MV Henry Stanley was a UK cargo motor ship that traded between Liverpool and West Africa.

John G. Kincaid & Company built Burmeister & Wain-type engines under licence for Henry Stanley and Mary Kingsley.

[10] In the Second World War Henry Stanley continued to trade between Britain and West Africa, sailing in SL and other convoys when possible, but also unescorted.

Her ports of call included Bathurst, Cape Coast, Dakar, Freetown, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Takoradi.

[11] On 26 or 28 November 1942 Henry Stanley left Liverpool carrying 11 or 12 passengers, including a British Army Colonel and former MP, Lionel Beaumont-Thomas; two Royal Navy officers; and a Blue Funnel Line Captain, Ramsay Brown.

Brown had survived the sinking of two of his commands that year: Glenshiel in April, and Deucalion in August when taking part in Operation Pedestal.

[17] On the night of 6/7 December German submarine U-103 torpedoed Henry Stanley, hitting her starboard side in number one hold, forward of the bridge.

The explosion detonated the gelignite in the cargo and Henry Stanley quickly sank about 580 nmi (1,070 km; 670 mi) west or north-west of the Azores.

Jones feared his passengers could be taken prisoner, so he claimed that the swell was too heavy and that the boat could be damaged were he to bring it alongside the u-boat.

Janssen convinced himself the ship had come from Halifax, Nova Scotia and was bound for French North Africa with supplies for Operation Torch.

In the heavy sea U-103 shipped water over her stern, which flooded her engine room to a depth of 0.5 metres (20 in).