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German U-Boat in Gulf of Mexico

Unfortunately, this wreck is not dive-able as it is 5,000 feet deep 25 miles off the US coastline in the Gulf of Mexico.

When Herbert G. Claudius’s family would ask him if he’d ever sunk an enemy submarine during his decades in the U.S. Navy, Claudius would say that he thought he did once. He’d seen oil and debris after a fierce battle he’d led against a German U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942.

But Claudius could never be sure that he’d sunk the sub.

The U.S. Navy certainly didn’t seem to think so. After the battle, just 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the U.S. mainland, the Navy removed Claudius from command and sent him to anti-sub-warfare school.

Read the story – 72 Years Later, Snubbed Captain Credited With Downing German U-Boat – at the National Geographic website.