At 13.52 hours on 18 September 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Norfolk (Master Thomas Arthur Edge) was hit on the starboard side amidships by one G7e torpedo from U-175, while steaming on a non-evasive course at 6 knots about 130 miles north-northwest of Georgetown, British Guiana. The U-boat had spotted the ship two hours earlier, dived to evade an aircraft and then carried out a submerged attack from a distance of only 600 meters. The explosion broke the back of the ship and caused the Norfolk to sink within two minutes, so fast that the crew had no time to launch the lifeboats. The master and five crew members were lost. 13 crew members rescued themselves on four rafts and were picked up by the Spanish steam merchant Indauchu four hours after the sinking. The next day they were landed at Port of Spain, Trinidad.