At 02.40 hours on 24 Jan 1942, U-66 torpedoed and sank the Empire Gem and three minutes later fired two torpedoes at the unescorted and unarmed Venore (Master Fritz Duurloo) that followed the other ship two miles behind about 20 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. One missed and the other struck amidships forward of the boiler room and set her on fire. Her master tried to escape zigzagging at high speed, but some of the crew of eight officers and 33 crewmen panicked and launched three lifeboats, of which two disintegrated upon hitting the water and the most men drowned. In the surviving boat were only two men and it made landfall after 49 hours. At 03.24 hours, a second torpedo hit on the port side at #9 hold and the remaining crew abandoned ship in the last lifeboat. The ship capsized to starboard and sank at 04.05 hours, 15 minutes after a coup de grâce had missed. The master, one officer and 15 crewmen were lost. The 21 survivors in the last boat were picked up on 25 January by the Tennessee about 62 miles north of Diamond Shoals and landed at Norfolk. One man was rescued from debris by the Australia on 25 January.