[3] SS Anne Hutchinson was traveling unescorted from Aden, Yemen, to Cape Town, South Africa.

She had passed through the Suez Channel and was 59 miles off East London Harbour on 26 October 1942 when German submarine U-504 torpedoed her at about 7:00pm.

The explosion blew the cargo hold number 4 hatch covers off and killed three men sitting on it.

On 29 October, the HMSAS David Haigh (T 13), a South African navy armed trawler and a harbour tug tried to tow the Anne Hutchinson.

The David Haigh crew was able to retrieve confidential papers from the Anne Hutchinson that Captain John Stenlund should have removed before abandoning ship.