Aug. 24, 1943 aircraft from the USS Core CVE-13 attacked and sank the U-185, but this is just part of the
story. It actually begins on July 30, 1943 when U.S. Navy Ventura aircraft attacked the U-604 and damaged
the boat beyond repair. One motor was out of commission and there were several tanks punctured, along
with that the starboard hydroplane was jammed. The boat could not return and her commanding officer
Kapitänleutnant Horst Höltring knew it, he contacted C-in-C U-boats and told them of his grave situation, they
ordered a rescue.

U-185 arrived Aug. 11 and shortly after this U-172 arrived on the scene. While transferring men and supplies
from the U-604 a B-24 Liberator located the three boats and attacked. The U-172 made a fast escape leaving
the other two boats to fight off the attack. The bomber made two passes dropping several bombs and strafing
the submarines, but she soon crashed into the sea, shot down by the U-185.

The U-172 did not return so U-185 took the entire crew of the U-604 on board, then the U-604, rigged with
charges, was blown up and sank. A few days later a rendezvous between U-185 and U-172 was arranged so
some of the crew could be transferred off the 185. The meeting between captains was contentious since the
men of the U-185 and U-604 felt the U-172 had deserted them in a cowardly fashion when the B-24 attacked,
worse than that they did not return to help after the attack. Nevertheless 23 men were taken off by the U-172.

Fate would deal a harsh blow to the unlucky men of U-604 who remained on the U-185, it would take place
on Aug. 11, 1943 when an Avenger and a Wildcat from the USS Core CV-13 located the boat on the surface
in broad daylight. The F4F-4 Wildcat, piloted by Lt. (jg) M.G. O'Neil made the first run, strafing the boat and
wounding most of the men on the conning tower, followed by a TBM-1 Avenger flown by Lt. R.P. Williams
dropped two Mk-47 depth charges, one exploding under the stern and one hit the deck gun. The boat was
finished, her pressure hull breached and her batteries damaged and leaking chlorine gas the captain
Kapitänleutnant August Maus ordered the men to abandon the boat.

Kapitänleutnant Horst Höltring of the U-604 was not among those who survived, but it was not the depth
charges or gunfire that killed him, it was his own pistol. He was seen in the bow section just before the boat
was abandoned with a wounded member of his crew. The man had an injured leg and could not walk, he was
also breathing in the chlorine gas and was said to have asked Höltring to shoot him. Survivors stated that
Höltring shot the crewman and then himself.

The USS Barker DD-213 picked up the thirty-six survivors a few hours later and transferred them to the
Core, but four of these men died from the effects of the chlorine gas, only nine of the men rescued were from
the U-604.