On 6 February 1943 Cargo ship Zagloba, 2,864grt, Built 1938, Owner (William Cory & Son Ltd)  Polish Flag, loaded with a general cargo including ammunition at New York for Manchester joined up with the 61 ship Convoy SC-118 which departed St. John’s, Newfoundland on the 30th January 1943.

The fate of eleven ships from the convoy had already been written as the Germans had decoded a message revealing the sailing time of the convoy, plus a captured Chief Engineer had also compromised them after accidentally revealing the slow convoy astern of his own.

SC-118 was first sighted on the 4th February by U-187, which was sunk by one of the escort ships. During an emergency turn a number of ships missed the signal and the convoy broke up.

The first successful attack began on the 5th February and over the next four days eleven ships were sunk before the attack was called off.

During the confusion of the battle none of the other ships in the convoy noticed the Zagloba was missing and after failing to arrive off Liverpool the ship her thirty-six crewmembers were officially recorded as missing untraced on the 31st March 1943.

Records from U-262 state that on the 6th February about 620 nautical miles South-East of Cape Farewell, Greenland the U-boat fired a spread of five torpedoes into the remnants of the convoy where the Zagloba was positioned and recorded three detonations. With all the other losses eventually confirmed it is believed the ship hit by U-262 could only have been the Zagloba, which sank so rapidly it was not noticed she had gone.

Source: All at Sea