At 10.30 hours on 28 June 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Raphael Semmes (Master Harold Goron Eaton) was hit on the starboard side by two torpedoes from U-332 when steaming on a nonevasive course at 9 knots about 875 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The torpedoes struck at the #2 and #4 hatches and caused the ship to sink within two minutes. The nine officers, 26 crewmen and two passengers unsuccessfully tried to launch boats but had to jump overboard and swim away from the ship. 18 survivors clung to wreckage and eventually climbed onto two rafts, ten of them with the help of the U-boat that circled the wreck and picked them up. The Germans took care of their wounds and gave them tobacco, cigarettes, water and food before leaving the area.
The 18 survivors were picked up on 16 July by the American steam merchant Explorer and landed two days later at Jersey City, New Jersey. The master, six officers, eleven crewmen and one passenger were lost.