At 06.03 and 06.04 hours on 18 Nov, 1942, U-624 (Soden-Fraunhofen) fired torpedoes at the convoy ONS-144 south-southeast of Cape Farewell and reported the sinking of two merchants and one corvette and another merchant damaged. In fact, the President Sergent (the ship of the convoy commodore) and Parismina were sunk and the Yaka damaged, while HNoMS Montbretia (K 208) was missed by a torpedo.

The Yaka (Master Frank Lewis Murdock) in station #63 was struck by one torpedo on the starboard side between the #2 hold and the bridge. The explosion destroyed a lifeboat, caused the foremast and jumbo boom to fall onto the bridge and blew debris through the hull on the port side. The eight officers, 33 crewmen and eleven armed guards (the ship was armed with one 3in, four 20mm, two .50cal and two .30cal guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats, were picked up by HMS Vervain (K 190) and landed at St. Johns.
At 08.05 hours on 18 November, U-522 fired a spread of four torpedoes at a group of steamers from the convoy, heard two detonations and claimed the sinking of two freighters. However, this attack very likely sank the abandoned wreck of Yaka.

The master Frank Lewis Murdock was also in command of Andrew Jackson, which was sunk by U-84 (Uphoff) on 13 Jul, 1942.