At 05.24 hours on 7 Dec 1939 the unescorted and neutral Tajandoen (Master J.B. Roederink) was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-47 and sank in flames after a heavy detonation, only a few minutes after the hit. Six crew members were lost. The U-boat had spotted the ship only four minutes before firing and misidentified the type as tanker. The master, 47 crew members and 14 passengers abandoned ship in the lifeboats and had to avoid burning fuel on the water surface.

The Belgian steam merchant Louis Scheid witnessed the attack and picked up the survivors, despite of the fear of her master of also being torpedoed. After the men were picked up, the ship immediately headed on full speed for the nearest land and by dusk she found herself off the Devon coast in heavy rainfall and a gale. Louis Scheid (6057 grt) struck a hidden rock near Warren Point in the early hours of 8 December and was destroyed by the seas. The Salcombe lifeboat made several dangerous trips and rescued all survivors from both ships.