory? Are there any other theories that could possibly apply? Let's hear them.

We at SHARKHUNTERS are quite pleased at the coverage by the major press in the world. This was covered as a news item without the usual propaganda and we read nothing that U-166 was a `Nazi submarine as the press had almost always done in the past. They called it a German submarine, which is correct, and they went further and said that it is a war grave and must not be disturbed We applaud the world press for finally getting it correct - they were German submarines and the guys inside them were Germans.

One item in these reports leaves another mystery, although not a very big one. All the reports have stated that the wreck of U-166 lies in about 5,000 feet of water. Nope -- sorry, not in the Gulf of Mexico, not even close! We think it is perhaps a deliberate move to dissuade divers from going down on the wreck but just a quick look at the charts in that area indicates water depths easily in the range of sport divers and also the films sent back from the ROV (remote observation vessel) is far too clear and well-lighted to be in deep water at all. We just hope that divers do indeed respect this as a war grave and do not disturb these men still sleeping in their iron coffin.

Thanks to all the Members who called, FAXed and e-mailed with this information. One Member, who probably does not want to be identified, is attempting to obtain a full-length copy of that video tape from the oil companies and if he is successful, we will report it here in our KTB Magazine.