SS Beatus was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1925, sailed in a number of transatlantic convoys in 1940 and was sunk by a U-boat that October.

[1] The boilers fed a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine that was rated at 436 NHP and drove a single screw.

[6] In May and June 1940 she brought a general cargo across the North Atlantic to the UK via Bermuda, where she joined Convoy BHX 46.

Between 2058 and 2104 hours on 18 October, SC 7 was about 100 miles (160 km) west by south of Barra Head in the Outer Hebrides when U-46, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass, attacked it.

[5] Frank Holding, Assistant Steward on Beatus, recalled:"The next thing I heard was this explosion and a sound like breaking glass from down near the engine room.