Initial credit for the sinking of '' U-166 '' had been given to a Grumman G-44 Widgeon , but the position of the wreck made it clear that this should have gone to the submarine chaser '' PC-566 '' . On 16 December 2014 , the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus posthumously awarded the captain of '' PC-566 '' , then-LCDR Herbert G. Claudius , USNR ( later CDR , then CAPT USN ) , the Legion of Merit with a Combat " V " device for heroism in battle and credited him with the sinking of the U-boat . " Seventy years later , we now know that Claudius 's report after the action was absolutely correct , " he said . " Claudius 's ship did sink that U-boat , and it 's never too late to set the record straight . " Results of a study released in February 2019 show that the wreck of '' U-166 '' is being badly damaged because of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill . Seabed bacteria , feeding on the oil , are causing the damage
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
German submarine U-166 (1941)