At 23.17 hours on 16 March 1942 the unescorted Baron Newlands (Master William Lindsay Ewing) was hit underneath the bridge by one torpedo from U-68 and sank immediately by the bow six miles south of Cape Palmas, Liberia. The U-boat had spotted the ship 15 hours earlier and missed with one G7a torpedo at 11.35 hours. They then almost lost the ship in a thunderstorm and only the bright flashes allowed to keep contact. The Germans observed that the crew did not manage to launch a lifeboat, so they refrained from questioning the survivors. 14 crew members and four gunners were lost. The master, 17 crew members and two gunners landed at Grande Sesters and Piccaniani Cess, near Cape Palmas.