At 15.35 hours on 28 April 1942 the unescorted Arundo (Master Adrianus Cornelis Troeleman) was hit by one G7a torpedo from U-136 about 15 miles south of the Ambrose Lightship. The torpedo struck on the starboard side underneath the bridge, blew off the hatch covers and caused the ship to settle by the bow and to sink capsizing within 5 minutes. Most of the 41 crew members and two gunners (the ship was armed with one 4in and two 20mm guns) abandoned ship in one overcrowded lifeboat as the other three were either destroyed by the explosion or unusable, but some men were later transferred to two rafts that floated free. Six crew members were lost. In the meantime the submerged U-boat retreated from the area as a flying boat had been sighted.

Arundo had left New York four hours earlier together with Laertes, Java Arrow and USS Lea (DD 118), but then continued independently while the other ships formed a small southbound convoy. The ships witnessed the sinking from a distance of about 5 miles and the destroyer immediately proceeded to the scene, briefly tried to locate the U-boat and then returned to convoy after picking up all survivors. Twelve hours after the sinking they were landed at Lewes, Delaware.