From the brilliant World War II Day-By-Day Blog
Near Pico Island in the Azores, British destroyer HMS Westcott (escorting troopship Llangibby Castle to Gibraltar) sinks U-581 with depth charges (3 killed, 37 taken POW by HMS Westcott). Leutnant zur see Walter Sitek swims 6 km to shore and returns to Germany through neutral Spain. He will go on to command 3 U-boats (U-17, U-981 and U-3005) and survive the war.