At 00.04, 00.12 and 00.13 hours on 14 Oct 1942, U-221 fired torpedoes at ships in convoy SC-104 northeast of St. Johns and claimed the sinking of three ships with 13,000 tons. Trojer observed how the first ship broke in two and sank after 10 minutes, a second ship developed a list and sinking noises were heard from a third. However, only the Susana was hit during these attacks. At 00.32 hours, a fourth attack was made in which the Southern Empress was hit and later sunk by a coup de grâce at 03.21 hours.

The Susana (Master Jose Ayesa) was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side forward of the #5 hold. The stern settled rapidly and caused the ship to sink in six minutes. The master, 42 crew members and 16 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four .50cal and two .30cal guns) had to abandon ship immediately in rough seas, so only six armed guards managed to launch a lifeboat and the remaining survivors had to jump overboard. The British rescue ship Gothland was not able to launch a boat and had to maneuver carefully to pick up the men directly from the water, saving 15 crew members and six armed guards within one hour. The master, 27 crew members and ten armed guards were lost.