8 - 9 Oct 1942: The Abosso (actually the Abosso II), under the command of R.W. Tate, departs Cape Town at night.

29 Oct 1942: The Abosso is spotted by the German submarine U 575.

The U 575, under the command of Günther Heydemann, is on her homeward bound voyage to France when she sights the Abosso somewhere between Newfoundland and Ireland.

U 575 approaches the Abosso surfaced and at full speed. At 19:42 hours, the U-boat fires 4 torpedoes. At 20:15 GMT, the Abosso is hit at portside by one torpedo and after 20/25 minutes she is hit at starboard by a torpedo of a second salvo. After 10/15 minutes, the ship sinks vertically. Position: 48°30'N-28°50'W.

The U 575 is a  VII-C class U-boat, check Uboat.net for more information.

Coumou and four of his men are able to lower lifeboat #5. The boat suddenly falls while being lowered and is heavily damaged as it hits the water. The boat springs a leak because of the fall and the survivors are up to their knees in water. They have contact during the night with three other lifeboats and a motor sloop.

2 Nov 1942: After two nights, the English sloop Bideford sights the bright red sail of the lifeboat and the survivors are taken on board in the morning. The patrol boat was part of operation Torch (invasion of North Africa).

Other ships have radio contact with the motor sloop, but the sloop and the other lifeboats are not found. There were only 31 survivors (all in lifeboat #5). There are 5 Dutch survivors, of which 4 were submariners.