came under attack from 12 U-boats. Martlets from Audacity shot down two Condors; was attacked on 17 December. U-131 shot down a Martlet, but was unable to dive after the attack, and was scuttled by her crew, who were taken prisoner. As Audacity left the convoy on the night of 21 December, one of the merchantmen fired a "snowflake" flare which revealed her in silhouette to the German U-boats. The submarines had been given specific orders to sink her as she had caused a lot of trouble for the Germans both at sea and in the air. The first torpedo fired by under Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk hit her in the engine room and she began to settle by the stern. The next two torpedoes caused an explosion of the aviation fuel blowing off her bow. Audacity sank some west of Cape Finisterre at . She sank in 70 minutes. 73 of her crew were killed. Her survivors were picked up by the corvettes , and , one of the survivors being pilot Eric Brown. The German commander had confused her with a , the sinking of which was announced by Nazi propaganda sources. Audacity had been operating outside the convoy, a procedure that was later prohibited by the Admiralty as too risky. Official number and code letters Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. Sinbad and Empire Audacity had the UK Official Number 156145. Hannover used the Code Letters DOBV. Empire Audacity used the Code Letters GLXZ. Model A model of HMS Audacity is displayed in the Merseyside Maritime Museum. See also Merchant aircraft carrier – other British conversions of cargo ships to escort aircraft carriers Notes References The Encyclopedia of Warships, From World War II to the Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson, San Diego, CA. Thunder Bay Press, 2006. . Hewson, Robert The World War II Warships Guide, 2000 World War II merchant ships of Germany Ships built in Bremen (state) 1939 ships Ships of the Cunard Line Ministry of War Transport ships Escort carriers of the Royal Navy World War II aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in December 1941