apprehensive and certainly unaware that this journey would earn the ship a place in history.

When in the Atlantic the convoy encountered very rough weather, high seas brought about by southwest gales lasted four days and some ships suffered damage. The spray and foam caused by the mountainous seas made it difficult to see the escorting destroyers. For those on board the Strathallan, and undoubtedly other vessels in the convoy, it was unpleasant to say the least - many were seasick and some may have been injured. However, the gales died down and calmer conditions prevailed as they passed through the Straits of Gibraltar.

At some point in the Mediterranean the all American section of the convoy broke away for Oran while the British/American section, containing the Strathallan continued sailing east for Algiers. It was not long after this, on a balmy night with a full moon, smooth sea and light airs that the troopship became a target for a German predator in the form of U-562.
This submarine was, at the time, attached to the Mediterranean’s 29th U-boat Flotilla and it’s commander, Kapitanleutnant Horst Hamm, had been having a lean time all the year and could hardly believe his luck when he spotted a vessel in such serene weather and good visibility. He made the calculations then dispatched torpedoes and sent a signal to his Headquarters dated the 21st December 1942 - “At 0223 hours, two hits after 61 seconds on a large transport, eastern area. Sinking noises - the steamer is presumed sunk.”

If Horst Hamm had remained looking longer through the periscope, his reported signal may have been worded differently, but after firing the torpedoes he most likely ordered his submarine to ‘dive’ and remained inert on the bottom of the Med to avoid detection from escorting destroyers. Nevertheless one of his missiles hit the Strathallan on the port side making a large hole in the ship’s plating and damaging the bulkhead separating the engine and boiler rooms, and fracturing an oil tank causing oil to enter the boiler room.

The unexpected explosion at 0225 also threw a large column of water right over the ship and blew a lifeboat (No.8) over the davits making it unusable. The noise and shock waves reverberated throughout the vessel, which immediately listed 15° to port. Two tables were broken in the Captain’s cabin! All power and lights failed, then the plan for damage limitation, which the ship would probably have, was put into effect and the standby facilities restored the lights, power to the steering gear and pumps to the engine room.

Passengers and crew were brought to their ‘Boat Stations’ by alarm gongs, a procedure, which had been, practiced daily since leaving the Clyde. Everyone had a life jacket; and the Strathallan was equipped with 4 motor boats and 16 lifeboats designed to hold approximately 1600, and there were rafts throughout the decks capable of supporting many more than the remaining number of passengers. The ‘Tannoy’ was not working and megaphones and messengers were used to muster everyone to their positions. Discipline was good in spite of the traumatic situation, the boats were manned but several men jumped over board and got into difficulties, as there was now an oil slick on the water.