At 22.26 hours on 9 March 1943 the Malantic (Master Peter Hansen Lang) in station #102 of convoy SC-121 was torpedoed by U-409. One torpedo struck on the starboard side at the #1 hatch. A violent detonation occurred 15 seconds later, blowing out the wheelhouse windows. The engines were secured and the eight officers, 25 crewmen, 13 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, four 20mm and two .30cal guns) and one passenger abandoned ship in rough seas immediately in the two port lifeboats because the starboard boats were destroyed. The vessel gradually settled by the head and sank during the night. At 02.30 hours, the British rescue ship Melrose Abbey picked up one man in the water and found the lifeboat of the master with eleven survivors, but one man fell overboard and drowned. He had been keeping the lifeboat secured to the rescue ship. When it was his turn to board, he was so exhausted he lost his balance and fell overboard. One of the ship´s officers went after him and almost lost his own life doing so. When the other lifeboat was found it capsized when it came alongside, drowning several men. In all, three officers, 16 crewmen, five armed guards and the passenger were lost. The survivors were landed at Gourock the next day.