At 21.00 hours on 3 June 1942, two unarmed fishing vessels, the Aeolus (Master John O. Johnson) and Ben and Josephine, were stopped by U-432 while they were engaged in fishing (distance between the vessels was 4 miles) about 170 miles east by south of Thatchers Island. Schultze allowed the crews to leave their ships safely, before they were shelled and sunk.

At 21.30 hours, the Aeolus was shelled with 17 shots and she sank in twenty minutes after the Ben and Josephine had been already sunk. The crew of two officers and four men made their way back with the survivors of the other fishing vessel and landed at Mount Desert Coast Guard Light Station 36 hours after the attack.