At 11.48 hours on 17 Feb 1945 the Thomas Scott (Master Jack Alvin Teston) was hit on the starboard side by one torpedo from U-968 about 13 miles southwest of Kilden Island as the ship tried to get into her assigned station #34 when convoy RA-64 was formed off Kola Inlet. The torpedo struck at the #3 hatch and caused an immediate 25° list to starboard. The ship went out of control, broke in two and was only held together by deck plates on the well deck. 10 minutes after the hit the eight officers, 34 crewmen, 27 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 3in and eight 20mm guns) and 40 Norwegian refugees abandoned ship in four lifeboats and one raft. They were picked up after about 40 minutes by HMS Fencer (D 64) (A/LtCdr J.A. Eardley-Wilmot, DSC, RN), which transferred the Americans (eight of them injured) after two hours to Zhestkij and the Soviet tug M-12 and took the Norwegians to Britain.

The Soviet ships took the badly damaged Thomas Scott in tow stern first, but she broke in two completely at 19.37 hours. The stern sank immediately and the bow followed at 21.00 hours despite of a salvage attempt by the destroyer. The survivors were landed at Vianga at 16.00 hours on 18 February.