This extraordinary photograph captures the moment that the Yorkshire was torpedoed by U-boat U-37 while in convoy off the French coast; 33 passengers and 25 crew lives were lost as she sank in just nine minutes. The US ship Independence Hall picked up 118 passengers and 160 crew, prompting the U-boat to surface and thank the American crew, in English, for the rescue. Captain Mackenzie of Independence Hall said: ‘The officers of the British ships were sublime. With blood streaming down his face and although seriously wounded, the second officer of the Yorkshire coolly gave orders to abandon ship.’
Miss Crowther, a passenger on the Yorkshire, said: ‘The most harrowing thing was to see people clinging to bits of wreckage, or floundering in the water, begging in vain to be taken aboard.’
Second Officer Sheldrake, the only officer to survive, went on to become the Commodore of the Bibby Line in 1970.