At 07.06 hours on 1 Nov 1940 the unescorted Empire Bison (Master William Herbert Harland, OBE), a straggler from convoy HX-82 since a gale on 23 October, was hit on the port side between #1 and #2 holds by one torpedo from U-124 while steaming on a zigzag course at 9 knots in bad weather about 200 miles northwest of Rockall. The ship had been spotted about three hours earlier and missed by a first torpedo at 06.18 hours. The explosion felled the foremast that struck the starboard side of the bridge. The crew and passengers tried to abandon ship in the lifeboats, but none could be launched as the ship sank rapidly by the bow within one minute. The master, 29 crew members, seven passengers and one gunner (the ship was armed with one 4in and one machine gun) were lost. The only survivors were the second officer, the boatswain, one fireman and one passenger who rescued themselves on a raft that floated free. After about 24 hours, they spotted a U-boat surfacing nearby which soon left without investigating the raft further because the occupants played dead to avoid being taken prisoner. On 5 November, the survivors were picked up by the British steam merchant Olga S. and landed at Gourock.