At 11.00 hours on 11 Feb, 1940, the neutral Snestad was hit aft by one torpedo from U-53 about 100 miles west of the Hebrides. After the crew abandoned ship in three lifeboats, the ship was hit by a coup de grâce and sank within 3 minutes. Because one of the boats was damaged, the survivors were distributed among the other two lifeboats. They were all picked up after 22 hours by Albert L. Ellsworth on her way to Bergen.

At 01.55 hours on 13 Feb, 1940, U-50 (Bauer) fired one torpedo at the Albert L. Ellsworth which detonated prematurely near the bow without damaging the tanker. Nevertheless, all hands abandoned ship in the lifeboats in such a hurry that nine men were left behind and were forced to jump overboard after releasing a raft. Two of the survivors from Snestad were not able to reach the raft and drowned. At 02.05 hours, the U-boat fired a G7a torpedo that was a dud and claimed a hit amidships on the tanker after firing a G7e torpedo at 02.16 hours. However, the torpedo apparently passed underneath its target and detonated a few yards beyond the ship. Bauer thought that the tanker will sink and left. The survivors in the lifeboats remained nearby until dawn, then reboarded the undamaged Albert L. Ellsworth and safely arrived in Bergen.