At 23.32 hours on 28 Feb 1941 the unescorted Effna (Master Robert Penney Robertson) was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-108 south of Iceland. The U-boat had spotted the ship about five hours earlier and waited for the night to attack, but a G7e torpedo fired at 22.47 hours became a surface runner and missed ahead while a G7a torpedo malfunctioned after being fired at 23.28 hours. After the third torpedo eventually hit, the ship was identified by her emergency messages and the crew was seen to abandon ship in the lifeboats. However, at least one boat went alongside again after half an hour when the ship did not settle further and some men reboarded the Effna. At 00.36 hours on 1 March, U-108 fired a coup de grâce that hit aft and caused the ship to sink quickly by the stern after a boiler explosion. The master, 32 crew members and one gunner were lost.