She had a crew of 41 commanded by Captain Frederick Marcus, and carried an ensign and eight United States Navy gunners.

According to the account of John Forsdal, seaman on the vessel during the attack, an unidentified object was spotted in the water.

As he released the life raft and slid down the safety line into the water, three more torpedoes destroyed the port side hull.

John Forsdal released the following statement after being rescued: Hooking my arms around the lifelines I rested for ten minutes or so in state of exhaustion.

I was heavily weighted down with cold and clinging oil; the exertion of climbing up on the raft taxed my strength so seriously that I was unable to do anything but lie down.

The cold and heavy oil seemed to be paralyzing my body.Flames were spotted by a lookout at the Shark River Lifeboat station, which was 20 miles (40 km) away.

Coxswain Daniel Hey was found, but due to congealed oil, they resorted to extreme measures, namely removing the oil-soaked, weighted clothes.

According to his testimony, he was sleeping in his bunk when the torpedo struck, and subsequently jumped off the boat, along with three other gunners.

When the flames on the water's surface died out, Navy vessels and aircraft searched the surrounding area for survivors.

The tow ended about 30 miles (48 km) east of Barnegat Lighthouse, where the hulk grounded.