At 01.34 hours on 25 May 1942 the unescorted and unarmed Beatrice (Master Charles Hendrickx) was hit by a torpedo from U-558 in moderate seas, which failed to explode. The U-boat then surfaced directly astern and opened fire with the 88mm and the 20mm guns at the zigzagging ship from a range of about one mile and fired about 30 shells. After the first hits, the master concluded he could not escape and ordered the ship abandoned. The crew of eight officers and 22 men left the ship in one lifeboat and three rafts. One of the rafts drifted into the firing line of the U-boat and presumably one man was killed. At 03.05 hours, a PBY Catalina aircraft appeared and dropped depth charges, but U-558 escaped undamaged. The Beatrice was last seen by the survivors afloat and burning, she sank 15 hours after the attack. The lifeboat with 21 men sailed to Pigeon Island, Jamaica. The British patrol boat HMS Hauken picked up the nine remaining survivors from one raft and landed them at Kingston, Jamaica.