German submarine U - 134 ( 1941 ) German submarine " U - 134 " was a Type VIIC U - boat of the Nazi German " Kriegsmarine " during World War II . She was laid down on 6 September 1940 by Bremer Vulkan in Bremen - Vegesack as ' werk ' 13 and commissioned on 26 July 1941 . In seven patrols , " U - 134 " sank three ships for a total of . Service history . Patrols off Norway . On her first patrol off the northern coast of Norway , on 9 December 1941 , " U - 134 " , under the command of " Kapitänleutnant " Rudolf Schendel , attacked a four - ship convoy and sank the 2 , 185 - ton German merchant ship . Schendel was later notified by BdU ( U - boat Headquarters ) that he had attacked a German convoy . An OKM ( Naval High Command ) investigation blamed " U - 134 " s commander for the incident , but also noted that he had not been informed of the positions of the German ships in the area . On her second patrol off the coast of Norway , on 2 January 1942 , " U - 134 " sank the British cargo ship " Waziristan " of Convoy PQ 7 a , carrying 3 , 700 tons of military supplies , including 410 Ford trucks , for Russia from New York . Transfer to France . " U - 134 " had no success during her next three patrols , before being transferred from the base at Kirkenes , Norway , to La Pallice , France , in mid - 1942 . Her next patrol , the sixth , in June – September 1942 took her to the Gulf coast of the United States , but she made no attacks . SS " Scapa Flow " . On her seventh patrol to the central Atlantic , on 14 November 1942 , " U - 134 " sank the 4 , 827 - ton Panaman steamship that carried manganese ore , latex and baled rubber . At 4 : 58 pm the steamer , under the Master , Samuel Newbold Mace , was hit on the portside under the bridge and at the third hatch by two torpedoes and sank in one minute at position in the Atlantic Ocean . She had been located at 11 : 37 am on a route where attacks were prohibited . The U - boat first obtained permission to attack . 23 survivors escaped in a damaged lifeboat , having two rafts and a tin of bandages . The master and chief engineer of the steamer had drowned . The 47 crew members and 13 United States Navy armed guards on board had no time to launch the four needed lifeboats . Only a metal boat , acquired from the SS " John Carter Rose " and four rafts floated . 25 crew members and six armed guards were lost . The survivors transferred the next morning into the boat with the supplies , but one armed guard died . The remainder were rescued on 1 December by . For her eighth patrol command of " U - 134 " passed to " Oberleutnant " Hans - Günther Brosin , but during 58 days in the North Atlantic , from 6 March to 2 May 1943 , she made no attacks . Blimp " K - 74 " . On 10 June 1943 " U - 134 " sailed once more to the Florida coast on her ninth and final patrol , where the American , Goodyear - built ZPK - class " K - 74 " became the only blimp ( airship ) to be shot down in the war . " K - 74 " , launched from Richmond , Florida , detected " U - 134 " on RADAR in the Straits of Florida at 23 : 40 on 18 July 1943 . United States Navy doctrine required blimps to stay out of range of surfaced submarines and guide aircraft or ships to attack . Blimp pilot Lieutenant Nelson C . Grills USNR disregarded this doctrine in an attempt to prevent " U - 134 " from reaching a tanker and freighter ahead of the submarine . " K - 74 " was hit by " U - 134 " s 20mm cannon fire during its 55 - knot approach . " K - 74 " returned 100 rounds of . 50 caliber ( 12 . 7 mm ) fire before the machine gun was unable to depress sufficiently as the blimp passed over " U - 134 " on its bombing run . " K - 74 " s two Mark XVII depth charge s failed to release as the blimp passed over " U - 134 " , lost control , and slowly fell tail - first into the sea . None of the ten - man crew was injured , and all moved away from " K - 74 " to avoid anticipated depth charge detonations when it sank . " K - 74 " remained afloat for eight hours , however , and " U - 134 " pulled part of the wreckage aboard for photographs and evaluation . All but one of " K - 74 " s crew were rescued the following day by the submarine chaser and the destroyer . Aviation Machinist ' s Mate second class Isadore Stressel drowned minutes before rescue , and became the only United States Navy airshipman to die as a result of enemy action . Sunk off Cape Finisterre . " U - 134 " was sunk on 24 August 1943 near Vigo , Spain at by six depth charge s from a British Vickers Wellington aircraft of No . 179 Squadron RAF . All 48 men on board died . " U - 134 " had passed the images of " K - 74 " to another U - boat prior to being sunk . The United States Navy was unaware " K - 74 " had been boarded until the photographs were discovered in 1958 .